Thank you for the kind words Michael. And thanks too for sharing the picture of the Cardogans on the 33 lasts. It is certainly very elegant with plenty of character.
It has also not gone without notice that you once said that the 808 looked very elegant in a D width. I must confess that I am intrigued by the thought of a boot on the 808 in C width.
Of course the 808 was a last once reserved exclusively for the old Top Drawer line:
My understanding is that the 808 is a long nosed derivative of the 88 last. It was apparently the first extended nose last in the EG catalogue. The main reason it has been retired is because they seem to have had some issues with fit, possibly due to the last being a bit narrow. So when Tony Gaziano came along, he created the 888 last which runs a bit wider than 808 (as well as having a more angular square toe).
The RLPL 89 last is basically the 808 last, except it has been made wider to the point that it runs a fraction wider than the currently active lasts (202, 606, 88, 888 or 82). The end result is that it runs bigger than other EGs lasts, meaning that it is both possible - and necessary - to order the stamped US size in the shoe with D width; this letter width being for all practical purposes "medium width" as with most US makers. Perfect for the American market it is intended for.
I find it interesting that the results of going up in size and down on width to C on the 88 last has a somewhat different result to making a derivative long nosed last from the 88 (ie the 89 or 808). Hence I would be fascinated to see what the results were of having an 808 last shoe in C width. The 808 and 89 are only modestly extended lasts, so it should pose relatively few problems with length. In fact, an 89 last shoe a 1/2 size down from my 88C Shannons proved to be only about 4mm shorter. So the 808 in C width would only be a fraction longer and narrower than my 88s in C width. This is a computer altered image of how a C width 808 last shoe might look:
I used to avoid elongated and pointed lasts but I find they work really well with boots. I find anything pointed or too elongated makes a
shoe look imbalance and affected, yet the higher vamp on a
boot seems to demand a more elongated last to get the aesthetic balance.
Here are some Victorian/Edwardian examples:
In this 1923 photo the pointed last looks thoroughly natural:
It is only when Santoni et al start to add all manner of other affectations to a shoe made on one of their exaggerated pointed toe lasts that the results start to look frightfully gaudy. These historical examples suggest that the pointed toe last is a classical type of last which has latterly fallen out of favour and is further given a bad reputation by its use in tasteless fashion forward shoes:
