Shoes

Sabre

Sabre

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UK
What are your favourite shoe brands? I grew up in the 70's when there were endless number of shoe stores:

Russell and Bromley - still going
Ravel
Roland Cartier
Lilley & Skinner
Dolcis
Saxone
The law firm of Freeman, Hardy and Willis
Trueform and Mansfield
Cable & Co
Curtess

I had never really heard of Stead and Simpson, another law firm that started selling shoes or Barretts.

I now wear Goodyear welted Loake, Barker and Joseph Cheaney and the odd iconic Clarks product.

Growing up I would wear K Shoes from Gordon Scott and Chapman shoes, and shoes from Ravel, but switched to various M&S shoes from Peter Black and John White before upgrading to Loakes et al.
 
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Man after my own heart. I try to keep a bit of a lid on it but I do like a quality shoe. Your list of shops brought back memories.
My favourite shoes are a pair of burgundy 'gunboats' as the early 1969 smart skinheads used to call them (Loake Royal Brogue) and a pair of Loake beef roll loafers which I think are called Princeton. I polish those alternately with black and burgundy and they have a lovely deep aged colour. Just had them resoled for I can't remember how many times, but they're by far the most comfortable shoes I've had. (Wish I could say the same about the gunboats). Paid more in resoling those loafers over the years than they cost to buy but they're as good as new so I'll continue to enjoy them. I originally wanted Bass Weejuns but I fell in love with the Loake ones and they are British. I believe mine were actually made here not just British brand, but if someone's a real shoe geek and tells me uk production ceased more than 10-15 years ago when I got them then I'll stand corrected.
I've got a nice pair of quite formal plain Loake chukka boots as well, plus a pair of tassel loafers I bought in Toledo. The spanish are very fussy about shoes so it's a good place to look.
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I have two pairs of these.

50125_CCBK.jpg



And two pairs of these, and some old ones, that's the only shoes I have these days.

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hotmetal said:
Man after my own heart. I try to keep a bit of a lid on it but I do like a quality shoe. Your list of shops brought back memories.
My favourite shoes are a pair of burgundy 'gunboats' as the early 1969 smart skinheads used to call them (Loake Royal Brogue) and a pair of Loake beef roll loafers which I think are called Princeton. I polish those alternately with black and burgundy and they have a lovely deep aged colour. Just had them resoled for I can't remember how many times, but they're by far the most comfortable shoes I've had. (Wish I could say the same about the gunboats). Paid more in resoling those loafers over the years than they cost to buy but they're as good as new so I'll continue to enjoy them. I originally wanted Bass Weejuns but I fell in love with the Loake ones and they are British. I believe mine were actually made here not just British brand, but if someone's a real shoe geek and tells me uk production ceased more than 10-15 years ago when I got them then I'll stand corrected.
I've got a nice pair of quite formal plain Loake chukka boots as well, plus a pair of tassel loafers I bought in Toledo. The spanish are very fussy about shoes so it's a good place to look.
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It looks like the Royal is made in Northamptonshire, can't say if it was the case 15 years ago when you got them but I would guess that they were.
 
I had a pair of tan brogue dealer boots by Roamer. The leather and sole was supremely soft and comfy but they did not like rain. In the end I stopped wearing them on account of being too impatient with all the laces, too many holes when I had to take them off before I could go in - not the boots fault, all mine!

My walking boots are Brasher, so light and comfy, I think they're Hillmaster GTX or something like that. Got them in Ireland when I went up Mt Brandon.
 
A pair of NPS brogues which are simply wonderful for what I paid (£90). Far cheaper than the Clarks equivalent and much superior
Barker cherry red Gibsons - Again a sale bargain
A pair of Joseph Cheaney black Gibsons - A steal at £6 from a charity shop
A pair of Berwick shoes brown country Gibsons - Sale items
A pair of 23 year old Doc Martens
A pair of Clarks boots which are supremely comfortable and just go on and on
2 pairs of Asics trainers which is the only brand I will buy on the trainer front

Out of the lot? The NPS brogues

20220801_073822.jpg
 
Satanfriendly said:
A pair of NPS brogues which are simply wonderful for what I paid (£90). Far cheaper than the Clarks equivalent and much superior
Barker cherry red Gibsons - Again a sale bargain
A pair of Joseph Cheaney black Gibsons - A steal at £6 from a charity shop
A pair of Berwick shoes brown country Gibsons - Sale items
A pair of 23 year old Doc Martens
A pair of Clarks boots which are supremely comfortable and just go on and on
2 pairs of Asics trainers which is the only brand I will buy on the trainer front

Out of the lot? The NPS brogues

View attachment 91407
Click to expand...

Those Cheaneys were a steal, there is a Cheaneys shop behind Lloyds of London, the shoes in the window were unpriced, I went in and there was nothing below £350 and that was 10 years ago.

There is a YouTube channel that takes leather shoes apart and rebuilds them, you really see where your money goes on better shoes when you see them taken apart.
 
Shoes are where it's at. Have many, many fine examples; Berluti (Classic Norwegian triple sole), Edward Green (Falkirk brogues in Chestnut, probably over 20 years' old), RM Williams (Chelsea Boots, one originally in kip brown but now with a highly polished patina, one in Dress Black leather), Alfred Sargent (Green suede Chukka Boots, one of only three ever made), many pairs of Cheaneys (Chukka boots in suede and embossed leather, Brogues, Cordoven, Suede Monks etc); then some more casual Clarks: Chelsea & Desert Boots and Fin's (no longer in existence) suede loafers in five different colours.

It does pain me that one day these will all probably be thrown away, as no one will appreciate their beauty and of course value. One of my gripes is that it has all now become a throwaway society; several pairs of my shoes are 20 or so years old and have been repaired several times and still look good and wear well, even though I need to either return them to the original manufacturers or send them to London to get them properly attended to. You simply cannot hand them to anyone unknown or a "Heel type bar etc" as they will totally ruin them by shaving off the welt etc, etc. There are really very very few skilled craftsmen who are now capable of carrying out good shoe repairs on quality shoes.

Needless to state, I won't be buying or needing any more!
 
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