Proper leather shoes

I did a lot of research on this a while back - others to add to the list of reputable and similar to Sanders are Playboy, Hutton, Drakes, George Cox…

The George Cox are slightly cheaper - https://www.georgecox.co.uk/men/snuff-suede-popboy-chukka

Depending on your size there are sanders about in various sales…

I’ve had loads of Clark’s and I’d never buy them again - the soles are dangerously slippery once you’ve worn the texture off the crepe… I’ve got the Sanders and they’re great but the foxing (band around the sole) is easy to damage and you can’t resole them (which is a bit shit for the money!) - last shout is Roamers which used to be £20 from the plimsole man off brick lane - they didn’t look too bad for the price and lasted quite well as they’re not crepe… spendier prettier option might be ‘Kebo’ desert boots - Loake also do imitation crepe desert boots…

Ah cheers!

Yeah I have two pairs of drakes Crosby’s but kinda wanted something cheaper the Roamers actually don’t look that bad…

Other option I was looking at was the paraboot x arpenteur chukka boot. But they’re not cheap 😂

What size are you? I have a pair of sanders playboys in brown that I could part with

These are rocking the clown shoe vibe. I'm almost convinced:

https://www.birkenstock.com/gb/milton-suede-leather/milton-suede-suedeleather-0-thermorubber-m_2735.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiAosmPBhCPARIsAHOen-Mw9mMewOrcN1HITasGHOhyqQFteWRcs0-FUZ8J3emr5ZAvXCe-Jk4aAh76EALw_wcB

I've several pairs of Duckfeet. They last. I actually gave up on the crepe and had them resoled with a commando sole. They're great and super comfortable

I'm a 10 and could be interested...
I've got some of the light brown Joel shoes in a 10 I don't wear if anyone is keen?

I too have a moc-toe fetish... you have the drakes, how about some Tods? I love mine... or the Velasca I post a few days back... or Kickers Lennon (only £45)?

Think mine are a UK8 or maybe a 9

Anyone bought Officine Creative? Looking at their black Arc 516 Chukkas

Interesting, I haven’t worn it down far enough to consider a resole as yet, what made you go with a commando over a crepe?

Am very happy with my Kalsi Cords shoelaces mentioned a few pages back.

You can question my colour choice, but you'd be wrong.

1 Attachment

Decided I’m just gonna get the Anglo Italian desert boots - I’ve learned my lessons from getting something other than the thing I really want because it’s slightly cheaper before.

That said on my hunt I did find the Velasca umbrelee which for £120 with a rubber sole looks good.

I also found the Meermin Cognac Castoro which looks a lot like Alden chukka boots and for £170 would be worth a shot if the Alden rrp put you off them.

Anglo Italian

just had a quick browse - love their sport jacket. Not in my price bracket though.

apologies in advance for the long and tedious post:

Walking shoes

I walk a fair bit, and consequently like to have a pair of comfortable, robust shoes with decent soles.

I don't like goretex lined shoes, which sadly rules out about 90% of the walking shoes on the market.

I also have an ankle injury from a bad break 30 odd years ago, which means my shoes wear unevenly and my feet aren't that similar. The heal bone on the "bad" foot sticks out a bit, and I wear out a patch inside the heal cup on all my shoes .

During lockdown 1, I had a fairly cheap pair of Merrell canvas shoes which were decent. They had a rather soft sole which wore down quite quickly. For the price, though, I had no complaints.

When they needed replacing, I thought I'd get something a bit more durable, so started to look around with these criteria:

Low cut (below ankle)
Leather upper with no waterproof liner
Vibram or similar quality cleated sole

In the end I found these:

https://www.alpinetrek.co.uk/lundhags-stuore-low-multisport-shoes/

and these

https://www.addnature.co.uk/lowa-pinto-ll-low-shoes-men-M137471.html?vgid=G916890

I bought the Lowa Pinto as they looked a bit more shoe and less boot like.

First problem:
I found my ankle hurt a lot whilst walking in them. Sometimes that passes with time, so I thought I'd just bear with it. I now wonder if this is something to do with the relatively narrow sole at the heal? Could be nothing to do with this but I just thought it could be (see pic).

Second problem:
Within a short time, the inside of the heal on the "bad" foot side had worn through the leather liner - not a problem in itself, any lined shoes I own go this way after a while. The problem is that between the lining and the leather outer, there is some kind of plastic cup. I now have the hard edge of this plastic thing digging into my ankle, just above my heal bone. Being plastic, it isn't moulding to the shape of my foot like a bit of leather would.

So now I have these nearly new shoes, which set me back £180, and I don't know what to do with them. If I cover the inside of the heal area with a bit of gaffer tape, and wear two pairs of socks, the heal issue is more or less ok. But I don't think I'm ever really going to get much use out of these. Send them back to Lowa and see if I can get a discount on another (different) pair? Sell on eBay with full disclosure on the heal wear? Dunno.

I am disappoint with these.

2 Attachments

Both the durability of crepe and the awful goddamn slipperiness on wet pavements. First I had them done with Dainite but then Commando to be even more durable

2 Attachments

Would getting some heel pully tag things (like you get on DM boots among others) added to a pair of boots be something a Timpsons etc could do?

I’ve got a similar problem with lumpy heel bones.
My default has always been Scarpa and make sure the laces are done up properly or movement leads to heel holes.
My latest are Kalipe free

1 Attachment

I’ve also been considering trying these, does anyone have any experience with them?
https://portuguesetreasures.com/collections/leather-footware/products/traditional-leather-boots-with-laces-and-recycled-car-tyres-soles-made-in-portugal-mens-and-womens?variant=32994231517227

Thanks. Had a look and already found a couple of Scarpa that look like they would work.

I think I'll off load the Lowa somehow and try Scarpa. Life's too short for ankle pain.

Maybe have a word with Altberg, explaining your particular requirements, similar prices to the Lowa you linked to.

look good as well - would be awesome to go to the factory and get a boot fit.

You should be able to return and use ‘fair wear and tear’ (check Martin Lewis for exact wording). For that price you wouldn’t expect a pair of shoes to fail so quickly.

People talk about the slip and slide of crepe all the time, I haven’t really run into that issue, maybe our sidewalks out here are different. I know we have less rain, more cold. Slipping indoors is my biggest issue, usually on tiles or sheet flooring , and that happens to me mostly with sneakers.

I wear Scarpa Crux a lot and will definitely be replacing them with the same when they die