Shoes Of The Week - Pigskin Wholecuts by Carreducker

The more that I see pigskin used for shoemaking, the more that it grows on me. At first I was not so keen on it, not really sure why, just that I wasn't. But with each time that I get to see a new shoe made up using it, the more that I begin to appreciate the uniqueness of its texture and coloring. Now I could be making this up in my head, but having been around the two or three bespoke models that I have shined, I always seem to notice that the toe area's texture is a bit different than the rest of the shoe (as shown best in last picture). It's as if that when they were lasted over, the grain of the skin expanded and became a lot more smooth and prominent. It's quite a nice look and makes for a great toe shine. This model here, made by Carreducker, is almost precisely how I would want one should it ever come to that. I feel like when it comes to exotic leather, being that most of them have some sort of ostentatious texture to them, they are best served without any added detail i.e. stitching. That being, a whole cut provides the best pattern for them, at least my mind. But that does not mean that I do not appreciate them (exotic leather shoes) in other examples....just that I much more prefer the beautiful blank canvas of the whole cut....particularly in a nice pigskin!