New Shoes from The London Shoemaker

[dopey]

. . .

[smoothjazzone]

How is the fit? If I remember right, you had some special needs re: orthotics -- how did that work out?

[jcusey]

Thank you for posting this, dopey. I am eagerly awaiting the completion of your post, at which time I am sure that I will have a number of annoying questions.

[DD MacDonald]

My shoes are a pair of “imitation brogues” and I have included some photos taken by the shop:

To lable those brogues "imitation" falls too short of the mark, They don't strike me as the imitation of a brougue, more a pure manifestation of a broque. Wonderful deep and bold broqueing. Do we see the first three-quarter broque?

Dopey, beautiful shoes.

DDM

[dopey]

. . .

[tteplitzmd]

The shoes are quite nice---your description of the shape and appearance compared to RTW is also very interesting. The issue of initial fit raises the question: they should be comfortable on first wearing (?), or rather, "break them in (?). The London School seems to always be "break them in." At these prices it would seem to be a matter of faith or confidence in the Maker. Needing one or two iterations to get to a final usable shoe, would be precluded by those of us in outer Colonies where these guys don't visit. I think the pay off on this kind of project is that once the fit is perfected subsequent orders should be much easier.

[mpolanthan]

Great report. Thank you for sharing. I just received mine today after adjustments though I haven't worn them ong enough to judge whether they were appropriately fixed.

[Concordia]

I'm due for my own first pair of shoes from Davies. My experience re fittings with bespoke makers has varied a bit from Dopey's. Cleverley nailed everything right from the beginning. Good try-on fitting, never a complaint after that. Davies seems to be on that track, and as he may have made my Cleverley last, it shouldn't be too surprising that he understands my feet. We'll know more in a bit when the soled final product arrives. These shoes are soft-ish buckskin, so they may also be cut a little snugger than stout calf.

My other only experience with English shoes is a single pair from EG, which is now being altered a bit. For some reason, Tony made them a little too long at the heel. He has been very good about offering to make alterations (and re-doing the last). So we'll see how this comes out. I'm expecting that this pair, which was not terrible before, should be very good this round, and better than that for any subsequent pairs.

Shoemaking is, I think, somewhat like tailoring in that each maker has his preferred style and might or might not "get" your feet or your aesthetic sense at the outset. It's a little harder than suitmaking because he has to take your word for how everything is working-- no walking behind you to look at the collar, or pulling out a ruler to check the cuffs.

[Concordia]

To follow up in a small way on the original post, Davies has altered his website to have a photo gallery of actual shoes made by him. (Previously, he had used sample shoes made many years ago by a defunct maker.)

[dopey]

If anyone doubts the power of the internet in the bespoke trade, consider this: I can identify the owner of all but one pair in that slide show and so can many other people reading this.

[mpolanthan]

3-eyelet derby:

[Concordia]

Hey, those are nice. I don't normally care for that style.

Just got a pair from Paul today also. Just warming them up tonight, and will likely wear them for real tomorrow.

[Concordia]

BTW, I notice he's using the same laces for you, too. Wonder what that's about? They actually hold a lot better than the cruddy drugstore ones I use as replacements, but don't look nearly as nice as the standard-issue woven laces one sees from Tony, et al. IMO, of course.

[dopey]

mpolanthan:

I really like the toe-shape you got on this pair, The shoes are nice overall as well, but like Concordia, that isn't a style to which I have ever given much thought. Nonetheless, I can see the attraction of the plain-toe derby and one of my favorite photos in the Vass book is of Andre Kostalanyi, a Hungarian investor, modeling such a pair.

I note for Concordia that the laces on my black imitation brogues are of the nice and tightly woven waxed variety. So what is this new pair like?

[Concordia]

One other quirk that seems to be consistent with Paul's work-- on these 3-holers, my new semi-brogues, and the shoes on the website-- is the seam separating vamp from quarters. (I think I got that one right. Or maybe it's lake from vamp.) As with Lattanzi, the side part of the seam ducks down to the sole very nearly at the forward edge of the heel. I'm still trying to decide if that is a bug or a feature.

By contrast, Cleverley and some of the other English shoemakers will have it make contact nearly an inch closer to the toe.