Cordovan shoes - What do you like about it?

[Dewey]

Broguing looks better - deeper, cleaner - in shell. To my eye at least. AlanC's shoes (above) are good examples. I have full-brogue burgundy bals in both calf (AE Chester) and shell (AE Cambridge). Both are well worn. The Cambridges are lower maintenance, and they just look better the Chesters. And they are older and have more miles on them.

 

[PittDoc]

Did someone mention brogued shells...? Alden wingtip bals in ravello shell cordovan.

 

[grimslade]

Gorgeous

 

[yachtie]

skip.

 

[von Rothbart]

Originally Posted by EL72

I've never heard of Santoni FAM in shell cordovan - much less dark brown SC. Any pics?

http://www.styleforum.net/showpost.p...&postcount=336

 

[TomW]

Originally Posted by EL72

I've never heard of Santoni FAM in shell cordovan - much less dark brown SC. Any pics?

Your wish is my command. I believe these are likely the same shoes the OP was referring to, except in burgundy - Santoni FAM Wilson in Burgundy Shell, complete with the Horween's tag....



And the other Shell shoes currently in my possession. All are C&J for Polo... 3 are the same mid brown and the pair in the lower right is a darker and deeper brown... the chukka boots are in desperate need of some cordo cream..



And I've got 4 more pair on order from Martegani through our own Ron Rider: a full brogue, and 3 assorted monk straps, pictures to follow on delivery.

 

[Tarmac]

 

[AlanC]

Originally Posted by grimslade

Gorgeous

+1

 

[Get Smart]

Originally Posted by Tarmac

those are Bostonian shells??? wow, you know what era they're from? They def don't make em like that anymore

 

[sho'nuff]

oh geez, those shoes are decadent!

those were the days when everything had quality built lovingly into it. these days everything comes off an assembly line in china

 

[PittDoc]

Originally Posted by shoe

oh geez, those shoes are decadent!

those were the days when everything had quality built lovingly into it. these days everything comes off an assembly line in china

^^ This says so much about where retail has ended up now. Not just shoes but just about everything product and service has been slowly cost-cut and trimmed to the point where the average consumer doesn't even know what quality is. True quality products have become scarce and relatively more expensive. Quality is now associated with cheaply-made disposable "luxury brands" based on lifestyle marketing rather than materials and craftsmanship.

...OK, nothing new to anyone on this forum, but those Bostonians hit a nerve.

 

[AlanC]

Originally Posted by shoe

those were the days when everything had quality built lovingly into it. these days everything comes off an assembly line in china

And what about the high lead content of Chinese made cordovan?

 

[Tarmac]

Originally Posted by Get Smart

those are Bostonian shells??? wow, you know what era they're from? They def don't make em like that anymore

I wish I knew more about them, the retail is marked $225 on the box so they can't be that old. Doesn't that place it in the 80s? Maybe 1990ish? They are ridiculous, the soles are super thick (triple?), and a really nice brown which I'm not used to from the vintage american brands.

It's hard for me to say simply that Americans just got cheap and outsourced, it can't be that simple. Consumers have to shoulder the blame too. Did Bostonian just decide to go downmarket, or was there no market to begin with? If so, how did a company like Alden survive? I dunno, it's just a sad situation.

 

[DocHolliday]

Originally Posted by Tarmac

It's hard for me to say simply that Americans just got cheap and outsourced, it can't be that simple. Consumers have to shoulder the blame too. Did Bostonian just decide to go downmarket, or was there no market to begin with? If so, how did a company like Alden survive? I dunno, it's just a sad situation.

It's a combination of all the above, I think. The cost of making a good/decent shoe kept rising, but consumers, naturally, don't want to pay more. So companies cut corners to keep costs down, sending the manufacturing overseas and embracing glue and cheap materials. Those that couldn't compete went out of business, leaving us with AE and Alden as the major American makers still producing domestically.

My impression, from handling vintage and deadstock shoes, is that even in the good old days, the overall quality of most American-made shoes was better than the bulk of what we see today, but not all that great. Everyone wasn't wearing the equivalent of EGs, or even AEs. Many shoes were pretty roughly finished, by forum standards. Most folks then wanted and bought affordably priced shoes, same as they do now. It's just today, the "affordable" market is dominated by cheap, shoddy overseas imports.

 

[grimslade]

The relative cost of labor has risen with advances in automation, driving all kinds of formerly artisanal processes into automated ones. Once you automate them, then the added cost of using skilled labor to run the machines no longer makes sense, so you drive down the labor cost by going overseas.