Shoes

While browsing for bespoke Indian shoes I found this website.

Has anybody tried this brand out?


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The fellmonger pebble grain loafers are Blake stitched and they look very good, I would love to have a pair in the hands.
There are other Indian bespoke shoe manufacturers too.
There dapperman.in , whose shoes look good but they don’t tell you what type of construction so could be glued poorly and may not last long.
Then there is crafttoe.com whose shoes at least according to my estimation look quite ugly in the photos.
There is also sartojiva.com. But their shoes in the pictures have very long tongues which will look even outrageous as one wears it over the months and years. They don’t explain the type of construction and have a lot of patina work on them which if done poorly can look quite tacky. The Sartojiva Belgian loafers look nice though.
In all this , Fellmonger seems the most promising. They should make a nice horse bit loafer a la Gucci.
Lastly , a small digression , but still relevant I think , do Chennai forum members know of any guy in the City who still makes Bleeding Madras the traditional way ?
 
I used to love Samsonite (leather formals) till they stopped retailing them in India. In semiformal/casuals the choice is usually between Hush Puppies and Timberland. And I always end up buying Nike sneakers after trying other brands. Fitting and comfort are bigger factors for me than everything else. Buying a shoe is a painful process as it tends to be long drawn and usually takes multiple visits for me as I have to get the fit right. Buying clothes is much more simpler. As for Hawai I miss the Bata white and blue pure rubber slippers - they are always out of stock - may be they stopped making them.
I am a fan of nike free rn, bought 2017 and 2018 models. But they can be only used indoors in the gym as stones get stuck to the sole due to its design. For outdoors adidas alphabounce / pureboost. I have tried the ultraboost and its like walking on a cloud. But very expensive for that ultraboost tech. After using the sneakers I dont feel like wearing a leather shoes unless the occasion demands it. Have anyone else used the brand rieker? I have winter shoes from them. I am in europe now, I survived 3 winters only with them. I have other winter shoes too , but at the end I end up using this as this looks elegant and not like a winter shoes. I was not very kind to them, they never seems to give up.
 
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Two iconic French shoes .The split toe on the left is Paraboot Avignon a workhorse of a shoe that's very iconic in Japan. The next one with the kilties ( fringed leather panel covering the instep) is a vintage JM Weston Golf made of Russia Calf.
I have the Avignon ( the Michael and Chamford are other popular models) but these are courtesy a French friend and an avid shoe collector.
Edit:
To be more specific it’s the Pattes mexicaines on the JM Weston golf ..
 
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Two iconic French shoes .The split toe on the left is Paraboot Avignon a workhorse of a shoe that's very iconic in Japan. The next one with the kilties ( fringed leather panel covering the instep) is a vintage JM Weston Golf made of Russia Calf.
I have the Avignon ( the Michael and Chamford are other popular models) but these are courtesy a French friend and an avid shoe collector.


Interesting to see a boot laceup version. I've always seen this split toe as a slip on.
Quite a nice collection of shoes Moktan! Thanks for sharing!


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Picked up a pair of Ecco cool 2.0 recently and walked around 10 kms with it today..loved it. Right amount of flex and arch support
 
Thank you @arj for updating this thread, else would have never spotted it.

This is a white paper, I'll have to make notes and hunt down these brands.

MaSh
 
Hey couldn’t sleep and what a lovely thread and an update that was timely. Though I am certain I look like the guy with a favourite Boombox in a high end chat,

After years I changed from Mizuno running shoes (wave rider) to Brooks (Ghost). Mizuno was inspired by my fanboy for Murakami (who runs in Mizuno) and so that was a tough one!! Wanted more cushioning but essentially a stablilty shoe. Prior to that was New Balance.

I am yet to try out the Brooks and nervous!

I also got a Merrill for hiking (more like holiday sandals - no need to pack socks).

My only nice formal shoes is from Joy Shoes at the Taj.

Moktan, one day to Kalimpong!

ps. Like audio if there is a chat on which lace goes with which shoe I totally give up.
 
ps. Like audio if there is a chat on which lace goes with which shoe I totally give up.

Hey chats on shoe maintenance might very well keep you interested :)

Eg what the polish you folks would recommend for a tan shoe ?
 
I was meaning to update this thread. Got myself a few shoes.
A Cheaney Avon Brogue in coffee from Yoox. And two Paraboots - Avignon and Chambord.
Will post pictures soon ..
 
Interesting thread. I wear Hush puppies and Clarke's among others. Nike for walking shoes. Nowadays use sandals, flip flops and loafers most of the time. Have a pair of Cole Haan brogues for formal wear.
 
Hey chats on shoe maintenance might very well keep you interested :)

Eg what the polish you folks would recommend for a tan shoe ?
Well there are excellent resources for this like Kirby Allison’s https://www.hangerproject.com/ and https://www.theshoesnobblog.com/polish-your-shoes-properly..
There are basically two aspects - shoe care and polishing. Mink oil is the wonder substance for cleaning and nourishing leather. Polishing involves shoe cream or polish. Shoe polishes have waxes that harden on the leather and may have to be taken off in some cases to let the oils penetrate to nourish the leather. There are products and soaps that do this. Wax shoe polishes need a lot of elbow grease to work out that mirror shine- basically using a cotton chamois to remove all the extra wax. Usually wax should be applied only on the toes and not on areas that crease like the vamp as that would cause the leather to crack.
Army and NCC cadets even ‘fire shine’ their shoes. A hair drier may be a more sensible option - the idea being to melt the wax so that it penetrates the leather.
One can use various shades of tan to create that nice patina on the shoes.
Finally if one has all the time in the world one may watch videos like these - Yuwa Hasegawa , world champion shoe polisher demonstrating his craft. He is a very cool cat as in like audio the Japs take shoes to another level.
 
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Not an shoe aficionado, use it based on function :)
Skechers and Lee Cooper for meetings, North Face for trekking and sparx flip flops everywhere else :)
The only pair of hiking boots I've used is by Quecha (a Decathlon brand), and I'm totally happy with them. I found North Face a few times as expensive and don't know what I get extra for all that extra money. Maybe you can tell me?
 
I am sure there are lots of shoe aficionados here. This is the thread to discuss your balmorals, your bluchers and your brogues, and leather wise your cordovan, chromeexcel, horween etc here.
My shoes are modest. I have a few pairs of Dr Martens, some Solovair ( their Gibson boot, the brogue boot, another Gibson plaintoe blucher and a monkey boot) , Cheaney oxford toecap, and a Cheaney country shoe.
I use Saphir mink oil and Saphir polish for their upkeep.
More sartorially evolved forum members can flaunt their Edward Greens and their John Lobbs , their George Clevaerleys etc here.
The brands of shoes you mention are superb (by reputation), I've never bought a pair, partly due to budget constraints, partly because I rarely go abroad and partly because the ones which do retail in India have such higher prices than their online US discounted prices that I don't feel like buying in India (e.g. Steve Madden, Aldo, Cole Haan) :D I can't imagine buying shoes without trying them on, so the online bazaar hasn't opened any new doors for me. Therefore it's Clarke's, Ruosh, etc for me till now. I've seen amazing cordovans with friends, snooty friends who look down on Allen Edmonds as mass-market and will not touch a Cole Haan. :oops:

But I've switched entirely to Saphir for leather care. I have their Renomat, the mink oil, the Renovateur, the cream polish, the wax polish and mirror-gloss wax polish. Unfortunately, I seem to find it hard to get cream polish to match the colour of my shoes other than black, so it's mostly black and neutral polishes for me. :oops: I take care of my belts too with them (I'm quite happy with Indian belts from Zodiac and others), and the leather care makes all the difference. And I've learned so much from Kirby Allison's videos: in fact, it was he who sold me on the Saphir range. Bloody good salesman. :D:p The two things I've not picked up from him are his expensive chamois and his horse-hair brushes. I buy my brushes locally from Amazon India and I think they're great, after having worked through 2-3 brands.

I've used the Renomat on one pair of full-brogue wingtip-toe derby once, to remove oil drop stains. It worked very well, but once you touch Renomat to your leather, it's an uphill task rejuvenating it using multiple rounds of mink oil, then multiple rounds of Renovateur, etc. Needs a couple of weeks and (for me) 10+ rounds of the various magic potions treatment. Renomat really sucks the life out of your leather. Scary stuff. Totally safe, though.

Can't imagine using forty-rupee Cherry Blossom shoe polish on multi-thousand-rupee leather any more. The synthetic paraffin and chemical based goop they sell (and which I've used for the first fifty years of my life, knowing nothing better) is so sad compared to good stuff. And one doesn't need to go all the way to Saphir -- even just the Woly and other cream polishes available in India today are so much better than Cherry Blossom.

Another total eye opener was the first time I used horse-hair brushes. My first HH brush was a Woly, bought from the local Hypercity outlet. It was ten times as expensive (Rs.450) as the Cherry Blossom or Kiwi lying beside it (Rs.40). But having tasted that polishing ease once, and having actually touched those bristles, I now don't know how I used those cheap synthetic-bristles brushes for so many decades. HH brushes take one-tenth the effort to get the same shine.

I think you can guess: I'm a DIYer. :D

For trekking: I'm one of those Decathlon till I die types. :p My last trek was through Thorong La. 5,410 metres. The last stretch through the pass, water in my water bladder and feed pipe began to freeze, and I realised why people wear three pairs of gloves: my fingers started to freeze with just two layers. But the Quecha equipment were perfect.
 
The only pair of hiking boots I've used is by Quecha (a Decathlon brand), and I'm totally happy with them. I found North Face a few times as expensive and don't know what I get extra for all that extra money. Maybe you can tell me?
I've used North Face for trekking boots and backpacks and Columbia for insulated down jackets. These are quite well known and have served their purpose really well. The boots are light weight, last really long, can be used in wet and dry terrains and have pretty good support while carrying heavy loads. The backpacks from NF too have excellent spine support and bolstering for lower back. For me, the reason behind choosing these have been the assumption that these won't fail me during a trip. I've not used Quechua, but have heard that they make excellent products which are less expensive. During year end sales and store wide clearance in US/Canada you can get NF/Columbia at 30-50% off the usual maximum, which makes them quite affordable, since these are never bought frequently. Now, as to why North Face charges a premium over Quechua, your guess is as good as mine :)
 
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But I've switched entirely to Saphir for leather care. I have their Renomat, the mink oil, the Renovateur, the cream polish, the wax polish and mirror-gloss wax polish.


Good to know that Saphir is available on Amazon.in - pricey though.
Thanks for the tip on the HH brushes! Must try and get one.



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