Today's Shoes

Day

Grenson Masterpieces three-eyelet blucher ankle austerity brogue boots in antiqued chestnut calfskin with single leather soles.

Evening

Santoni three-eyelet plain-toe blucher ankle boots in dark brown suede reverse welted with a thick rubber lug sole. These shoes were originally purchased to be Manhattan walking shoes. I've bought a lot of these. Walking in Manhattan can be brutal, both because there's so much of it and because the concrete sidewalks provide no cushioning at all. Shoes that don't fit well will cause blisters; and even if they do fit well, they can leave your feet feeling like they've been pounded with hammers. These ankle boots have a thick, cushy, latex rubber sole, and I thought that they would do well in Manhattan. They did okay, I suppose, but the fit in the heel wasn't as good as it needed to be to avoid discomfort after a long day of walking.

Today's Shoes

Day

Alden long wing bluchers in Color #8 shell cordovan with a double leather sole and a split reverse welt (model 975, Barrie last). You may recall that I complained about some heel slippage with these shoes on their first two wearings. Heel slippage is what causes blisters, and I don't like blisters. My hope was that the slippage was caused by the stiffness of the double leather soles: that they're so thick and stiff that they don't flex enough when they're new, which causes the heel to slip as the wearer walks. Well, after this wearing, I'm more hopeful. There is still some minor slippage with my right heel, but nothing with my left. Maybe next time, we can dispense with slippage altogether.

Incidentally, a strange but true fact: typically, one's dominant foot is slightly smaller than one's off foot. I'm right-footed, and my right foot is probably a quarter size smaller than my left foot. How do I know that my experience is typical? I asked Tony Gaziano, who has examined more feet than just about anybody who isn't a podiatrist.

Evening

Santoni three-eyelet plain-toe ankle boots in caramel brown calfskin with a rubber sole. It's a nasty night tonight.

Today's Shoes

Day

Gravati split-toe monkstraps in caramel brown Radica 03 calf with a combination leather/rubber sole (17194, 697 last). The apron and toe seams are machine stitched. 697 last is a bit long, and it has a bulbous toe, which is not particularly noticeable on a split-toe shoe but which calls attention to itself on a plain-toe. I can't really imagine a cap-toe on this last, but a wing-tip would be interesting -- sort of an Italian rendition of a Budapester.

Evening

Santoni two-eyelet chukka boot in dark brown suede with a thick, cushy, latex rubber lug sole. These shoes are from Santoni's mid-level Goodyear-welted line and are very nice.

Today's Shoes

Day

Gravati plain-toe side-elastic shoes in Radica 055 calf (16624, 683 last). Side elastic shoes are wonderful, and the deep burgundy of the Radica 055 calf went very well with my brand new olive trousers from Chris Despos.

Evening

Santoni two-eyelet chukka boots in caramel brown calf with a rubber sole. These are another pair of rain shoes, and it's stormy in Houston tonight.

Today's Shoes

Day

Grenson three-eyelet utility brogue ankle boots in British tan. As I have written, I have a thing for utility brogues, and I have a total of four pairs of them. These are the most unusual, both because they are bluchers and because they are boots. I would like the idea of these better than the practice for two reasons: first, they are a bit too big, and my heel slips; second, they aren't cut high enough, which causes them to dig into my ankle bones. Consequently, they are one of my pairs of rain shoes; and it was very rainy today.

Evening

Santoni rubber-soled chukka boot in mid-brown calf. Another pair of rain shoes. Like I wrote, it was very rainy today.

Today's Shoes

Day

Alden wing-tip high-lace boots in cigar shell cordovan on Plaza last. Alden is one of the two remaining American manufacturers of decent shoes (Allen-Edmonds is the other), and it is known far and wide as a shell cordovan specialist. In fact, shell cordovan is probably the reason that Alden is still in business. While almost all of the other American shoe manufacturers were either going bankrupt or moving their manufacturing offshore, Alden was busy turning its shell cordovan shoes into objects of adoration in Germany and Japan, where they can command prices almost twice as high as they can in the United States. This last little tidbit of information explains the business plan of Tom Park, proprietor of LeatherSoul in Hawaii. Hawaii gets oodles of Japanese tourists. Tom figured that if he sold shoes that the Japanese fetishized, like Alden and Edward Green, at full retail US prices, these Japanese tourists would think that they were getting fantastic bargains and would stock up. So far, it has worked very well for him. It doesn't hurt that he's a great guy who loves shoes and comes up with fantastic ideas like these Alden boots.

Evening

Santoni Goodyear-welted chukka boots in dark brown suede with a thick latex outsole (Neville model). Nice boots, and it was wet outside this evening.