Today's Favorites - Saint Crispins Saddle Shoe

So, I am back in Seattle feeling a bit strange, almost as if I am a stranger in my own city and am therefore a little bit discombobulated, which has left me unable to conjure something up for my long post on Mondays. Because of this I am leaving you with a tidbit on the ever so amazing Saint Crispins shoe brand, of whom I never seem to tire. Every time I see of new pair of shoes made by them, shown on Rugged Old Salt (as these were), I am always left astounded, particularly when they highlight the details that set them apart, such as the way that they finish their soles. While I am not usually so crazy about the soles' look, especially since it gets destroyed on the first wear, I must say that the way they look in the picture below is absolutely stunning. The manner in which they finished it with that glossy shine looks delicious to say the least. I would almost feel bad wearing these if they were my shoes, I might just want to leave them sole up, face down, as to show off the beauty of the work. Key word though, 'almost'...I would rock until that shine disappeared!

Today's Favorites - Alfred Sargent

It's always mind-boggling to know how many cool shoes are sold each day, around the world, yet how few people I see actually wearing something that is worthy of being considered 'cool.' Take these MTO Alfred Sargent's, for example. They are wonderful! And what's even better is that the customer, had these made with his own design requests, almost a little bit like going bespoke. But even though I know that this is not the only guy in the world with a pair of gray suede dress shoes, I have NEVER seen one gracing a well-dressed man's feet. And as sick as I am for shoes, I am the guy looking at everyone's shoes as they walk passed me. So, as I write this blog, and see all of these cool shoes on the internet and on the shoe shelves, it makes me think about where they go when they get purchased? Maybe they just get put on a pedestal and become an object of admiration for the customer? Who knows? But if you are reading this and wear unique shoes and don't mind sharing a picture, please feel free to send me one, so that I can have some proof and even put you up on the blog, if you so desire....

Guest Post From Style Sage

So this week my friend Christian and I decided to do some blog post swapping to give each other's readers some different content. Our theme of choice was of course shoes and we wanted to share what our essentials were, our go-to shoes. Being that I am American and Christian is British, it is interesting to see the differences in our tastes and essential shoes styles, yet also intriguing to see how two similar people can have different necessities based on culture and upbringing. So here, you will see Christians choices and to view mine you will have to go to Christian's STYLE SAGE blog 

Christian's Words:

As a fellow shoe obsessive, Justin and I seem to have a lot in common, spending lunches talking about different styles, colored soles and various factories. Shoes are important; I don't need to tell you if you are reading this site. Our discussion led to what shoes I feel I could not live without, a pair that every man needs. Perhaps a desert island disc for shoes. So in no particular order, here is what one should start with.

A Pair of Boots


Living in London I often find the need for boots, as the possibility of instant rain is always upon us. What you might realise is this pair are suede, so not ideal for harsh conditions. My other boots are in a bit of terrible state following the winter snow and have been up in the “polish me” section of my wardrobe. I therefore decided to let this Johphur pair represent the boots. Perfect to be worn with a jean or chino, or even a tailored trouser, I would advise grey flannel.


The Tassel Loafer

The Tassel loafer is the perfect shoe to translate from casual to business wear. I’ve spent a long time looking for the ideal tassel loafer. People look at your shoes every time they meet you, don't let anyone tell you loafers are for loafing, you can wear them with a suit, specific rules are meant to be broken. A shoe for a warmer climate.



A Pair of lace-ups

My third choice would be a decent pair of lace-ups. Be it a cap toe, whole cut, oxford, every gentleman needs a beautifully crafted variation of this in his wardrobe. Ideally it should versatile enough to wear with tailoring and on the other hand with jeans on those casual weekend pursuits.

Style Sage

My words:

There you go! While my shoes are indeed a little different, they are quite similar as well. I can say that I give my absolute thumbs-up to all of Christians shoes and am even quite jealous about those boots!

Today's Favorites - ts(s)

Coming into Spring, it's great how you see the more colorful stuff come out as well as the wearing of different leathers like nubuck and suede. And while every company is going to have their own version of a white nubuck (or suede) brogue, I am quite fond of the model displayed here by ts(s). Knowing that I absolutely love colored soles (when done properly), what you may not know about me is that I also love a bold stitch like the one around the welt. Most stitching is sadly irrelevant and masked over by color dye, but when they leave it nude or give it a contrast color, I find it to be quite a nice additive to the image of the shoe.

While I really like the idea of the white pair, I think if given a choice between the two I would have to go for the brown. My problem is that I hate dirty shoes and being so, it would seriously limit my using the shoes for constant fear of dirtying them. Ans once you dirty a white nubuck (or suede), it is damn hard trying to clean them!

Pictures Courtesy Of: Hypebeast

Shoes Of The Week

One of the coolest things about this shoe, which might seem insignificant to many, is the fact that it is a derby but has the appearance of an oxford (at least to me). This is important for me because I am not the biggest fan of derby's. Not that I don't like them, but 9 times out of 10, I would choose to own an oxford if given the choice. What's also great about these Zukie shoes is the fact that Mr. Hare has created something so simple but at the same time unique and different, which is always refreshing in the shoe industry due to the bombardment of crap that one see's on a daily basis. What's a shame is that I could not get the coolest colorway of these shoes from his site because for some reason it would not save properly on my computer. But if you click on the link I have provided (on Mr. Hare above) you will see this shoe in a dark teal suede which just might take-the-cake for coolest shoe of February.

What I really admire about Mr. Hare (because we have the same vision) is the fact that he was one day tired of the crap that he saw on the shoe shelves, not being able to find something unique and decided to do something about it. And what did he do? He started his own line where he could create things he liked. How cool is that! What's even better, is that luckily there were a bunch of other people who also liked his designs, allowing him to prosper in the shoe industry.

Anyway, here is one of the styles that he has coming out for Spring/Summer 2011. To see more, check out the site!