They would pinch me but someone on here might fancy a punt. Mightn't they?
My size I think. If they're still available dirt cheap by the time the sale ends I might take a punt. But I prefer my footwear with less wear.
It'll be interesting to see, because of their august name, what they do go for, won't it?
Of course, Yuca is quite right. They're going to need work doing to them before long, aren't they?
If they're cordovan then a lot, I suspect.
At least the low starting price makes a nice change. I've seen knackered Clarks' desert boots put on with starting bids of £30. People were telling one another, fifteen and more years ago, 'You can sell anything on Ebay'. They were largely in for a rude awakening. It's like one big car boot sale most days.
'Mid-century' is the latest buzz. Oh dear. It can mean anything from about the time Stanley Baldwin was at Number Ten to when Wayne Rooney landed up at Derby County: all points in between. Even my elder daughter is onto it, with her Miller Price Guide. London prices. Is 'shabby chic' still doing the rounds? There used to be a terrific shop in Nottingham - which An Unseen Scene might remember - called 'Daphne's Handbag', run by a slightly deadpan but very sweet gay. Now that was an education! First time I ever saw a 'Drunken Bricklayer'. Closed now and sorely missed.
I don't know how accurate it actually is, but I think one of the characteristics of an igent is loving cordovan but hating to pay an appropriate price for it, resulting in them going crazy for any used cordovan footwear they see. Meaning the loafers in question could fetch a lot.
Personally I only buy used footwear if it's almost new or dirt cheap. Preferably the former (or even better both).
Last edited by Yuca (2022-01-28 09:22:57)
Now up to a glorious £1.20.
Last edited by AFS (2022-01-29 00:42:13)
These are now moving slowly upwards.
£40 - with a whole week to run. Should become wildly exciting towards the end, much as when those 'Guaranteed To Bleed Madras' shirts were on offer about twelve years ago.
Calf leather not cordo, you can tell as they have creases in the leather which you don’t get with the latter.
The seller was always going to get a lot of interest and get bids rolling with a low starting price. It encourages people to bid, and will probably give him a higher end price than if putting a BIN or starting higher. It’s the thrill of the auction process
Last edited by Tomiskinky (2022-01-31 01:17:18)
Tom, well spotted. But you do get creasing in cordovan, don't you? I thought that was partly the point: creasing, even slight cracking - and patina.
Odd perhaps - but I would never wear them. I might wear Alden smooths or something of that kind but never their loafers.
I wonder what our American friends make of it all. I'm a kind of convert to the idea of loafers being just something to kick around in, much like sneakers or desert boots.
As a matter of fact I've got a good mind to get hold of another pair of those 'plastic-looking' Bass Weejuns, as seen at Russell Street circa 2005. Give them a good scuffing and they'd look - to some degree - like the £50 USA-made Dexter I haven't yet worn.
Not the sort of creasing like regular calf leather. Cordovan is a membrane so you get welts and rolls rather then creases, and you use a deer bone to ease these out so they look all smooth again. My Aldens have been returned to the US as a little of the stitching has pulled away on the wing.