The London Lounge

Lest I be berated for not sharing pics, here are some boots I received from Janne Melkersson recently.





































The lake stitching is very nicely and neatly done, however given the style of the boot I would have preferred a longer stitch length such that each little square ends up being bigger.


Not sure if the image below is clear enough to anyone but a shoemaker, but there's a slight aesthetic difference in the way the apron is stitched by Edward Green, and the way Janne specified it. Apparently EG sews it from the inside of the lake towards the sides, whereas in the custom boot, it is sewn from the outside in.

Fit/Comfort: Excellent all round but one adjustment will be required to give the toes on my left foot some more room. Given that there were no fittings involved, the fit is fantastic.

Elegance: These boots were never intended to be particularly elegant. In fact, the leather was supposed to be much heavier as were the sole and the welt. The last is quite a bit wider than my other shoes and I'd hesitate to order a dress-shoe on this last without somehow making it sleeker. Nonetheless, I think the overall effect for this style of boot is quite nice, and I have other boot ideas that would work well.

Workmanship/Quality: To my eye there is no difference in the workmanship of these boots compared to other makers I've tried. The finish, however, seems somewhat bland compared to, say, Edward Green antiquing, but I didn't exactly request anything special in that area.

Murali, were these closed and made in London or in Sweden? And what is your opinion about the utility (or lack thereof) of pull tabs on the back of boots?

I like them very much -- they worked out very well.

jcusey wrote:Murali, were these closed and made in London or in Sweden? And what is your opinion about the utility (or lack thereof) of pull tabs on the back of boots?

These were closed in London.

Pull-tabs are utterly useless appendages. (Yes, you struck a nerve). I never use them and my trousers always seem to snag on them. When putting on boots, I grab each side of the boot between my thumb and forefinger and pull. No need for pull-tabs of any kind. The only ones that manage not to annoy me are those on my Vass Theresianer boots. They are recessed below the highest point of the boot and reside flush against the back of the boot, and thus stay out of my way.

What is the leather?

tteplitzmd wrote:What is the leather?

Medium brown calfskin.