Shoes Of The Week - Imai Hiroki Brogue Boots

The color red is so underutilized in the shoe industry, but can truly create some of the nicest pieces of footwear. Take these boots at top for example, they are absolutely amazing and are so due to their color. I mean, the black ones below are nice too but don't stand a chance when put next to red ones. I guess it's a tough color to get right though....too bright and no one would wear them, so you have to have some skills in leather coloring to give it more of this antiqued look, which helps to tone it down and make it a lot more versatile. But when you are able to do this, it truly makes a color that I believe to be better than most. Not only would these look amazing with jeans but would pretty much look amazing with anything really, at least in my point of view. And to top it off, there are not many boots that look better than a nice brogued one done right. Having a sole that's a bit thicker than your average dress shoe, but not so thick that it looks chunky, gives it just the right look to boost its versatility sky high. My hat is tipped to Mr. Imai Hiroki for this one!

Bespoke Making On A Whole Other Level

Most of the time, people buy bespoke shoes because they have feet that are hard to fit and therefore need a last to be made up to accommodate such feet. But every now and then, you get a gentleman who goes for bespoke simply for the fact that he wants something that no one else is ever going to have. This shoe presented here, represents just that, and even more. I found this on Saion's site and because it is in Japanese I unfortunately cannot understand one single thing, but looking at the pictures, I am almost positive that the stitching of the upper was done by hand, which is simply frickin' amazing!! Imagine how long that would take? AGES!

I look at this and even though I would probably not wear it simply for the fact of the decoration on the strap, I can't help but like and appreciate it. I only wish that there was a side view to look at, in order to get more of an appreciation for the entire shoe, as the top view only gives you so much. But I must say, that this is shoemaking purely at it's finest. The upper is unique, the stitching is hand-done (and contrasted), the design is out of the ordinary (the counter's are quite different) and the color combination is mind-blowing!! Overall, I give this a 10, not for the fact that it's the coolest shoe ever, but simply for the fact that it breaks all of the norms and enters the realm of art for the sake of making something that is beautiful and not necessarily practical....

Shoes Of The Week - Perfetto

Hands down, these are among the coolest boots/shoes that I have ever seen. Every single detail is bang-on, the styles are amazing and the mixtures of fabric with leather are extremely well-executed. The more that I see shoes that are either designed, or made by Japanese people, the more I feel that the Japanese are surely becoming the masters of shoes. I had never heard of this brand, Perfetto, but upon stumbling across them, I fell in love instantly. And what shoe love wouldn't? After researching a little, it seems that they were an up-and-comer at the last Pitti Uomo, which means that with cool shoes like this, we can expect to hopefully see much more of them as they get purchased by stores around the world. Granted many stores buy rubbish shoes, so maybe we won't, but nonetheless I believe that they will be successful. And believe it or not, this model above, is definitely an example of something that I would still buy, even when I have my own line.....

On that note, let me tell you that I will be getting 8 of my 13 samples on Monday, so be on the look out for a picture or two, for sneak-previews sake!

Majority of Pictures Courtesy Of: The Suitorial

Shoes Of The Week - Saion

Simply amazing!!!

Some might call this overkill, but I find it to be exquisite. While they are by no means practical for office wear, they would be a beauty with some sharp jeans and a sport coat. Time and time again, Japanese shoemakers never cease to continue amazing me, as Saion has done here with these beautiful brogues. I simply love the idea of having the under bit of the brogueing a contrasting color to the rest of the shoe. It presents such a beautiful combination that not only attracts the eye to the shoes, but allows for you to play around with the colors of your outfit. And to think that brown and yellow could go so well together. Who would have known? I never imagined them to be complimentary colors, at least not ones that I would think of putting together. But that makes it even more intriguing; seeing something look beautiful that you would have otherwise thought unattractive....

The Agelessness of the Black Dress Shoe

Shoes are a funny thing......like most things, especially in clothing, fashion, style or whatever you want to call it, they change. There are always fads, trends, styles that are the next big thing and then one season later, they are nowhere to be found, dead, lost in a sea of rubbish that is manipulated year after year by people who claim to be style or marketing experts and tell us what is 'in' or 'cool'. But are they really??? Some are yes, but many aren't. And I guess this is the reason that they fade out and disappear, never to be thought of again until they come back 30 years later in the recycling of fashion due to the change of the times and minds of the youth. But there are articles of clothing that seem to stand the test of time, and year after year without fail, be purchased as if they were the next big thing, yet in reality are older than dirt, only to be changed by shape. In shoes, that article is the black cap-toe.

Yet why is the black cap-toe so timeless? Sure, there are many obvious reasons (at least one would think), but when you really think about these reasons, I don't feel that they present a factual argument, but rather a subjective one that somehow became integrated into the minds of men, forever to be seen as truth. One example would be, that black goes with everything. Now I don't believe this statement for one second. Black, albeit an easy color to work with, does not, in fact, go with everything. You might think it does, and therefore put it with everything, but it in many cases actually dulls down a lot of outfits. But I guess that when you think about it, it's the lesser of the evils. What I mean by that is when you pair black, with say brown, and it does not look right, it's far less obvious and ostentatious then getting the match between lime green and brown wrong. That lime green is going to stand out like a sore thumb and make people stare at you. But if you were to wear a brown suit and have black shoes on, it would not be so noticeable, even though I would dare to say that it would be a very clashing thing to look at. But because of the fact that is is not as noticeable, it becomes 'safe.'

Another interesting thing about black, is that it takes the best shine. This is strange to me, because it's the color with the least amount of depth to it. Brown, for example, has like 9 million different shades, yet black only has one. But now that I think about it, that seems to be the actual reason that when you shine a black shoe, to a mirror like standard, it's contrast to the leather around is far more noticeable than on any other color, because of it's lack of depth. There is just black. So therefore, you get black and then patent-like black and difference presents such a strong contrast to each other. But because of that, it also (at least in my mind) looks the best when shined. And I believe that this is why it's the best color for formal occasions, and precisely why patent is generally regarded as the most formal material: because of that shine.

And while I could probably go on and on about why I might hate or love black shoes, I cannot deny the fact that they will simply never be a fad, trend, blip on the scale of styles but rather maintain their position as the shoe at the top of the food chain, forever sought after by businessmen, bartenders, church men, common men, young men, old men, pretty much EVERY MAN, simply because it's fail proof!

Shoe By: Saion

More Japanese Shoes: Otsuka M-5

While this might be sad to hear (for it shows just how much of a freak that I am), I do not think that there are many things more exciting than discovering new brand of shoes which make exactly what I like. This is very much the case with Japanese shoe brand, Otsuka M-5. While it's very hard to gather information on this brand, as I do not speak nor read the Japanese language, it would be safe to infer that they seem to take the best from all worlds and put a Japanese twist on them. While I have read somewhere, of which I cannot remember, I believe that their shoes are made in sunny 'ol England. By the looks of their construction --which you can see on the website-- having a fiddleback and bevelled waist and being obviously goodyear welted, one would think that the factory they use, would be either Edward Green, Alfred Sargent or Crockett & Jones. It not really being that important which factory makes them, what is important is that they have done a good job at taking classic shoes and putting a fun twist on them.




















As you can see from this model above, that occupies the top row as well as the bottom left, it is a style that seems to have been inspired by French shoemakers, particularly Pierre Corthay, as it seems to be something that he has done in the past or at least something similar. And while that might seem pretentious of me to say, as I believe that Japanese designers/shoemakers have proved time again that they make unique pieces that separate them from everyone else, it is not a bad thing, in fact, to have inspiration and utilize it to create something similar. Not being the biggest fan of derbies in general, I think that what they have done to the facing of these shoes, make them that much more appealing, especially the canvas model above, right. And while I loving see shoes like this, it always disappoints me that in order to ever see them in person, I either have to purchase them or take a trip to Tokyo. And while a trip to Tokyo is something that I really want to do, I would very much like this to not be my only option in seeing them in the flesh.

Now, we look at the pictures of above and you see the spectators that remind me of some Edward Green's and then the single monk straps with the hand braided stitch, that might look like something Moreschi would conjure up. And it's wonderful. This brand, does it all!! They don't have just one way about them, they have all the ways of the world, making each one with their own Japanese twist. This is the way that I think that shoes should brands should be. But then again, there would be no distinction between brands if they all did everything. So it's refreshing to see that at least it is offered somewhere. A kind of one-stop-shop brand. I could not imagine going to the store where they sell these, it would literally break my wallet, in half! Well, if anyone has any other information they would like to share on this brand, please do not hesitate to leave it in the comment section, as I am sure that there will be many readers who may wish to know more....