Suffice it to say it’s all about the leathers this week, with a new run of overdyed Clinch engineers at Standard & Strangle, a whole Viberg capsule dedicated to a pleasantly grainy leather from C.F. Stead, a new Muleskinner colorway at Red Wing, and some truly crazy nubuck at Crown Northampton. All that and more below!
Catch up on our previous roundups here.
[Ed Note: while we never choose anything specifically because of them, some of these recommendations contain affiliate links—the price is the same for you, but Stitchdown gets a small commission if you make a purchase. It’s essential to keeping the site alive, so we really, really appreciate it.]
Division Road x White’s MPM1 in Natural Chromexcel: $835
Division Road has two new collaboration models with White’s this week, both MPM1 models, and both near archetypal takes on the service boot. Built on the slimmer and lower-arched MP last, but with the handsewn stitchdown construction White’s is known for and the natural Chromexcel rolled welt that’s a Division Road signature. That welt matches the uppers on this natural colorway…
Division Road x White’s MPM1 in Black Chromexcel: $835
…but cuts more of a contrast against the uppers of the Black model, at least until the dye on the surface wears through and begins to reveal the natural core. Both boots use a Vibram 430 Mini Lug outsole.
Standard & Strange x Clinch Overdyed Engineer Boots in Horsebutt: $2,000
Clinch’s CN-Wide engineer is back at Standard & Strange, this time in a dark green overdye with green o’Sullivan’s reproduction soles and contrasting natural rolled tops. Apparently there’s a fair degree of variability in the initial color – from almost-black to a brighter olive – in any case, the boots should converge as they start to give up their brown core. Hand lasted and welted with brass hardware.
Rolling Dub Trio Rottweiler Riding Boots in Black Horsehide: $1,250
Black Sign now has company in the sky-high shaft segment. RDT’s Rottweiler is a big pair of boots—rarely does life serve up drama without heartache but, dear reader, this is one of those times. They’re built on the Munson last in tea-core Italian Horsebutt, which judging by the pictures seems to bit a bit thinner than the super-heavy duty stuff that often shows up on engineer boots. The 360˚ flat welt attaches a leather outsole, all of which is edge dyed black which. These aren’t quite as much commitment as they look either; if you get shy you can always hide them under your pant legs.
Rolling Dub Trio Casper Side Zip Boot in Black/Green Teacore Steerhide: $820
Completing the teacore trifecta Standard & Strange is also dropping a Casper in black and green teacore—this time with the black on the outside. They have a 360˚ flat welt and a nitrile cork outsole with the signature boots factory toe tap and leather insert.
Viberg Side Zip in Black Tanganiyka: $1,095 (Pre-Order)
We’ve said before that we like C.F. Stead’s Tanganiyka suede because it looks like a classic grain leather, but the texture – which comes naturally from the hides themselves – is a bit more interesting than your run-of-the-mill embossing. Viberg just put out a whole collection of boots in the stuff, timed auspiciously close to the release of our bonus shoecast episode where Brett Viberg himself gets grilled by a bunch of you in NYC. Our two picks from the release are probably this leather soled side-zip on a modified version of the 2030…
Viberg Chelsea Boot in Snuff Tanganiyka: $1,095 (Pre-Order)
…and the Snuff Chelsea, which uses the same last, 270˚ flat welt, and leather outsole combo.
Viberg Navvy Cut Shoe in Snuff Tanganiyka: $975 (Pre-Order)
There’s also a new model in the form the of Navvy Cut Shoe, which as you might expect is a cut down version of the Navvy Boot. It also uses a new anatomical last, the Cantilever last, shared by the Navvy Boots in this release, which you can check out here.
Goods and Services x Red Wing Custom Postman in Black Chaparral: $398
Goods and Services is one of the West Coast’s foremost repair shops, and repair is just the beginning—their work includes intensive modifications (think converting mass market sneakers to Goodyear welt) as well as built-from-the-ground-up models like this week’s Red Wing collaboration. This time, the customizations take the humble, practical Postman and add an aggressive 132 lug sole, a pull loop on the tongue, and a duo of stacked kilties. No need to send in your old shoes.
Red Wing Classic Moc in Chocolate Muleskinner: $299
It seems like just about every heritage brand/retailer has done a website refresh recently (for better or… worse) and Red Wing is no exception. Product pages for the Heritage boots now include a cut-in-half cross section photo, and credit where credit is due Red Wing has been cutting their boots in half since long before a certain floral-metalic youtube channel rose to prominence. That refresh was accompanied by a lineup update in the form of a new Classic Moc colorway, a warm brown version of the slab-of-leather insole, cork fill, and Christy wedge combo we know and love…
Red Wing Women’s Classic Moc in Hawthorne Muleskinner: $319
…while the Women’s line gained a Hawthorne Muleskinner version…
Red Wing Women’s Porter Moc in Copper Rough & Tough: $329
…and chunky Porter Moc using Vibram’s Ultralight outsole on the same 360˚ flat welted platform. We have to confess that we’re little disappointed that these have foam insoles, though that isn’t new.
Crown Northampton Regent Wholecut in Sokoto: $245
Crown Northampton worked with a new (to the brand) tannery, Tusting and Burnett on a new capsule for their Jazz Range, which includes a number of models in vegtable tanned Sokoto Goatskin. The leather has a tight fibre structure and characteristic wrinkles that look almost like stripes…
Crown Northampton Artizan Belgian Slipper in Sokoto Nubuck and Reverse Kudu: $245
…especially dramatic on the Nubuck version, where some of the grain remains protected in the creases and folds. It’s combined with C.F. Stead’s reverse Kudu on the Belgian Slipper…
Crown Northampton Adnitt Gat in Sokoto Nubuck and Reverse Kudu: $262
…and the Adnitt Gat. All three models are also available in Tusting and Burnett’s Mad Dog tannage, and all three use a veg-tan insole, cork fill, and a cemented Vibram flex outsole that can be resoled.
Alden Plain Toe Blucher in Natural Chromexcel: $720
Not sure if you noticed, but natural Chromexcel has actually been discontinued at Alden for a while now. For it’s return, it’s debuting at Alden Madison on a Plain Toe Blucher beefed up with a couple extra details – a 360˚ split reverse welt and commando half soles – intended to make them a bit more flexible and contemporary. Otherwise, they’re a platform for patina if your life is still too formal to wear boots often.
Brick + Mortar x Alden “Magnuson” in Color 8 Shell Cordovan: $1,020
Brick + Mortar’s new Magnuson has a hand-sewn split toe (no easy feat in shell) as well as a five-eyelet/four-speedhook setup up top and commando half-soles underfoot. Constructed with a 360˚ split reverse welt on the Barrie last.
Moulded Shoe x Alden #D9871h in Dark Brown Calfskin: $715
If you’re looking for your modified last fix, or just have feet that need a more anatomical fit, Moulded Shoe is pretty much the place to go—at least in the states. Their latest Alden makeup is a cap toe boot with a 270˚ flat welt and leather outsoles, built on (to no surprise!) the modified last. The name is equipped with numbers and special characters to prevent decryption.
Oldspeed Mfg. Henry Johnson Boot in Natural Chromexcel Roughout: $800 (Made to Order)
Oldspeeds latest boot, and their most intricate pattern yet, is patterned on the French Army boot worn in the WW1, with some modern tweaks like the raw cord outsole from Dr. Sole and double-row stitchdown construction rather than the welted construction used on the originals. They’re built on Oldspeed’s 1942 last, and fulfillment is currently sitting around ten weeks.