Nicholas Templeman: A Bespoke Shoemaker

[beargonefishing]

Looks like they're at Texas Tradition Boots with Lee Miller. It wouldn't surprise me that he would pay a visit to Lee since he's a pretty big name in the bespoke cowboy boot making business who learned from the legend Charlie Dunn. If you want some bespoke boots from Texas Traditions, the wait time is like 4 or 5 years for new customers.

Our running backs coach in high school would randomly get pissed off and tell the story about how Charlie Dunn stole his deposit for a pair of boots. Everyone hated that coach, so we sided with Charlie.

 

[dieworkwear]

This looks great.

After 16 months of mostly not wearing dress shoes, I've been wearing my Templemans more lately. Mostly the first pair I bought -- the grained split toes -- which makes me want to get another pair of dressier shoes.

Still need to get Nicholas the details for my loafer order, but prob going to order a pair of derbies next. Or maybe monk straps? I feel like I'm boring if I order another pair of split toes, but that seems like the safest option.

 

[Texasmade]

Nick needs to schedule his next trunk show tour and come through Texas so I can start the green suede gatorskin loafers already.

 

[deadfisheyes]

This looks great.

After 16 months of mostly not wearing dress shoes, I've been wearing my Templemans more lately. Mostly the first pair I bought -- the grained split toes -- which makes me want to get another pair of dressier shoes.

Still need to get Nicholas the details for my loafer order, but prob going to order a pair of derbies next. Or maybe monk straps? I feel like I'm boring if I order another pair of split toes, but that seems like the safest option.

View attachment 1635206

It seems your opinion is split.

 

[ntempleman]

Nick needs to schedule his next trunk show tour and come through Texas so I can start the green suede gatorskin loafers already.

I’ve been sitting by the door with my bags packed since my second bump of that Pfizer, just waiting for the borders to open up

 

[bjhofkin]

I’ve been sitting by the door with my bags packed since my second bump of that Pfizer, just waiting for the borders to open up

You guys have Pfizer over there now, not just AZ?

 

[ntempleman]

Had it since the start, moderna for a few months too. They don’t give AZ to anyone young and beautiful, like me

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Yes.

 

[ThinkDerm]

any suede green gatorskin shoe updates?

 

[Texasmade]

any suede green gatorskin shoe updates?

Sadly no. US hasn’t allowed travel for UK citizens.

 

[dieworkwear]

I believe people can come, but the rules are a bit burdensome. Colin at Anderson & Sheppard told me that Brits can come to the US if they stay in a US-approved country for two weeks before coming here. Upon arriving in the US, they also have to quarantine (I assume for another two weeks). Between all the cost and time, I'm not sure if it's worth it. If it's not worth it for a big company such as Anderson & Sheppard, then certainly not small tailors and shoemakers.

I also received a note from Dominic at Edward Sexton, who told me that he and some other British operations (including Budd) are hoping to get to the US by late September/ early October. Also received a note from Steed saying the same. However, these emails came about a month ago. I was quite surprised to receive them -- it seemed like some Brits thought that the US would open up by September, but I didn't see any indication of that happening. If anything, I assume cases will rise this fall/ winter, and we'll see stricter rules.

 

[ntempleman]

Britain opened up the borders to vaccinated travellers from the US about a month ago and the hope/assumption was that this would be reciprocated considering the “special relationship”.

As DWW says, it’s tricky to enter the US directly from the U.K. at the moment, you need to stay in another country for 14 days before travel which makes for a long trip. I hear the Four Seasons on Nevis is pretty nice for a fortnight though, I will gladly add a premium to cover my stay if y’all are keen

 

[dieworkwear]

I hear the Four Seasons on Nevis is pretty nice for a fortnight though, I will gladly add a premium to cover my stay if y’all are keen

Sure, please attach the entire cost to Vox's order.

I think the US is trying to set up some kind of vaccination verification system for non-US citizens coming into the US. I would think that system will be ready by the end of the year. However, I also assume that cases will rise as we get into winter, so who knows.

Has business come to a standstill since March 2020? I believe you normally travel to France, Northern Europe, and Japan for trunk shows, right? Has that been possible at all?

 

[ntempleman]

I haven’t left the country since late 2019, USA and Japan have been closed throughout the whole thing and European travel has only just started to mobilise. There’s various systems in place that mean you could suddenly find your destination on the red list so planning anything is tricky.

Business hasn’t quite been at a standstill for me personally, orders are still coming in and I’ve got a backlog of work that’s tiding me over although I’ve certainly slowed down a lot as a) there’s no point rushing and just to leave it sitting on a shelf and b) there’s been so many other things getting in the way and there’s only so much stress I can take. For me personally it hasn’t been too much of a disaster, my overheads are low so I can ride it out almost indefinitely, my biggest worry is making sure I keep my outworkers ticking over, there’s no furlough for the self employed. For the bigger outfits it must be ansolutely awful thinking about 20 odd staff members to pay, shop rents, business rates etc, once furlough ends this month the big firms will need to be at full production to cover everything. I think that’s where the October trip anticipation stems from, when more than half your business is picked up from travel you can’t survive without getting on a plane. There’ll be some heavy damage to the west end trades by the end of the year if the US don’t open borders up

 

[dieworkwear]

For the bigger outfits it must be ansolutely awful thinking about 20 odd staff members to pay, shop rents, business rates etc, once furlough ends this month the big firms will need to be at full production to cover everything. I think that’s where the October trip anticipation stems from, when more than half your business is picked up from travel you can’t survive without getting on a plane. There’ll be some heavy damage to the west end trades by the end of the year if the US don’t open borders up

Oh, man, that's rough. I had no idea about the furlough ending this month. I think you're right; that must be why so many firms started planning trips for this month.

I thought it was so strange when I received those emails, as it only had been about two months since the US started to open back up domestically, and we're still in the middle of a fight about whether people are going to get vaxxed. It seemed unlikely to me that the government would allow foreigners in by late September/ early October.

If I had to guess, I assume trunk shows won't resume until Spring of next year.

Hope tradespeople are able to survive.