you dont like leather soles formby? can i ask why?

fruity

must have missed your former posts on the subject formby ..

agree with all of the above and i can attest to (b) from bitter experience, falling both on tube station platforms in london & company lobbys both of which use smooth as ice marble type surfaces ..

id add that leather soles are not v flexible either, esp english shoe soles (italians seem to use more flexible soles but they are soft and therefore get worn down even quicker) .. therefore you put unnecessary strain on joints when walking .. most classic menswear characters say leather soles will become flexible after wearing in and they are the only way to go but i think this change is negligable & frankly think its wishful thinking more than anything else ..

the problem is that most high end shoe manafacturers do use leather soles (lobb, EG with only the occassional v casual models made with a rubber sole), mid end will give you danite .. dont know your view on this? how do you navigate this issue formby .. what sort of shoes do you wear which look elegant and dont use a leather sole?

fruity

Last edited by Oldfruit1 (2013-01-02 08:19:50)

Last edited by formby (2013-01-02 08:30:21)

I'm with Formby, if only for solid climate reasons.

I used to always take new shoes to the cobblers for a Topy before wearing them even once (including - Shooey look away now - my Cleverleys) and I have no doubt that this saved me from slipping and breaking bones in the rain on more than one occasion.

The problem with this method though is that I'd always eventually stub my toe on some uneven pavement or something or other and the Topy would start to come loose and flap around at the front.  It's probably something that other people wouldn't notice but it annoyed me and trying to glue the Topy back down never worked.

So now I've stopped doing this and have wet weather (rubber sole) and dry weather (leather sole) shoes but it's not a good solution.

In wet weather then brand new leather soles will result in a spectacular falling over. However, don't wear brand new soles out when it's wet. Once  the leather sole has accumulated plenty of fine grit (my local train station's foot bridge surface is ideal for imparting this) then the purchase should be good enough to avoid slipping.

Sal - I just get the cobbler to clean up the surfaces, if Topy comes slightly unstuck, and re-glue.

Also a good cobbler can bevel/angle the edges on a topy with a scalpel and/or dremel,  so it doesn't catch on stuff and more importantly, those iGents who sneak around looking, and sneering, at soles - can't notice its Topy.
Topy also comes in a few different colours at least grey and light tan as far as I remember.

Last edited by fritzl (2013-01-03 02:30:57)