meister wrote:

The_Shooman wrote:

My true highend English rtw shoo. Never had the chance to purchase one locally before, but this pair actually is the first English highend to fit me. l am sooo proud of this rascal. Not quite as well finished as the `Henry Bucks' Edward Greens, and the leather is a touch lower  too. Henry Bucks always specifies high levels of workmanship.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b151/ … Gmine1.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b151/ … Gmine2.jpg

Pretty sexy for an ugly old bastard like you shooey! Congrats...

l look exactly like my avator...got the prettiest face in town man.  

l called into Herringbone and showed the guys what l bought as l was trying on the C&J's and those guys were highly impressed and even took photos of the bad boy G's.

l showed Mr X them and he even took photos because he was highly impressed as well. He explained how they made the shoos and the tricks that they used. He said the sole sanding was rough in places (they are only factory workers afterall), but he said that most of the work was extremely well done and great for factory workers. Mr X took pictures and is going to help the Chinese make G&G style shoos; bevelled waist, close cut waist, high spi, the best leathers, the separate heel v's sole (like on bespoke) and all the other fancy stuff. Mr X loved the shoo and is highly motivated by the G&G to start making them like that.

Mr X wants to make G&G style shoos because the bloke who owns one of the best factories in China (one of two factories in China that do goodyear welts) said that he wants to do whatever it takes to make the "best goodyear welted shoos in the world". This Chinese bloke is as keen as mustard and lives for shoos; he used to work for Moreschi on the factory floor and has some of the keenest highly trained staff (good pattern maker and designer) who can't stop talking about shoos. The staff can make good shoos, but they need to refine their techniques. The fellow wants to make the best shoos, and Mr X will show them how. Mr X's skills even leaves the G&G factory workers for dead because he has years of experience; the way Mr X grinds those soles and keeps it in artful proportion to the upper is something the G&G factory dudes still need to master...good eyes and machine skill takes a long time to master.

Mr X also explained how the inner heel counter re-inforcer was much longer on the inside than the outside inner heel counter, so in effect the inner counter actually extended the outside counter to give the shoo much more support on the inside (a good trick). Mr X also said that the heel was made of wood (heel is very light) with a leather case covering (make the entire heel look like leather layers) with a leather layer on top with a moon piece...far superior to an all leather heel and has the advantage when building the heel separate from the sole in that it is easier to keep the sole and heel grooving really really clean and minimise potential shoddyness by dividing the work into smaller sections to be done, + when the sole is carved the heel won't get damaged. lt takes much more work to separate the heel and sole, but it is a better way to make the shoo. The heel sticks out from the sole (the notch) because of the heel casing placed over the wooden heel.

* i'll talk much more about the Chinese factory in my blog and post pics and talk about their missions to conquer the world with quality. Most people misunderstand what is going on in China, they have alot going for them. l'll also post some of Mr X's work...he can make a great gunboat, better than anything you see from Alden, not all hacked, but proper work done well.

P.S: l started Mr X on a gunboat fetish now. With all the goodyear welts and my gunboat persuasion Mr X has become a troo bloo gunboat junkie.

l will be keeping in touch with Mr X and he will be filing shoo reports from his experiences abroad.

Last edited by The_Shooman (2011-12-23 07:05:07)

I splashed some cash on some shaving and skincare products from Taylor of Old Bond Street.

l got a real shock when l worked out how many pair l have bought lately, it feels like l haven't bought shoos in ages, but l have just realised that l have bought six pair over the last 6 or 7 weeks, that's almost one a week.


1). Church's suede desert boot
2). Gaziano & Girling adelaide quarter brogue (`St James' model)
3). Bespoke tan adelaide quarter brogue by Mr X
4). Vass burgundy shell cordovan budapester with 360 goiser stitch
5). C&J black double monk
6). Bespoke black adelaide quarter brogue by John (started a few weeks ago)

Last edited by The_Shooman (2012-01-22 05:33:44)