Zee's Leatherware & Shoe Co.

[fox81]



They weren't perfect. The length of the shoes were not the same (about 1/2-1 cm difference - only noticeable if you put them together sole to sole), The insoles feel like they need more padding too.
I will post photos when I can.
I will be in HK very soon. I am toying with having a a pair of calf skin shoes made, but I am not a fan of the finish on a lot of their shoes (one of the reasons I went suede 1st time round). AlexDC's shoes above look better than what I have seen though.
I know some posters have done the antiquing themselves - I have no idea how one could do that.
Is there a step by step video or guide somewhere?

the difference in length is normal if your feet are a slightly different length, the shoes are made to measure after all.

ask zees not to polish the shoes and then use some deglazer and creams/polish to finish yourself. theres a few threads on here about antiquing.

 

[AlexDeC]

Thickness---around 0.8cm I would say.

No pic at hand now. Will take one afterwards.

 

[fritzl]



Agreed. If Zee's can improve their insole finishing that I think it would be hard for us to get a good part of shoes in this price range.

can you or anyone else explain that?

 

[godofcoffee]



can you or anyone else explain that?

There are some lumps on the insoles of my Zee's shoes. Not a big deal in terms of comfort, but aesthetically displeasing. More importantly, the insoles had not been shaped to the arch of my foot, so there was a relatively long break-in period (I'm nearly two dozen wearings in, and they still aren't perfectly comfortable).

 

[tipitai]

Quick update: I purchased some brown suede balmorals from Zee's back in February and have been pretty pleased with them so far after several months of regular wearing. Initially I was a little disappointed with the quality of the suede, but I feel like the shoes look better now that I've been wearing them for several months. Included below are some iphone photos to give you a general idea.

 

[Svenn]

Can you bring your own leather to Zee's?

I have a bespoke shoemaker in the US, and was considering taking his last to either HK or Bangkok to experiment with making some cheap pairs, but I don't know much about the process of shoemaking. Would this work? What could go wrong if they're provided both the last and the leather?

 

[dragon8]



Can you bring your own leather to Zee's?
I have a bespoke shoemaker in the US, and was considering taking his last to either HK or Bangkok to experiment with making some cheap pairs, but I don't know much about the process of shoemaking. Would this work? What could go wrong if they're provided both the last and the leather?

Probably alot

 

[meister]

When you think Hong Kong had Lee Kee at the Peninsula it surprisaes me HKG is not feel of great cordwainers.

 

[luk-cha]



When you think Hong Kong had Lee Kee at the Peninsula it surprisaes me HKG is not feel of great cordwainers.

they all died, and the young guys dont like hard work for small money, this is why the tradition is lost

 

[addedfuel]

Got a pair of dark brown balmoral boots (à la Gaziano and Girling Wigmore) with Dainite soles for 2200$HK. They are more comfortable than I expected, I specified additional cushioning for my insoles. Value 10/10, overall 9/10. They didn't have wax laces and these are ugly, looking for thing wax laces to replace them.

 

[Nerdy Norm]

After lurking on this forum for the past few weeks, I've just got back from a trip to HK where, following advice here, I visited Zee's for a pair of shoes. Not being able to make up my mind, I ended up with 3 pairs!

I arrived at around 6.30pm on Thursday and explained to them that due to my flat arches and bunions, I needed to include an orthotic insole in the shoes. This was no problem for them (I brought a pair of insoles with me), and they proceeded to take measurements.

I returned on Saturday for a fitting with the weird canvas shoe things. They felt very tight, but I was assured that was normal. Mr Zee chalked some lines on the canvas shoes, presumably where he wanted to make some changes, then I chose the styles. I went for a tan leather brogue, a navy blue shoe which I couldn't name the style, and brown suede brogue with Dainite soles. I chose the styles from a combination of the samples in-store, and Zee's Facebook page.

I visited again on Tuesday afternoon to collect my new shoes, and couldn't be happier. Due to the bad shape my feet are in, it's the first time in many years that I've been able to wear dress shoes comfortably. So much so in fact that I decided to wear the suede brogues for my return 12 hour flight, instead of my comfy but ugly (according to my wife) Wallabees.

One tip - although the suede brogues were perfectly comfortable for my trip home, because of my feet swelling during the flight, I couldn't get them back on again when it was time to disembark the plane. I guess that because they are MTM, there isn't as much room for adjustment as OTR shoes, which meant I couldn't loosen the laces enough to squeeze my swolen feet in.

Incidentally, I also visited Lee Baron tailors, which is in the same building as Zee's. Equally excellent experience there, which I've mentioned on the HK tailors thread.

 

[guyver00]

Nice! I didn't know Zee has such as fast turn around time. I was in there in June to get a pair of suede chukka with dainite soles, it took a bit over a week to collect them. Very comfortable shoes, especially for my backpacking trip in Europe this past Sept/Oct.

 

[tipitai]

Those suede brogues look great. 9 months later, I haven't been very impressed with how my suede bals have held up. I feel like the suede is wearing out more than I expected. At first glance, your suede appears to be of a higher quality.

 

[hugh51271]



Nice! I didn't know Zee has such as fast turn around time. I was in there in June to get a pair of suede chukka with dainite soles, it took a bit over a week to collect them. Very comfortable shoes, especially for my backpacking trip in Europe this past Sept/Oct.

How much were they?

 

[totenhosen]



How much were they?

+1