Tom definitely remembers them. 

I never bought anything from them but remember them.  There is another shoe store now in their place, which is apparently staffed or run by the brother of James next door at J.Press.

My dad, I believe, has a pair of jodhpurs that came from there when it was still Barrie.

I have the sneaking suspicion that all of this was written to get on my good side. And I still don't believe that anyone from England should write about american clothes.
     Of course I also believe in the Great Pumpkin, I believe that Latin should be taught in American grade schools, I believe that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone and that George W. Bush should be hung from a rotten cherry tree.
      I believe in my country. I believe when it is true to its values it is the nation that all the world aspires to be. And its male citizens are the best dressed people in the world....on those rarer and rarer occasions when they actually make an effort.
    And I do know all about Barries and its demise. I bought my first shoes there in the late 60s..

The first time I used that line was at the Royal Opera House for a performance of Swan Lake. At the intermission some old idiot begged me to give up my seat to talk to the hot looking brunnette sitting next to me with whom he claimed an acquaintance. when the lights began to blink I literally had to toss the idiot out to reclaim my seat.I looked at the girl and said: No wonder...... Circa 1976.
     But in all honesty I read these posts. i can't make head nor tail out of the claimed distinctions. I  spent a lot of time and own property in South Carolina. I grew up and still live in New Haven, CT. I just don't understand what people are saying about the clothes I wear. I will say this: Some people adapt a style. other people are brought up in a style. I am surprised that a non native adopts a style from New England circa 1964. I'm not complaining. But reading someone espouse their adapted style is just like reading Bill Kritol's opinion pieces in the New York Times.
    But I promise I will write about Barries over the American three day Memorial Day weekend. My country is turning in the right direction. I need to be a better person, in keeping with the times.

RS: Peace! I spent 1976 in London and it was one of the happiest times of my life (very cheap to live there then. The pound had taken a tremendous hit). I stood in line at the National Theater and saw Albert Finney doing Hamlet and Tanberlaine the Great. Paid a a couple of bucks for the best theater I had ever seen or will ever hope to see. I was a clothes horse then. Had a couple of Arthur Rosenberg suits and a couple of McGorge by way of the Yale Co-Op sweaters. Shoes were from Barries (Italian Gucci imitation loafers which they did very well at the time). I bought an overcoat from the Savoy Tailor Guild, a 4 ply cashmere sweater from some place in the Burlington arcade. Indulged a taste for Britains lead toy soldiers (Stopped making them a decade before).
       Wouldn't tell anyone how to dress. Enjoyed the couple of times I was mistaken for a young English gentleman who knew the way around London. Bought umbrellas from Thomas Fox, James Smith and Burberrys. Bought a Burberry raincoat some 20 years before they were fashionable. I was a pilgrim. I would never have told the English about their style. I wouldn't do it now. I loved it all then. Great times.

The English Barrie were Joseph Cheaney.

What's the connection between Barrie Bootery and Alden's "Barrie" last, if any?

TV's photos are not of Cheaney make. The word "style" within the lining of the shoe appears familiar. A US? maker even though the shoe construction appears somewhat Italian. No stitching on the top of the sole (glued?) and a universal (right/left) neoprene top-lift on the bottom of the heel. Of course the heel top-lifts may be replacements.

I know that when facing Press on York, Barrie was to the left 20 years ago. Did they move to the corner a the right of Press when Rosenberg's folded? Or did their demise predate Rosenberg's?

I live in my on mind and have UFO landing sights in Awendaw, South Carolina. I dig the Glaswegian interpretation of the Desi look circa 1957. Bobaloo Ivy, I think it's called.   

(Take a break and upon return most of the neighborhood has changed. Gomez back from his rather dramatic retirement?)

Last edited by Howard (2008-05-23 22:06:48)

http://bulldog7299.blogspot.com/2008/05/beginning-in-1934-barrie-ltd.html