Proper leather shoes

Haven't been to work in 14months!

It's called 'Vibram Acadamy' 215 City Rd, London EC1V 1JN. The place doesn't look up to much but, he's done my chukkas twice, moc toes once and a pair of William Lennon's with a trad sole so happy to vouch for his work.

Last pair done last year, given the location he mainly does Redwings and decent stuff and I've had no complaints, in fact the last time hedid my chukka soles he sorted out some stitching repairs for free.

I went here originally, as i think the Vibram soles wear better than the Redwings (they seem to be made of cheese these days), the price saving is a bonus, approx 60 quid
(redwings) depending on which sole you go for.

Could we have a pic of your redwings + vibram? I like the idea of that, if my eBay chukkas turn out ok.

I've seen a guy on Instagram who was selling vintage Nike stuff is now getting some Nike uppers resoled with Vibram sole units and I'm guessing it's these guys doing the work.

Looks like you could have some fun with colours

https://www.instagram.com/p/CA-pT7eJFzX/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B7F4jWdJd5b/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3eKtefJpY3/

They can even make you SPD Doc Martens

https://www.instagram.com/p/By727DIpfw1/

Wow. Slip-on (and off) SPDs. What could go wrong...

Amaze!

That makes me want to enquire about the cost of my army surplus AltBerg boots. Maybe not neon, though.

Not leather (apart from the suede toe and heel), but in the warm weather I’ve been wearing these Columbia boots with Vibram soles. Grabbed from TK Maxx for £33, which I’m not unhappy to pay.

Managed to get a pair in black from ebay for a similar cost, but those are with waterproofing applied. Was tempted to try waterproofing these, but they are already filthy from motorbike wrenching.

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Saw those the other day and wondered about them for summer walking. Comfy? They reminded me a bit of Palladium Pampas - the French tropical military boot copies.

I’d say they are worth the punt for £33 or whatever they are reduced to. The canvas has that annoying flappy floppy sound for a while, but it’s tolerable.

eBay specials arrived:

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Ta - will have another look next week when I'm in.

Cool cool. I just applied Oxford Rainseal to them, which has absorbed pretty well with little discolouration.

Went to our new offices yesterday at wenlock works and noticed this shop! Funny old world

cleaned and put some renovator on the red wings. come up quite nicely.

soles are definitely on the way out so i'm debating the vibram option, whole hog red wing resole which might be a bit OTT for their overall condition, or taking them along to classic shoe repairs and see what they say.

I'll take some tomorrow

Edit: now as I'm literally sat doing nothing

Thanks :-)

These are the moc toes I had done most recently (last year), this is the slightly more expensive sole. It is a bit whiter than the Redwing one when new, but soon darkens with wear - marks all over these are dirt!

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Chukas really need doing again, these are a slightly cheaper sole than the moc toes above, but suit the chukas better imo. Quite a bad example for their work as these REALLY need redoing, they are my everyday beaters and he's done these twice for me now.

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That looks like a proper job, many thanks for the pics.

Think I'll try those guys.

It's been raining so I've been wearing my moc toes for work this week. Feels like a massive change from my usual loafers so I'm thinking about getting a slimmer profile boot for the office. Any reason I shouldn't get pair of R.M. Williams Craftsman?

We've got a couple of R.M. Williams outlet stores not too far away that sell them at almost half price, I'm very tempted to just go grab a pair tomorrow... Any better/cheaper alternatives?

I think they’re great. Even better at half price

Trickers mto monkey boots are ready

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Those are great!