Today's Shoes

Day

Edward Green bal austerity brogues in burgundy antique calfskin with single leather soles (Beaulieu model, 888 last). The 888 last was designed by Tony Gaziano while he was with Edward Green as a replacement for the 808 last. The 808 was a replacement for the famous 88, but both of these lasts had fit problems. 888 was supposed to be a better-fitting version of both of these. It is a beautiful last. The problem, for me, is that the toe is elongated enough that it causes the shoe to break too far forward on my foot. When I flex my foot while walking, the crease hits my little toe just behind the nail. This is a bit uncomfortable. Alas. Even though the 808 does not fit well generally, it fits me just fine; and I think that it will meet my square-toe Edward Green needs in the future.

Evening

Mephisto Allrounder Teramo sneakers in medium brown oiled calfskin and taupe suede.

Today's Shoes

Day

Edward Green bespoke Adelaide bals with hand-stitching forming the diamond cap, the U throat, and the heel counter. Tony Gaziano, who made the lasts for these shoes, is a chisel-toe specialist; and these shoes have the chiseliest of chisel toes. That was intentional: I wanted something extremely aggressive, and that's what he made for me. I imagine that I will have Tony make more shoes for me at some point, but I think that the next pair will have a smart round toe.

Evening

Brooks Brothers Peal & Co. unlined three-eyelet plain-toe blucher boots in sand suede with heavy crepe rubber soles.

Today's Shoes

Day

Edward Green austerity brogue bals in burgundy antique calfskin with single leather soles (Beaulieu model, 888 last).

Evening

Alden half brogue bluchers in long-nap dark brown suede with a commando sole (Barrie last). These shoes were special orders from Alden of Carmel many moons ago.

Today's Shoes

Day

Edward Green half-brogue bals in chestnut antique calf with single leather soles (Cadogan model, 202 last).

Evening

Alden punch cap bals in black calfskin with single leather soles (model 901, Hampton last). These really are the only shoes that will do when going to a funeral. RIP, Jim Carlstead.

Today's Shoes

Day

Edward Green bal austerity brogues in antique burgundy calf with single leather soles with a double row of brass slugs in the toe of the sole (Beaulieu model, 888 last). The shoes pictured above are identical to mine except that they are made on the 82 last instead of the 888. Most shoemakers will recommend brass slugs in the toe of the sole as a mechanism for reducing the speed with which the sole toes wear down. They don't work. Only steel plates work. (Well, hard rubber plates work too.) But the brass slugs still look cool.

Evening

Alden long wing bluchers in Color #8 shell cordovan with a reverse welt and double leather soles (model 975, Barrie last).

Today's Shoes

Day

Edward Green bespoke adelaide diamond-tip bals with pie crust-style throat, counter, and toe cap stitching in dark brown aniline-dyed calf with single leather soles with steel plates in the toe. These shoes are one of the original Gaziano-Girling shoes -- Tony Gaziano was the lastmaker and clicker, and Dean Girling was the maker -- but they were made when Tony was still with Edward Green. I have been wanting to have Tony make another pair for me (I'm thinking a wholecut monkstrap with reversed seams), but, alas, he hasn't come close to this part of the country since these shoes were completed. I'd like him to see these on the foot so that he can determine if any last adjustments are needed. In addition, I think that the next pair will be on a round-toe last, and I'd like to discuss the last and the design of the shoe with him in person. So maybe next spring...

Evening

JM Weston demi-chasse bluchers in dark tan calf with double leather soles (598 model).

Today's Shoes

Day

Edward Green half-brogue bluchers in antiqued tan calfskin (Edwardian Antique, I think) with single leather soles (Cardiff model, 89 last -- these shoes were made for Ralph Lauren, hence the RL-specific last).

Evening

Crockett & Jones Handgrade plain-toe monkstrap in antiqued tan calfskin with single leather soles (Mortimer model, 330 last). The designation "handgrade" for these shoes is nothing more than marketing hype. They are factory-made with Goodyear-welting machines. It may be (and almost certainly is) the case that certain steps are performed by hand and that it takes a good deal of skill for an operator to do even the machine-facilitated steps, but this isn't a handmade shoe.

Today's Shoes

Day

Vass cap-toe bal in burgundy calf with a beveled single leather sole (Old English model, P2 last). These shoes have heel counters, which is a bit unusual for cap-toes without any broguing.

Evening

Edward Green monkstrap ankle boots in dark oak antique calf with double leather soles that narrow to single leather soles at the waist (Olney model, 606 last). The shoes pictured above are not mine, but they have exactly the same configuration as mine do.

Today's Shoes

Day

Edward Green austerity brogue bals in antique burgundy calf with single leather soles (Beaulieu model, 888 last -- the picture is of the same shoes only on the round-toe 82 last). Don't you think that these shoes would be fantastic in Color #8 shell cordovan. I do. If only Edward Green would work in shell cordovan...

Evening

Gravati wholecut cap-toe bluchers in navy blue Lama calf with leather soles (15537, 640 last). An interesting feature of these shoes is the sole configuration: in the forefoot, the sole is double thickness, but it narrows to single thickness at the waist, allowing it to be close-cut and beveled on the inside of the foot. It's very attractive, and it's something that Gravati did on their own without any prompting from me (these were special order shoes, which means that I specified all of the details). Amazingly enough, they have developed quite an aesthetic sense after nearly 100 years of making shoes.

Today's Shoes

Day

Edward Green double monkstraps with a pie-crust-style handsewn apron seam and a reversed, ghosted toe seam in an medium brown antiqued calfskin (EG calls it burnt pine antique) with double leather soles (Fulham model, 82 last). One reason that I wore these shoes today, aside from the undeniable virtuosity of the design, was that I am considering another EG shoe order, and I wanted to confirm my impressions of the 82 last before I ordered something new on it. 82, you will recall, is the narrow round-toe last that Tony Gaziano designed for EG. It being a Gaziano-designed last, it's a bit on the long side, at least when compared to other EG lasts. Aesthetically, it's also my favorite, at least right now. In any event, if you're between two sizes in other EG lasts, I would go with the smaller of the two on 82.

Evening

Gravati bal austerity brogues in red-brown Lama calf -- Gravati calls the color larice -- with double leather soles (14953, 640 last).

Today's Shoes

Edward Green punch cap adelaide bals in chestnut antique calf with single leather soles (Canterbury model, 202 last). These shoes were the first pair of Edward Greens that I ever ordered (from Maus & Hoffman in Florida) and remain among my favorites (behind the Dovers, of course). I love adelaides (also called U-throats) because they're a bit different from the normal but not so different that anybody other than a shoe geek would ever notice the difference.

Today's Shoes

Edward Green chasses with pie-crust-style handsewn apron and ghosted handsewn toe seam in navy blue antique calf with double leather soles (Dover model, 606 last). Supposedly, 606 last derives from 202 last and has the same fit characteristics. I have not found that to be the case. These shoes have always been a bit large, particularly in the heel, while my 202 last shoes in the same size are not. If I had it to do over again, I would probably have these shoes made up on 808 last, which fits better, particularly over the instep and in the heel. I just may do that: you can never have too many Dovers, and you can never have too many blue shoes. Olive antique would be nice, too, don't you think?

Today's Shoes

Day

Edward Green chasse bluchers with pie-crust-style handsewing on the apron and a ghosted toe seam in antiqued tan calf (EG calls it Edwardian Antique) with a double leather sole (Dover model, 808 last). The shoes to the left are Dovers on the 808 last, but they're in a leather that EG calls Brandy Willow, not Edwardian Antique. The pictures that I could find online of shoes in Edwardian were significantly lighter in color than mine, which points out an important fact about Edward Green: there is a tremendous of variation in their different colors (except for black) because most of that color is hand-applied during the finishing stage. My Edwardian Dovers are about the same color as my Chestnut Antique shoes, but that's not typical. 808 last was Edward Green's first attempt to update the classic 88 last, and I believe that it started being made in the late '90s. It apparently did not fit most feet very well because they quickly replaced it with the Tony Gaziano-designed 888 last. I like it, though. It fits me well, and it offers a more shapely square toe than the 606 without being as severe as the 888.

Evening

John Lobb Paris split-toe penny loafer in dark brown pebble-grain calf with a single leather sole (Campus model, 3198 last).

Today's Shoes

Day

Edward Green bespoke bals with a U-throat and diamond cap done in pie-crust-style handsewing. I have mentioned before that I tend to wear down the toes of my soles faster than any other part, so I have started to get steel tips on my bespoke shoes. It stops that kind of wear in its tracks, but the downside is that it sounds like I'm wearing tap shoes when I walk on hard floors. Maybe if I had the grace of Fred Astaire, this wouldn't be a problem.

Evening

Gravati bal austerity brogues in red-brown Lama calfskin (14953, 640 last).

Today's Shoes

Day

Edward Green split-toe chasse shoes with a hand-stitched apron and toe seam in light British tan calf (EG calls it Edwardian Antique -- Dover model, 808 last). The shoes pictured to the left are Dovers in Edwardian Antique, only on the round-toe 202 last instead of the square-toe 808. I bought my pair through George Bass, a retailer in New Orleans. They took over ten months to arrive. I'm not sure if that's because of problems with George Bass or problems with Edward Green. That's a long time to wait for a pair of shoes, but the Dover is the second most sublime shoe design in existence.

Evening

Gravati cap-toe bals with reversed seams and a leather-stitched faux-brogueing on the toe cap and throat in tobacco suede (16492, 655 last).

Today's Shoes

Day

Edward Green half-brogue bals in British tan calf (EG calls it chestnut antique -- Cadogan model, 202 last). These shoes were purchased at the original Saks Fifth Avenue after a day of tromping around Manhattan, and I consequently got them larger than they needed to be. All of the advice says to try on shoes in the afternoon because feet swell during the day. I imagine that this is good advice, but don't do it after walking on concrete for several hours.

Evening

Edward Green single buckle ankle boots in dark oak calf (Olney model, 606 last). Another purchase from the original Saks Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. These would be more comfortable if EG had either made them a bit taller so that they didn't hit on my ankle bone or if the upper part of the boot had been unlined. Boots of the same model and on the same last are shown in the picture above.

Today's Shoes

Edward Green half-brogue bluchers in British antique tan (Cardiff model, 89 last). These are EG-made Ralph Lauren-labeled shoes, purchased for a relative song off of Bluefly. 89 last is a bit unusual. It's big, and it's wide. More than that, though, the vamp of the shoe is high and flat. In some ways, it reminds me of something Hungarian (only on the top of the shoe, though -- the rest is completely different). One of the best, most versatile shoes that Edward Green makes.

Today's Shoes

Day

Edward Green austerity brogues in antique burgundy calf (Beaulieu model, 888 last). The shoes shown above are identical to my own except that they are on the 82 last instead of the 888. The picture is from LeatherSoul in Hawaii, which is my go-to source for everything Edward Green and Alden. Tom Park, who owns Leather Soul, is a good egg.

Evening

Gravati five-eyelet blucher ankle boot in dark brown peccary with a combination rubber/leather sole (15950, 640 last).

Today's Shoes

Day

Edward Green double monkstrap shoes with a handsewn apron and toe seam in dark tan calfskin (Fulham model, 82 last). I love these shoes.

Evening

Gravati ghillie-tie bluchers with twin-needle stitching on the apron and toe in tan suede (13555, 500 last). I notice that I wore these shoes last Monday. I apologize profusely for my lack of variety in footwear. I have let you down, and I promise to do better in the future.

Today's Shoes

Day

Edward Green plain-toe side-buckle monkstraps in Edwardian Antique (Stowe model, 808 last). Stowe is Edward Green's answer to John Lobb Paris's sublime Jermyn II, the difference being that Jermyn II is a wholecut where Stowe has separate pieces of leather for the vamp and quarters. In recent years, Edward Green has retired this model in favor of the Oundle, which has less sweep in the strap, because the configuration of the strap and the vamp/quarter seam in the Stowe is not particularly comfortable or particularly durable. My Stowes were a special order from Edward Green's Burlington Arcade store (before they shut down that store and moved to the current one on Jermyn St.).

Evening

Gravati split-toe ghillie-tie bluchers in tan suede with a rubber sole (13555, 500 last).