Today's Shoes

Day

Gravati three-eyelet wholecut bal in burgundy grained calfskin (Lama) with single leather soles (14391, 683 last).

Evening

Gravati cap-toe bals in navy blue grained calfskin (Lama) with double leather soles (15537, 640 last).

Today's Shoes

Day

Gravati three-eyelet wholecut bals in burgundy Lama calf with single leather soles (14391, 683 last).

Evening

Alden half-brogue bluchers in long-nap dark brown suede with combination leather/rubber soles (actually, a rubber mini-lug sewn onto a single leather sole; Alden calls it the Commando sole) (Barrie last). You will recall that these shoes were special orders from Alden of Carmel, done probably 6 years ago. Alden has since discontinued doing one-off special orders, which is a shame. I can understand why, though: such shoes disrupt the production line and make the factory much less efficient. They cannot realistically charge enough to make up for the lost output, so they don't do them.

Today's Shoes

Day

Gravati three-eyelet wholecut bals in burgundy Lama calf (14391, 683 last). I like wholecuts better in theory than in practice. The problem is that there are no seams or decoration on the uppers of the shoes, which means that there is nothing that can hide creases or imperfect fit. More than that, there's also nothing to give the shoes shape, and they tend to bag. They don't ever look as good on the foot as they do on the shelf.

Evening

Crockett & Jones Handgrade split-toe bluchers with pie-crust-style handsewing on the apron seam and a reversed toe seam (Cornhill model, 330 last). My feet have two principal problems with the 330 last. First is that 330 is to wide in the heel, like lots of lasts designed for European feet. The second is that there's not enough room over the instep, which can make the laces uncomfortable after a period of wear. This is a pity. While Crockett & Jones doesn't do this model nearly as well as Edward Green does (Dover model for EG), these are great shoes.

Today's Shoes

Day

Gravati three-eyelet wholecut bals in burgundy Lama calf (14391, 683 last). I've been trying to figure out why this three-eyelet wholecut is not as successful as Berluti's iconic club wholecut. Part of it is the fact that I don't wear the Berluti shoe, which means that it's only ever a picture or the equivalent of a piece of sculpture to me; whereas I do wear this Gravati shoe and consequently think of it as an actual piece of footwear. Part of it also is that Lama is so soft that the throat of the shoe does not hold its shape when laced on a foot as well as it would were the shoe made from a stiffer calfskin. But I bet that my shoes are more comfortable than the Berluti model would be.

Evening

Gravati saddle bal in mid-brown peccary with a leather/rubber combination sole (15578, 640 last).

Today's Shoes

Day

Gravati three-eyelet wholecut bal in burgundy Lama calf (14391, last 683). This is another special order. I would have been better-served to have picked a last less elongated than 683 is, and four eyelets would have worked better than three.

Evening

Alden wingtip bal in dark brown suede (904, Hampton last). This was my second "good" pair of shoes, purchased maybe eight years ago. I just had to have a pair of suede wingtips, and these fit the bill. I don't wear them that much anymore, but they are still great shoes.