u/Proletariat-Prince

Sorry for the shitty hotel lighting.

Sorry for the shitty hotel lighting.

They also do transfer quite a bit of dye. Just one day and the crocking is crazy.

They are my first pair of Lous. I have to say, I really like that MP last. The narrow heel and wider forefoot really works well for me.

I didn't know the vine with boot bags featuring Mr Lou himself!

Good luck to all the domebros out there!

Other than the obvious, I really like these. They are going to be ready to wear for the dome this year, the fit is really quite good, thank you to u/soberg1itch.

They fit a lot like my 8EE Nicks x parkhurst v3. The toe shape is very similar. It's also very similar to the semi-pointed last that Nicks has.

I would say the E width is more like an E and a half, not quite EE.

The heel is definitely narrower than the Nicks lasts. That's really nice. I wish more PNW makers would do a true combination last like this.

The leather is exactly what I expected, natural, supple, ready to patinate.

They are a bit lighter than my Nicks engineers, part of that is the V-bar on these compared to the Dr soles on my Nicks, but part of it is probably the leather. This leather is pretty thin, quite thin in one spot. It's not a complete deal breaker, but I gotta think they noticed that during cutting. It won't show well in photos (last photo), but you can feel it.

For these boots, I don't mind that though. I like the light, flexible, easy wear of the leather. If they were rigid horsehide and had a soft spot like that it would be more noticeable, but this is gonna be fine.

The thing I do find a little "meh" is that the straps are the same thin leather, they stretch a lot. With something this soft, I think I would have backed them with at least some 2-3oz veg tan for added strength. But, maybe I'm just too used to the heavy duty stuff. It'll probably also be just fine though.

Then there's the elephant in the room, the wrinkled vamp..... I'm really disappointed with that. I thought it couldn't be that common, what are the odds I would get a pair like that, yet here we are.

As soft and pliable as this leather is, it's just lazy to not pull that tight over the liner. Fuck. And just like so many other posts about this, it's just the one boot. I don't know how that keeps happening, but damn, Wesco, Coach that cobbler. This is clearly a process issue.

Less than a month from the dome and I'm considering sending them back.

I don't know if standard and strange will do a partial refund (because these really should have been seconds) and maybe I can just wear them, but I'll try. I am very disappointed, honestly.

However, I now know that I do like the MP last. I know for sure that the Mr Lou is a great boot fit me, I know I would probably do a EE and an insole if I get a more robust leather that doesn't stretch as easily as these will.

But hey, maybe it's my fault for not getting my dome pair done earlier.

u/Leather_craftco is a scammer. Do not do business with them.

I hope the mods of r/boots will go ahead and ban them rather than just take down one post.  They’ve already been banned by r/cordwaining.

Why do I say that? They are ripping photos from legit manufacturers and retailers, then posting those photos on reddit and etsy as boots that they made, and they are actively taking orders for them.

Examples (there are many)

The real boots: John Lofgren Wabash engineer boots $1200

The scam listing: Same exact boots, same exact photos on their etsy page $137

The real boots: John Lofgren Duke roper boots at Standard and Strange $1200

The scam listing: Same exact boots, same exact photos on their etsy page $146

The real boots: Attractions black avancorpo & buffalo from Standard and strange

The scam listing: Same exact boots, same exact photos on their etsy page $148

The real boots: Eastman Leather tanker boots in havana burnished roughout $1200

The scam listing: Same photos, but reversed and with the color reduced $240

The real boots: Joules X Spanish Boot Co. Chestnut Brown Leather Boots £295

The scam listing: Again, same photos, ripped from the Joules website $156

The real boots: Ganni mid-calf leather boots with western-inspired detailing $551

The scam listing: Same photos again! $243

There are  bunch of just drop ship crap on there too, like these short suede engineers that you can find on aliexpress and other places, or these tall riding boots that you can find on ebay and other etsy stores.

The drop shipped stuff is fair game.  At least they are representing the actual crap product that they are selling, but the others are indicative of a pattern; that they are misrepresenting their products.  They claim to be a custom maker, making the boots to your order, but none of the boots on their page are actually made by them.

When I asked them specifically if they made those black buffalo engineers, they responded with “how will you know until you buy it”.

The Lofgren natural CXL engineer boots? They claimed, in a now deleted post, that they did in fact make those boots and that they were already shipped to the customer and that’s why they couldn’t show the bottom of the boots when I asked.

Their etsy page states, for every one of these and the other boots on their page, that they are “Made by LeathercraftcoStore” which is completely false.

They are scamming people on reddit and on etsy.  Report them into the ground.

Edit: it looks like they are now hiding their posts and comments. Oh, never mind. I guess they blocked me.

I had other plans today, but I guess I'm running a new water feeder instead!

There's a certain comfort in knowing that at least I don't have to worry about crawling around and kicking roots.

In sneakers, I have to be a little careful because when I kneel I end up with a rock or something digging into my foot. But not with these. With these I just let through and get it done with confidence.

I know they are just boots, but they really do make a difference.

I had some small separation happening between the two layers of the midsole on both boots, used a little contact cement to fix that.

I then sanded the edges down to 220 grit to clean off the years of gunk and smooth them down again all the way around.

I dyed the edges mahogany, which really goes well with the inferno rambler.

Using a damp rag, I scrubbed them down which really did wonders for removing the dust and sand, bringing the color back.

I then massaged in some Obenauf's LP conditioner. They are dark and a bit greasy right now, but they'll dry out and lighten up again after a few weeks.

"yes, honey. I'll run out and feed the horses for you....."

I really need to make some little slip on sandals or something for myself. Times like these, boots feel like overkill.

I've beat these up a bit. They were covered in little scratches from sticker bushes and branches from stomping through the brush. They were quite dry, which is not unusual for DS, but they were just ashy, without the usual sheen. Brushing didn't really do anything.

I used some renovateur about a month ago, and they looked nice. Then they got beat up a little more. Hit them with a brush today and they shined back up!

As long as I'm not blasting them with the water hose, the renovateur seems to persist fairly well.

Specs:

Pullman

602 last

DS burgundy

Dr sole half sole

Single row stitching

Soft toe

Beeswax edge

Sent some boots in for a rebuild. No biggie....

​

So..... Stamps.com doesn't reset the contents field. I messed around and put a joke on there when I shipped something to a friend A WHILE AGO.

​

Well, apparently, that little joke has been there ever since. All my expenses receipts that I've sent in to the office, Christmas gifts to family, everything has had that on there.

​

So, now I'm shipping marital aides to Nicks, too.

It's been a great time with Nicks. My wife and I are both super happy with everything Nicks has made for us.

Cannot wait for the new designs and patterns, getting rebuilds done to make old boots new again, and feeling these boots settle in to legendary fit status.

Some of our boots get babied, some get abused a bit, but they all perform.

Thank you to the entire Nicks team, looking forward to the coming years.

I bought them one size up due to the weight. I plan on hemming them a bit, and possibly darting the waist, so I want to ensure there isn't too much shrink left in them.

Because they are heavier, they might shrink more than something like a 12oz, right?

I don't really want to put them in the dryer, so just a hot soak is what I'm thinking.

Does that make sense?

Kind of a floorboard, anyway.

Shout out to the guys at the NYC store!

They were really welcoming and helpful, letting me try things on. Took care of an exchange for a missing belt loop with no problem.

I picked up a pair of the sugiaya and the year of the horse, all in easy guy.

I usually buy carpenter jeans so that I can keep my phone on my side. Way easier than the front pocket and safer than the back pocket.

Of course, carpenter jeans aren't always available in every material or style, so I have begun making my own side pockets. This was my experiment with N&F.

I grabbed the sugiaya because I already had some ink washed cavalier Chromexcel in my shop, that's a no brainer. I grabbed the Chinese new year for the broken twill and cool ID.

I brought them to the alterations shop in town and had them hemmed and asked to keep the leftover material. They chopped it up a bit but it was still usable. The lady did not understand my goal at first.

She retired to make it up by stitching the pieces together, hence the stitch line down the middle of the pocket. I showed her the selvedge id and she stitched the edge that way before I could even say "hey it has to be very straight and nice-looking". It's not terrible, but not my preference either. Close enough.

I then took the pieces home and got to work. I used what was left of the sugiaya to make a trim piece on the top of the ink cavalier leather pocket. Noice.

I used the now larger panel of the Chinese new year material to do a pocket in the N&F style to match. I didn't catch the way the two stitch lines widen on the back pockets otherwise I would have matched that too. The next time will be better.

I plan on picking up a flat bed machine so I can more easily do my own hems too.

So, anyway, Naked and Famous, please start making carpenter jeans. And while you're at it, can you start including seven belt loops instead of just five? Thanks.

Again, the crew at the NYC store was really cool. The only thing I would suggest is to get smart about women's sizes and fits. My wife was fully ready to buy a pair or two, but the guys didn't know anything other than the bestie and Maudie. Had they showed her some stuff in true girl or pleated, they probably could have gotten another sale.

What do you all think? N&F carpenter jeans?

I fully intended to pick up a color 8 horsehide jacket last week, but I just don't dig the type 3 pattern.

But I did find something possibly even better. This is a model 557 waxy pull up cowhide delivery jacket.

I'm kind of obsessed with this color now, and I'm trying to source the leather now.

Schott calls it burgundy, but they also call it brandy. I think brandy is a more apt name. It's got a more Chestnut/tan undertone rather than a reddish/purple undertone.

It's got the Chestnut latigo color, but the darkness and depth of DS burgundy.

I thought you all would appreciate a new dimension of Chestnut.

I took a bunch of photos comparing it to Chestnut latigo and DS burgundy.

This is my new white whale, I guess.

I have a 557 that I really like, but I do want to make a snap off hood for it, and I'll probably add a second inside pocket.

I can't find any indicators for what tannery they get it from, or any hints at what the tannage might be.

I have seen that they use some Horween horsefronts, but what other tanneries do they use for cowhide?

Before I go with my best guess, I'm hoping somebody has seen some indication of where they source the leather. Maybe I can find the exact material.