The Ultimate "HARDCORE" Shoe Appreciation Thread (Bespoke only)

[jerrybrowne]

X-post

I just received my first pair of Foster and Sons bespoke and am very pleased with the results. The fit is pretty good for a first pair, and their approach to fit is quite different than other London makers I've used as you can see below.









Very clean outsole. Probably the cleanest I've seen from the London makers.



I have a wide forefoot, and Fosters dealt with this issue, at my request, differently than Cleverley or Lobb. Fosters is on left and Lobb on right. Instead of a very broad outsole seen on the Lobb shoe, there is increased volume at the forefoot to accommodate the wide forefoot. The result is a pleasant shape that looks less wide than my other bespoke shoes. On the next pair, we'll need to widen the outsole just a tad, but for a first shoe this is really a pretty good fit.



They also dealt with my need for arch support fairly well as you can see.



Finish is quite good for a pair of casual shoes, and I would say that they arrived better polished than from any other London maker. Overall very happy with this first pair.

 

[bengal-stripe]



I just received my first pair of Foster and Sons bespoke and am very pleased with the results.

Looking very good! - Wear them in good health!


Are you giving guided tours through the shoe storage vault(s) of "Villa Browne", wearing white tie (just like Adolphe Menjou)?

I might book myself in to a presentation, one of those days!

 

[jerrybrowne]



Looking very good! - Wear them in good health!

Are you giving guided tours through the shoe storage vault(s) of "Villa Browne", wearing white tie (just like Adolphe Menjou)?

I might book myself in to a presentation, one of those days!

Thanks my friend. I'd gladly trade my shoes for your amazing collection!

 

[Son Of Saphir]

Like the Foster shoe,
it look very good

 

[j ingevaldsson]

X-post

I just received my first pair of Foster and Sons bespoke and am very pleased with the results. The fit is pretty good for a first pair, and their approach to fit is quite different than other London makers I've used as you can see below.









Very clean outsole. Probably the cleanest I've seen from the London makers.



I have a wide forefoot, and Fosters dealt with this issue, at my request, differently than Cleverley or Lobb. Fosters is on left and Lobb on right. Instead of a very broad outsole seen on the Lobb shoe, there is increased volume at the forefoot to accommodate the wide forefoot. The result is a pleasant shape that looks less wide than my other bespoke shoes. On the next pair, we'll need to widen the outsole just a tad, but for a first shoe this is really a pretty good fit.



They also dealt with my need for arch support fairly well as you can see.



Finish is quite good for a pair of casual shoes, and I would say that they arrived better polished than from any other London maker. Overall very happy with this first pair.

Looks really nice! A well executed bevelled waist is often much more beautiful than a fiddle back waist IMO.

 

[Zapasman]

X-post

I just received my first pair of Foster and Sons bespoke and am very pleased with the results. The fit is pretty good for a first pair, and their approach to fit is quite different than other London makers I've used as you can see below.











They also dealt with my need for arch support fairly well as you can see.



Finish is quite good for a pair of casual shoes, and I would say that they arrived better polished than from any other London maker. Overall very happy with this first pair.

Excellent shoes!!. It seems like your Fosters are much larger than your Lobbs?.

What is the leather pad you are showing under the sockliner?. I have never seen that for arch support.

 

[Stefan88]

X-post

I just received my first pair of Foster and Sons bespoke and am very pleased with the results. The fit is pretty good for a first pair, and their approach to fit is quite different than other London makers I've used as you can see below.









Very clean outsole. Probably the cleanest I've seen from the London makers.



I have a wide forefoot, and Fosters dealt with this issue, at my request, differently than Cleverley or Lobb. Fosters is on left and Lobb on right. Instead of a very broad outsole seen on the Lobb shoe, there is increased volume at the forefoot to accommodate the wide forefoot. The result is a pleasant shape that looks less wide than my other bespoke shoes. On the next pair, we'll need to widen the outsole just a tad, but for a first shoe this is really a pretty good fit.



They also dealt with my need for arch support fairly well as you can see.



Finish is quite good for a pair of casual shoes, and I would say that they arrived better polished than from any other London maker. Overall very happy with this first pair.

Very clean and nice!

 

[VRaivio]

Oh my, that Lobb Ltd. looks more like Blobb Ltd. next to Foster's.

Jerry, is there a photo link to your collection somewhere? I've seen a photo here and photo there, but trying to find all of them would take too long.

 

[chogall]

How do they fit differently? Wider insole less instep height vs narrower insole taller instep height?

The different allocation of space is definitely interesting.

 

[jerrybrowne]



How do they fit differently? Wider insole less instep height vs narrower insole taller instep height?

The different allocation of space is definitely interesting.

How do they fit differently? Wider insole less instep height vs narrower insole taller instep height?

The different allocation of space is definitely interesting.

The instep is similar to my other shoes, but the forefoot volume (basically height as you say) is greater in the Fosters pair that has the narrower outsole. I've tried to capture this on the below photos. Sorry for the awful iphone photos.

This approach will require a little bit of tweaking b/c my small toe is rubbing a little on the sides of the new shoe, and there is increased creasing at the forefoot as you can see. The increased creasing could be due to the thinner leather used on these shoes.

Lobbs



Fosters



Side by side

 

[Coxsackie]

Tianzi Shanghai.

 

[j ingevaldsson]

Cross post from the Japanese shoe thread:
Had the pleasure to meet Mr. Hiro Yanagimachi at Skomaker Dagestad in Oslo, Norway, yesterday, which he visited to have a fitting survey of his new last made for European and American customers. Hiro and the pattern maker and closer Nobuko who was with him were both very kind people, and the shoes were superb. In pics Hiros shoes can look a bit bulky to me, but in reality they are actually quite sleek and looked even nicer.

The new last is longer than his normal japanese lasts, and with a tighter back part of the last. Hiro made an interesting comparison of feet and faces, where he meant that Japanese heads are round and the faces flat, while Europeans and Americans heads are oval and with much shape differences in the face. Feets are the same, Japanese feet are round and quite flat, while European and American feet are longer and with higher archs etc. It's of course a bit of a generalisation, but interesting take nonetheless.
The new last worked very well for me (you can read why in an image caption below), and I'm leaning towards an order of an MTO of the same split toe model in the same color as the sample shoe pictured below but with a bevelled waist.

First four sample shoes, these are made on his regular Japanese lasts. The split toe is 90% handmade with machine made sole stitch, the others are fully handmade:













Square waist:



Bevelled waist:



Fiddle waist:




A couple of close ups of the bevelled waist, which is a "real bevelled waist" with blind welt:






Hand stitched apron and split toe seam:




The closing was very neatly done:






Heels on the models with bevelled or fiddle back waist had tapered heels:




These are sample shoes made on the new last for European and American customers. He used the measurements of Skomaker Dagestad employee Stefan Ravnanger as a base to create the last, and the funny thing is that he and I are more or less feet twins, so the last fits me very well. The arch support were better than any RTW/MTO shoe I've tried before::








Derby version of fitting shoe:




Hiro measuring a client:




Hiro takes A LOT of measurements, maybe 20-25 different ones, and all both with lose and tightened measurement tape. He has during the years come to realise that this is the way that works best for him to achieve as good fit as possible:




For MTO shoes you can use different sock lining pieces to modify fit slightly:






Hiro and the pattern maker and closer Nobuko:




Hiros shoes:




Nobukos shoes:




And a bonus pic of Stefan Ravnangers bespoke pair from Marquess:




.

 

[meister]



Met up with my mate shooey the shooman the other day.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Superb manipulation of the different tile dimensions around the wholecut shape. Just so sleek and wonderful.

 

[hazwanazani]

Cross post from the Japanese shoe thread:
Had the pleasure to meet Mr. Hiro Yanagimachi at Skomaker Dagestad in Oslo, Norway, yesterday, which he visited to have a fitting survey of his new last made for European and American customers. Hiro and the pattern maker and closer Nobuko who was with him were both very kind people, and the shoes were superb. In pics Hiros shoes can look a bit bulky to me, but in reality they are actually quite sleek and looked even nicer.

The new last is longer than his normal japanese lasts, and with a tighter back part of the last. Hiro made an interesting comparison of feet and faces, where he meant that Japanese heads are round and the faces flat, while Europeans and Americans heads are oval and with much shape differences in the face. Feets are the same, Japanese feet are round and quite flat, while European and American feet are longer and with higher archs etc. It's of course a bit of a generalisation, but interesting take nonetheless.
The new last worked very well for me (you can read why in an image caption below), and I'm leaning towards an order of an MTO of the same split toe model in the same color as the sample shoe pictured below but with a bevelled waist.

First four sample shoes, these are made on his regular Japanese lasts. The split toe is 90% handmade with machine made sole stitch, the others are fully handmade:













Square waist:



Bevelled waist:



Fiddle waist:




A couple of close ups of the bevelled waist, which is a "real bevelled waist" with blind welt:






Hand stitched apron and split toe seam:




The closing was very neatly done:






Heels on the models with bevelled or fiddle back waist had tapered heels:




These are sample shoes made on the new last for European and American customers. He used the measurements of Skomaker Dagestad employee Stefan Ravnanger as a base to create the last, and the funny thing is that he and I are more or less feet twins, so the last fits me very well. The arch support were better than any RTW/MTO shoe I've tried before::








Derby version of fitting shoe:




Hiro measuring a client:




Hiro takes A LOT of measurements, maybe 20-25 different ones, and all both with lose and tightened measurement tape. He has during the years come to realise that this is the way that works best for him to achieve as good fit as possible:




For MTO shoes you can use different sock lining pieces to modify fit slightly:






Hiro and the pattern maker and closer Nobuko:




Hiros shoes:




Nobukos shoes:




And a bonus pic of Stefan Ravnangers bespoke pair from Marquess:




.

 

[PCK1]

Koji Suzuki bespoke