CHAD MEETS OAK STREET - BOOTMAKERS

I met George Vlagos @ Bread & Butter, Berlin in the L.O.C.K. Fire dept. He is the founding father of

Oak Street Bootmakers. His father has a shoe repair shop in Chicago and in this shop he learned the craft of shoemaking from an early age. Today, George seeks to preserve the heritage of fine shoemaking through thoughtfully designed and attentively crafted shoes.

All Oak Street shoes and boots are handcrafted in the USA by shoemakers with over 20 years of experience. The highest standards of production are employed to yield shoes that are as durable as they are comfortable. Each pair makes use of replaceable outsoles, a feature normally reserved for formal footwear, to ensure a lifetime of wear. 

As Chicago is also home to Horween leathers it ain't a surprise that Oak Street shoes and boots are constructed from renowned Horween Chromexcel leather. Chromexcel undergoes 89 separate processes taking 28 days and utilizing all five floors of the Horween facility in Chicago. Over the past 100 years very little has changed in the formula. Food-grade beef tallow, cosmetic-grade beeswax, marine oil, chrome salts, tree bark extracts and naturally occurring pigments are combined. The mixture is then applied using heat, steam pressure, the hands of craftsman and time. This ultimately yields the soft, supple and durable leather that is used for your shoes or boots.

RED WING SHOE CO.

Fall/Winter 2012 on display

Shoe sewing machine

9158 Handsewn Oxford

8105 Moc toe Oxford

Where it all happens...

Last week I had a meeting with Mr. Red Wing, in their recently opened showroom in Amsterdam. Enjoying a cup of coffee with Dutch apple pie Matthijs told me everything about the brand and the collection. The company was founded by Mr. Beckman a German immigrant, who owned a shoe store in the city of Red Wing, the city was named after a local indian chief. In his advertising he promoted himself as Beckman, The Shoe Man. As a prosperous Main Street merchant, he saw the need for durable and comfortable boots. In 1905 when he couldn't find boots to meet his needs, he started his own shoe company. And the rest is history. The fact that Red Wing doesn't only make work boots is something you see in the 8105 Moc toe Oxford, this shoe was built to meet the demands of the factory managers who needed a sturdy work shoe as they moved from their office to the factory floor. My personal favorite for this summer is the 9158 Hand sewn Oxford, this shoe combines classic oxford styling with premium Red Wing Camel Muleskinner leather and an "American Made" plantation crepe sole. Hand sewn with contrast "baseball stitching" and rawhide laces. These shoes are made in Maine - the traditional home of moccasin style shoes and is one of the oldest and most traditional methods of constructing a shoe.

TRICKER'S @ JERMYN STREET, LONDON

Last week I stepped back in time, when entering the Tricker's Store on 67 Jermyn Street. The store opened its doors in 1939 and before that it was located at number 87 from 1925. The interior didn't changed much. In the old days, the shoes didn't come in shoeboxes but they were stocked in the wall units. From size 6 in the left end corner to size 10 in the right end corner. Nowadays size 10 wouldn't fit anymore in these walls as people became taller and shoes sizes changed over the years. I was pampered by one of the salesmen who worked in the store for more then 13 years already. He helped me choose a great pair of Stow boots from the Country line in the color Acorn Antique. 

MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO

More and more you see the guys wearing monk straps whether it's a single strap or a double strap. And if they wear a double monk strap it's cool to undo the above strap, and this is why:

Scott Schuman [The Sartorialist]
“I don’t always do it but when I do it’s because the shoes are new. Monkstraps buckle higher on the foot than lace ups and when they are new they are stiff and the top buckle can dig into the foot, hence buckling just the bottom buckle until I break them in. Also I like the free and easy style of one buckle. There is something to be said of being able to slip off your shoes in a heartbeat!”

Sean Sullivan [The Impossible Cool]
“Honestly, I wish I had a good reason for doing it, but it’s really only because it’s the most comfortable way to wear them. Like most of us in New York City, I walk a tremendous amount and my feet get tired fast with both straps buckled up. So I guess it’s a case of necessity turning into a style!”

Matt Lambert [Sales Associate, Sid Mashburn]
“Loafers have always felt a bit dainty on me, so I wear the double monks as my version of a loafer. The single buckling chills the whole shoe out a little. However, always buckle up when attending funerals.”

(Interview posted by GILT MANual)

KICK SOME ASS

This is booty-licious, don't know which to choose, shall I go for Alden, Red Wing, Quoddy or Sorel?

Life ain't easy.......

TRICKER'S OR TREAT

No no, it ain't Halloween yet but,

In 1829 Joseph Tricker, master shoemaker, founded R.E. Tricker Ltd. Five generations later his family continues to apply the same traditional crafts and skills. The manufacturing home of Tricker's is still based in Northampton the heart of English shoemaking country. Using the best available materials, Tricker's craftsmen apply their legendary skills to produce both hand-made and bench-made shoes which maintain a standard seldom equalled in the world of Goodyear welted footwear. On my personal wish list there is a pair of Tricker's Bourton Derby Brogue in color Acorn, but also Stow Brogue boot could be a great option.

Tricker's are sold in stores like 1-Store, Amsterdam, Tres Bien Shop,Stockholm, Frans Boone, Sluis and The Bureau, Belfast and many many more.

OCTOBER 1ST.

Okay guys it's October 1st, time to clean your "White" Bucks and put them away. We had fun, see you next Summer. (pic. via Hudson Bay Co.)

A PAIR OF SHOES

Shoes are always coming in pairs, above you have some great examples of that.