Steak too juicy, lobster too buttery - ROOMS-PTC
Background
I first got into the world of avant garde design and fine leather tanneries/boots a little over a year ago. I dove in headfirst and learned as much as I could about Guidi, CCP, m.a+, Ann D, Marsèll, etc. I knew that I wanted a pair of Guidis so I went to IFSoho to try on some models. Standouts were the 19M hiking boots and 986 backzips, but as I thought about it over the next couple months, I couldn't stop thinking about the front zips and the silhouette grew on me.
I purchased my PL1s in soft horse leather from FWRD with a small discount code. I considered buying pre-owned but decided to purchase new because I know they require specific care and wanted to ensure they would be taken care of to maximize their lifespan.
Since January, my PL1s have been my absolute go-to piece of footwear and arguably my favorite piece in my collection. Though they were more than twice as expensive as any shoe I had purchased prior, I've never once regretted my purchase, and love them even more every time I put them on. There is something so satisfying about pulling up the front zipper.
Flash forward to present. Though I knew I wanted to get a pair of Guidis first, the Tornado boots had always been lingering in the back of my head. It was a question of when, not if they would come to me. Purchasing my Guidis was a much more straightforward process. There are stores in nyc that stock them, allowing me to verify my size, and there are many more online stockists to purchase from such as Ssense, IFSoho, FWRD, etc.
Hunt for Tornados
Over the summer, I decided to look more seriously for a pair. I was originally planning on purchasing the CORS-PTC horse leather model and got added to the waitlists at Darklands and Alan Bilzerian. I've been waiting patiently for a few months now and decided that when I was meant to have them, I'd receive the call. On Tuesday, when scrolling instagram, I saw a post from Shelter II that they just received 3 pairs of ROOMS-PTC Tornado boots in Kangaroo leather. I realized that getting these would mean my collection would include cow, horse, ostrich (Tony Lama cowboy boots), and Kangaroo leather, which I personally thought was the coolest idea.
I DMed them on ig asking if they could ship directly to the US and a day later, I got a response saying they can. After a few more messages, I paid via Paypal invoice, and the package was sent via DHL express. Friday, they are in my hands.
After all fees and shipping costs, the total came out to ~$2.6k. Purchasing from Japan gave me a 10% tax discount, but I ended up paying that back to clear US customs.
This was the first time I had actually seen the Tornado boots in person/held them in hand. I did not purchase them because I thought they were "better" than my PL1s. I saw it as a complementary purchase, also making sure that I don't wear out the PL1s.
Grails Acquired
For basically the past 24 hours, I have not been able to keep my hands off them. It's hard to say whether the quality is "better or worse" compared to the PL1s, but the Kangaroo leather is heavenly soft, and at this point, we're really splitting hairs. The construction from the sole, to the welt, to the zipper system and shaft is ridiculously cool. I wear a size EU 41 in boots (PL1s are size 41) I got CCP size 7 for the Tornado boots. This seems to have been the correct choice as they fit like a glove.
I plan to take very good care of these boots, which starts with bringing them to my cobbler to get them vibramed up. I do not want to touch the beautiful leather outsole. I could have taken them to the cobbler yesterday, but I didn't have the heart to part with them, so will do that Monday.
I plan to take care of them similarly to my Guidis, using fresh Vibram, cedar shoe trees to keep form and soak up excess moisture, and cleaning and conditioning as needed. Unlike the Guidis, they came with a removable foam insole in addition to the one nailed to the sole. I'm tempted to replace these with a generic pair since I'm unsure if you can even purchase replacements from CCP, but might just say f*** it we ball and wear them.
Now What?
Since I got into this world, I've spent more hours than I can count researching and hunting for my grails. Now that I have them, it feels incredibly strange to not be on the hunt. There are definitely other boots I like and don't have (Guidi 19M, 796, 986, m.a+ Spiral zips, Our Legacy Engineer boots) but none of these get me going nearly as much as the PL1s and Tornado boots did. I'm also at the point where I'd want any additions to the collection to be of similar leather and construction quality.
For now, I plan to enjoy the hell out of these boots.