The London Lounge

Does anyone know where one can obtain the CJ Villiers? Pediwear does not carry it.; I called EG and the Shannon must be ordered special and runs close to $1000 (I could not get an exact cost). Also, what do people think of the Vass Therezianer (sic?) boot?

Boots are difficult to find. If you do order the Shannon, with trees and shipping it will be closer to $1,200 than $1,000.

Recall that the EG Shannon is an oxford boot and the Theresianer is a derby or blucher boot. I don’t say this from personal experience, but looking at them, I think oxford style boots would be very difficult to fit and, even if I thought I knew my size and last, I would be careful about ordering them by mail. Personally, I think the Shannon boots are beautiful, but being balmoral boots, while certainly dressy in a technical sense, are really attention drawing, which means I would hesitate to use them in a conservative setting. Perhaps I just think that because of the rarity of oxford style boots and maybe most people wouldn’t notice. I have something similar to the Theresianers in cordovan from Alden and wear them a lot. They have a 360 welt, plus they are from Alden, so they are a bit clunkier than I would like for dressy suits, but they are fine with the fuzzier stuff and odd coat and trousers.

I absolutely love the Shannons, but would not get that much use out of them. Based on what little I know of your day to day dress, you would be better of with the Thersianers from Vass or a similar model from EG or C&J.

I am not familiar with the Villiers, but you can probably order them from http://www.plal.com/ who have gotten great reviews for the handling of C&J sales.

As dopey writes, I would imagine that PLal would be able to order Villiers for you if that's what you decide that you must have. It would probably be a bit of a wait since the boots would have to make their way from Northampton to Kuala Lampur and from Kuala Lampur to the United States. In addition, Villiers appears in the latest C&J catalogue, which means that it is almost certainly carried by C&J stores in the UK. You can contact them via the C&J website.

Theresianer is very much a chameleon depending on the last and welt treatment that you select. With a single leather sole on U last, it's a very sleek city boot. On Banana with a reverse welt and commando sole, it's very much a country boot. I like it very much and am in fact wearing a pair in cognac antic on P2 today.[/url]

Any chance of photos of the various treatments of the Therezianer?

brescd01 wrote:Any chance of photos of the various treatments of the Therezianer?

There are two good examples in the Boots section of the Vass website. For the rest, you'll have to use your mind's eye.

What about the EG Galway? Is that availa ble RTW with single leather soles, or some treatment that makes it a town boot?

brescd01 wrote:What about the EG Galway? Is that availa ble RTW with single leather soles, or some treatment that makes it a town boot?

Perhaps you should enquire with the Burlington Arcade store, but I highly doubt it.

Weston makes an oxford boot shown on its web site. I called the store and the sales person said their store did not carry it, and in fact I had to be fitted for it in Paris. ANy thoughts on this model, the 616?

Also, what models of Vass will BG carry this week?

I think you will struggle on this one. I like boots very much, but I have found that they are extremely rare these days. Ankle boots are difficult to find in general, but mostly they are designed with rather informals (or "country") lacing arrangements, and fitted with rugged soles. I have never seen a RTW of any formality in black. There are only browns unless you order specifically.

One solution could be a Chelsea boot. There will be those who condemn it as unsuitable. I quite like its rakishness. I do prefer bespoke examples with leather strips covering the side elastic. JL Paris has just brought out a Chelsea boot in its prestige line that is a bit modern but rather beautiful.

CJ does have an acceptably formal looking boot (with lacing) in its handgrade range, but brown only. It is likely they will have to order it from the factory (did not have it in my size when I asked). JL Paris used to have a similar one, also with laces, on a bevelled sole. Brown only. I believe it has been discontinued. saw some reduced ones in Paris in the summer.

Or use this as an opportunity to finally go bespoke. Ask Green to do a black button boot with pale grey kidskin top.

For a really formal town boot, get EG’s Shannon in black, made on an elegant last with a single sole and plain eyelets all the way up. A dress boot every Edwardian gentleman would have been proud of.

Crockett & Jones is too big, they do not like to deal with individual orders, therefore they ask for a premium of 100% (unless you order 12 pairs).

I suppose that’s one way of making people go away.

Rolf

CJ: The Villiers is not special order, it can be ordered from the NYC store for instance.

Weston: waiting for some kind LL member to chime in

Vass: As jcusey pointed out, this can look quite elegant on the U-Last (at least in the picture on their web site) or quite rugged. To order it on the P2 without having seen a picture would be difficult for me.

For some reason, and feel free to add something, I think the squared toe of the U-last (and the Villiers) achieves the "town boot" look best. But I would like to see pics of the Weston.

Two perhaps superfluous points:

A C&J special order starts at 525 pounds. This is utterly ridiculous given that Green is better and cheaper.

Robert Old in the UK told me they can order most CJ shoes for a customer, and I believe shipping was complimentary. You can try them. Else, you would have to contact C&J in London or Paris directly (apart from going to T&A in NYC). CJ is pretty cagey about what they will sell to plal beyond plal's rather limited catalog. The Villiers might be about two hundred dollars cheaper than the Shannon (which is a balmoral boot) or an EG navvy cut (derby) boot, but as it is Handgrade and a boot it will be among the very costliest shoes sold at C&J -- I would guess over 350 pounds.

A third afterthought: you could go to the best Polo shops in your area to see if they carry a similar CJ model in their Benchmade in England line, which comprises both benchgrade and handgrade C&Js, all quite impressive this season.

Re Weston, never bought any, friend of mine in Paris has been buying them for years.

I personally find their classic models a hint boring, whereas the fashionable stuff is impossibly long and upwards curving. Be careful, the pictures on their website look far more conservative. However, this is simply personal preference.

If you want to do this French fashion forward style, a friend advised to look at Aubercy and Corthay. Have to investigate those on my next Paris trip.