New EGs

[smoothjazzone]

New years gift from Tony -- what do you all think?

http://img317.imageshack.us/img317/4586/ab18tl.jpg

http://img317.imageshack.us/img317/2628/ab28kl.jpg

http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/2286/ab34dm.jpg

http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/7972/ab49zi.jpg

[Concordia]

I see that I've been writing to the wrong Santa Claus.

What leather is that?

[jcusey]

I see that I've been writing to the wrong Santa Claus.

Me, too.

What leather is that?

I think that it's kudu, which is a species of African deer. It's one of the most characterful grained skins that I know of, and the color that Tony has is particularly rich.

As for the shoes themselves, while there are some styling details that I would change if I had ordered them, they were commissioned to please smoothjazz, not me. I think that the overall result is excellent. I hope that smoothjazz gets years of good use out of them.

[smoothjazzone]

That is indeed Kudu -- the color in reality is more brown without as much red as one sees in the picture.

JCusey, given your much greater knowledge of shoes, could you please elaborate on what you might do differently -- I and I am sure others will find your comments most useful and instructive for future commissions. Thanks very much.

[jcusey]

JCusey, given your much greater knowledge of shoes, could you please elaborate on what you might do differently -- I and I am sure others will find your comments most useful and instructive for future commissions. Thanks very much.

Well, first of all, please bear in mind that I'm not you and your preferences aren't mine. If I would do some things differently, it's because my tastes simply differ from yours, not because I think your choices ill-judged.

That being said, there are two things that I would change if I were commissioning shoes such as these:

1. I would have the toe seam run a bit farther up the vamp of the shoe, perhaps a half an inch or so. That would give slightly more exposure to the handsewing of the toe seam -- one of the principal virtues of a shoe like this -- without upsetting the balance of the shoe or transforming it into a different style of chasse shoe.

2. I would dispense with the notched reversed welt. I think that it just makes for one too many elements of interest on this shoe. You have two already with the handsewing and the kudu skin, and for me, that would be enough.

I was initially concerned that the heavy texturing of the kudu skin distracted too much from the handstitching on the apron and toe seams, but I think that that perception is probably more a trick of the camera than reality. Looking more closely at the pictures, I see that the handstitching shines through, as it should; and it's really hard to overemphasize how beautiful and rich kudu is to those who haven't seen it in person.

[smoothjazzone]

JCusey: Thanks for your thoughtful response. I agree with both your points -- I was worried about making this look like a chasse (a model I was never a big fan of although Jona's post about his fabulous new shoes is making me reconsider) -- you are right though -- moving the stitch back a bit would have been more interesting. As for the notched reverse welt -- I had originally wanted stitching as you see in some Italian designs -- however, since most English shoe makers don't do that, I decided to go with the notched reverse welt.

The Kudu is not as overpowering or as glossy as it appears in the pictures and works well for a casual shoe. OveralI, I am very happy with the shoe -- Tony's lasts appear very slim and sleek that to me resolve some of the problems with more clunky "country" shoes. I am waiting to actually receive the shoes as they were mailed to me a day or two ago.