City Shoes

We will be placing the Suitable City Shoe order with Gaziano & Girling this week. So far, five men have said they'd like to own a dress shoe that evokes a more elegant era. Consider this the last chance for anyone who's been on the fence to get off of it.

For more information, email will at dynend.com.

A Semi-Formal Shoe for Day Wear

Two weeks ago I wrote about A Suitable City Shoe, a collaboration between myself and shoemakers Gaziano & Girling. Today the shoe is reality.

Polished black calf under gray suede, the City Shoe is a sophisticated look with navy or gray suits as well as strollers. The discreet contrast is noticeable but not at all flashy. I'm wearing the shoe to receptions, cocktails, and other dress-up daytime events. I'll also wear it into the evening with a lounge suit.


The City Shoe's beautifully shaped waist and Cuban heel have the look of a hand-made bespoke shoe, but the price, $1,000 plus shipping, is a third of the bespoke cost. The scarcity of appropriate gray suede makes A Suitable City Shoe a limited edition that will only be made one time.

If you think you might like a pair, email will at dynend.com.

A Suitable City Shoe

Until the 1940s, spats, boxcloth or linen shoe covers that extended up the lower part of the leg, were worn over black oxfords as part of the ensemble that comprised formal day wear. Spats were colored white, tan, black or, best of all, gray, giving the wearer the look of a fabric-topped shoe or boot. Sadly, spats were a bother to wear.


Spat wearing began to decline nearly a century ago when formal day wear itself began to be replaced with lounge suits, but the look of spats has never died out entirely. A few very elegant men commission two-tone boots or shoes that provide the look of spats without the bother. That's the origin of the cloth topped button boot as well as the suede and calf galosh oxford like the bespoke versions from John Lobb Ltd. in the photos.

Today I am happy to announce a collaboration between A Suitable Wardrobe and shoemaker Gaziano & Girling that brings back the sophisticated look of the two tone galosh, without the expense of bespoke shoes. Brilliantly executed in gray suede and black calf on G&G's traditional round last, I call it A Suitable City Shoe.

The City Shoe will cost $1,000 (£500) without shoe trees, plus shipping. Delivery will be approximately five months after order and any man who might like to obtain a pair should contact me by email. I'll have more information and photos next week.

G&G's New Models

Shoemakers Gaziano & Girling, who are embarking on a visit to the United States, introduced a series of new models while they were in Japan last month. The most interesting of the shoes, to me at least, was this balmoral oxford that they call the Warwick. I'll have more to say about it in a couple of weeks.


The most important part of their line extension was the addition of several models of boots. The Canterbury, shown above, is a classic looking dress boot. The design lends itself to a calf bottom and suede upper and I expect we'll be seeing more of that combination on our city streets by this coming Autumn.

Compared to the other Northampton makers, G&G's heel and waist treatments look more like what you might see on a London bespoke shoe. And they offer bespoke as well of course, which is probably why their machine-made shoes have it and the others don't.

Pricing begins at £470 ex VAT ($950), without trees, and delivery takes about five months from the time of order.

Middle of the Road Shoes

When I see photos of bespoke shoes from Gaziano & Girling on the web, they tend to be aggressively styled. Tony Gaziano is the first to admit that he likes to push the envelope, and I'm not the only one that thinks he has a knack for it. But he can be conservative when he's asked to, and here's some espresso brown quarter brogue proof (I call them quarter brogues because they don't have a toe medallion, but they do have a heel counter so technically I think they are hybrid form of semi-brogue. Not that it matters.).


G & G bespoke shoes arrive in a sturdy shoe box with heavy cloth bags and elegant mahogany trees that put the shoe trees from Tony's two previous employers to shame. Even the soles are discrete. I asked for a fiddleback sole and I got one, but it's modest. And the plum lining on the inside blends right in.


Since I've decided that I prefer brown or tan shoes with my blue suits for day wear, I'm only wearing black shoes with gray suits that have black in the weave. That has meant that I needed (OK, wanted) a couple more pair of darker brown city shoes in my rotation. These fit the bill.

G&G Visits SF

Despite a case of the sniffles, Tony Gaziano was in town for Gaziano & Girling's semi-annual visit and there was quite a bit to talk about.

We spent most of our time discussing the improved manufacturing prowess evident in G&G's newer ready to wear samples, like the one on the left in the photo below (click to enlarge it), which feature a jointed heel and a more prominent fiddleback waist that's cut as close as the waist on a bespoke shoe.


The new samples are the best looking machine-made shoes I've seen. Tony called them "Northampton (ready-made) shoes with a London (bespoke) look."


Then there were the boots, and some new shoe models that have been kept quiet until now. Beginning around the end of 2007, the RTW line will be expanded to include six new boots. The boots will include a balmoral, a chelsea and a Norwegian (the samples in the photo are bespoke but similar styles).


There'll also be new elastic sided slip-on shoes, balmorals, and walking shoes. Interestingly, each of the base shoe models will be offered in a traditional and a modern version.

You really need to see the new samples.

Maintenance: G&G's Shoe Cleaning Kit

Tired of hauling country shoes into the city for polishing, I decided I needed shine supplies for the weekend. I was ordering a pair of shoes at the time, and, on impulse, took a flyer on Gaziano & Girling's shoe cleaning kit. That was six months ago.

Of course, I'd entirely forgotten that 'shine them myself' resolve when one day Dean Girling emailed asking if it was OK to charge my credit card. I hadn't made any other plans, so I'm now the owner of a shine kit that's nearly as nice as a pair of G&G bespoke. As it should be. I mean, it took significantly longer than the shoe order did and cost as much as a couple pair of boat shoes.

Nonetheless, the kit reminds me of some of the wonderful English accessories that used to be available in London's Burlington Arcade before the jewelers took the place over. Men who don't care if their shoes go unpolished while they await delivery will appreciate the sturdy case that encloses a shoe horn, tins of polish, suede cleaner, a shine cloth and a selection of brushes for calf and suede shoes. Now all I have to do is figure out the intended use of some of the brushes.

Gaziano & Girling Shoe Cleaning Kit, £100 ex VAT (about $200).

Thoughts on the Shoe Business

Nobody's asked for my opinion, but I thought I'd share a couple thoughts on the high-end ready to wear shoe business.

As the world's become a smaller place, the remaining ready to wear shoemakers have seen their home turfs invaded by by makers from other parts of the world. England's Edward Green does the largest share of its business in Japan. France's Pierre Corthay is in New York's Bergdorf Goodman, and Hungary's Vass is out, at least for the time being.

The challenge each of these makers faces is that there aren't enough competent retailers to go around, and the ones that exist already have lines. A new stockist that can deliver volume comes around perhaps once every five years, so expansion becomes a zero sum game. For Gaziano Girling or W. S. Foster to get shelf space, another maker loses some of his. Yet none of these companies, or the dozen others that I haven't mentioned, has attempted an end run yet.

Foster Ready to Wear in London

What's an end run, you ask? Ecommerce. Expensive even five years ago, today it takes a lot less investment than opening dedicated retail stores a la John Lobb Paris. I can think of a few things that would make my customer experience much better than it is today.

First, invest in a set of fitting shoes for each major market. They should encompass every last, and every size in the product line, and if that's too expensive cut back the breadth of the line. A maker can't sell shoes until the customer knows what size he needs.

Pierre Corthay Ready To Wear in Paris

Once the fitting shoes are available, work out a method for dispatching a pair or two, secured by a credit card, when a new customer inquires. It's a process that works quite well for bespoke hats. In addition, or at the very least, begin trunk shoes in major cities and promote them so prospective customers can get fit and place their first order. Once they've bought the first time, personal interaction becomes less important.

Second, set up a web site that includes a visual of every model on every last, in every leather, and with every sole. Describe the differences between choices like Dainite and Ridgeway soles, for example, because there won't be a helpful sales professional available to your customers when they order. Take orders on the site. And go out of your way to over-communicate order status by email. Acknowledge the order, provide an expected delivery day, and then provide periodic updates during the months it takes to make the shoes. Once the software is working, email is free anyway.

Then put bar code scanners and digital cameras at a couple major stations on the production line so you can take work in process photos and send them to a database. Give each customer a login on the web site where they can see their shoes as they are being made, and keep a record, of course, of the shoes in each customer's inventory. The first company to do this will have customers posting pictures and praise on every clothing forum in cyberspace.

Since customers are freely providing their contact information, a maker going down this road has a free method to proactively communicate trunk show dates, new models, and other useful information that leads to ongoing relationships and repeat orders.

I submit that the first maker to adopt a system similar to this one will sell a lot more shoes because they'll be making life easier on me, and shoe loving customers around the world.

English Sneakers

When I finally got back into the office after a few days of illness, I had a package from Gaziano & Girling containing a pair of crepe soled bluchers that I'd requested in February. Let's see, that would be five months, right? Not too bad.

As you know, crepe is nothing more than natural rubber. The soles are about half an inch thick and the heels are another half inch, so the shoes wear like trainers. I wanted them for days of walking around museums and cathedrals in the Fall, particularly when it's wet.

The shoes are the Wells model in Chestnut pin grain, with G&G's signature defined waist and the soft square toe. I took Tony Gaziano's advice and ordered the same size that I wear in Edward Green's 888 last, and the fit is as good as anyone can expect of a shoe made on a standard last. They'll be great with corduroys, moleskins and tweed.

It's been nearly a year since the company launched its MTO line and G&G seems to have made solid progress, overcoming minor teething problems and delivering quality shoes. With the continued success of their bespoke shoes and a new line of boots and casual lace-ups scheduled for the end of the year, G&G's future looks bright to me.

A Season is Ending

Spring season is coming to an end, one of the two times each year when perhaps two dozen of the world's better tailors and shoemakers (and the occasional poseur) go on the road to meet their customers. Most days during the Spring and Fall, a few hotel suites in New York, Zurich, Chicago and other major cities are filled with men speaking quietly while they leaf through cloth swatches and leather samples, or cross the room to test how their new shoes, or new trousers, fit. London's Henry Poole has perhaps the most ambitious schedule, visiting the U.S., continental Europe, China and Japan.

It's a process that works well for men that value bespoke clothing but live in cities without world class makers of their own. Most visiting artisans come twice a year. A man orders during one visit and has a fitting on the next, so that the completed item can be completed, paid for and sent to the customer several weeks later. The downside is that if a man is very picky about small details, he had better be prepared to fly to the tailor's regular domicile, or wait a very long time for his clothes.

There are risks to this approach of course, but they can be minimized by dealing with makers that have been making the rounds for decades. And some relative bargains may be there to be had from new guys who are out to build their reputation. Thomas Mahon and Gaziano & Girling each began business with a series of trunk shows early on, and both they and their customers benefitted. Of course, G&G in particular had a reputation from the first day.

On the other hand, two years ago another tailor conducted a brilliant Internet visibility campaign and then delivered only a small number of acceptable suits before disappearing with the rest of the customers' money. But it's not hard to avoid the outright frauds if you insist on talking to references who have received completed clothes before you hand over your credit card.

The Bespoke Shoe Process

According to the census of 1851, there were 28,000 shoemakers in London, or roughly 2% of the population. The machine age put most of those people out of work, and today there are but a handful of firms making bespoke shoes by hand.

One of those firms is Gaziano & Girling, whose partner Dean Girling was in town last week with some new bespoke shoe samples as well as the good news that the company's first made to order shoes from last Fall's launch are finally in customer hands. After we enjoyed a cup of coffee, we spent a few minutes going through the bespoke ordering process.

From the customer's perspective, the process of having a pair of shoes made hasn't changed in decades. First I stood on a sheet of paper while Dean traced the outline of each foot and measured its height at three different places.

Once measurement is complete, the customer is asked to describe the shoe he envisons. It helps to arrive with an idea in mind, but this is also where the maker's supply of bespoke sample shoes helps illustrate the possibilities. For example, a reversed calf elastic sided brogue looks great with suits and odd jackets, and a man won't see many shoes like it in the United States.



Of course, a pair of Adelaide semi-brogues like the shoes pictured might be more practical. And then there are the details to specify. Espresso calf. Smart round toe. Fiddleback waist. Cuban heel. Steel toe caps. Natural beech shoe trees. And perhaps a plum colored lining.

Once the order is written and a deposit taken, all that remains is the waiting.

Walk A Mile on These Soles

A day spent walking the streets of any city as a tourist calls for comfortable shoes. For seeing the sights, I like crepe soles on open laced shoes, so when I wore mine out a while ago I determined to replace them before this year's tourist travel.

My first stop was Edward Green, which doesn't offer crepe soles because, according to managing director Hilary Freeman, "crepe is sold in sheet form and we are left with material which becomes rigid before we are able to use it all." She prefers Dainite, and though I like that material as well I already have a pair. My goal was crepe.

I like crepe because it's soft and cushiony, and provides good traction on wet or dry concrete and bricks. There are a couple of downsides - natural crepe is plantation grown rubber and will become temporarily rigid if frozen or very soft if left in the heat. The cure for rigidity is a minute in a low oven and to fix softness, just sprinkle talcum powder on the soles.

My second stop was Gaziano & Girling, which it turns out does offer crepe. I'm hoping that my crepe soled Wells in chestnut pin grain arrive in time to walk around Glasgow this Fall.

Edward Green Top Drawer

Hilary Freeman (the lady in the photo), Managing Director of shoemaker Edward Green, is currently on a trunk show tour of America. She has a sample of the new Top Drawer model with her and I was able to examine it last week.

Top Drawer models feature a hand shaped fiddleback waist, the buyer's initials on the sole by the heel, a built-up not-quite-Cuban style heel, a spade shaped sole edge, and a handwritten sock with the buyer's name. They receive special attention during polishing and are shipped with specially shaped shoe trees. At least on the sample I saw, the stitching around the sole is very well done.

Top Drawer orders are clicked and closed like regular Edward Green shoes and then lasted by a team of four craftsman who each specialize in one part of the shoe. The result looks every bit as good as my bespoke Cleverleys.

The pricing, which in the United States will be roughly $1600 through EG distribution and $1900 through Polo, is comparable to John Lobb Prestige. That's a stiff premium over Gaziano & Girling's ready to wear, however I believe the G&Gs will go up rapidly in price once they are actually delivering shoes. Top Drawer shoes are finished better than Lobb Prestige, though Lobb's models are exclusive to the Prestige line. That's an advantage on the Lobb side of the fence.

Japan is EG's most important market and the price is likely to find less resistance there than it will in the U.S. Further, Hilary told me that if you have an Edward Green bespoke last made while Tony Gaziano was working there, EG will make your Top Drawer shoes on that last. She said the same to two friends that went to see her separately.

There are several hundred men for whom that offer will be an outstanding bargain. 80% or better of a fully bespoke shoe at half the price.

Friday Morning at CSE

I began Friday morning at the Collection of Sartorial Excellence by riding up the hotel elevator with Dean Girling, of cordwainers Gaziano and Girling. This was my first experience seeing G&G's ready to wear line in person and I am much more impressed than I was from the photographs I saw last Fall. The samples look bespoke.

Dean says that the October orders from the launch will be delivered at the end of March. Buyers are going to be very happy with the hand finished edges, the lovely curve of the waists and the fiddleback soles (which are in fact the same soles used in the bespoke line). Incredible value.