It was finally just time, I suppose.
After nearly seven years of extensively covering the excellent bootmaker Nicks Boots—who’s been making some of the world’s most serious boots in Spokane since 1964—and kicking around ideas for over half of that time, I dare say we’ve got ourselves a collaborative winner.
Introducing: the Nicks x Stitchdown Bromley Boot
I’ve long loved a boot-shoe. Which is, as I see it, essentially a shoe made by a manufacturer that specializes in very serious boots. You get all the benefits of said very serious boot—the materials and build quality, the promise of extreme durability combined with (once broken in) legitimate lifetime comfort—without quite as much height, weight, or laces to worry about.
And trust me we’ve more than dabbled in boot-shoes over here at Stitchdown, including the lace-to-toe variety. They’re just so impressively fun and funky, something familiar but also different.
But sometimes you want a little more than a shoe, but a little less than a full-on PNW boot.
Enter the Bromley boot. Designed in collaboration with one of our intrepid Stitchdown Premium Discord community members, the Bromley takes Nicks’ LTT pattern and accommodating HNW last, chops off some of the top, and creates a fantastic casual short-ish boot platform.
Two Makeups to Start
We love the long-term potential of this boot, but for now we’re starting off two ways.
The first is nice and classic with an all-black smooth (Horween CXL) and roughout (Seidel Max Support roughout, a chrome-tanned oil-tan staple that is Nicks longest-running leather) combo, finished off with an all brass-eyelets setup and a Nicks’ oil resistant wedge sole on the bottom.
We’re also having a little fun on launch with a second makeup that leverages Horween’s Pacific Waxed Flesh and light grey Cypress, plus those same eyelets and wedge outsole. While they’ll remain distinct in color and texture, the Waxed Flesh should lighten with wear, and the Cypress should darken. So they’ll get closer together without quite meeting in the middle.
Both makeups will feature a 4-inch height and unstructured toe that will descend into something sleeker with time, although the beefy leather choices mean that won’t be immediate, or overly aggressive.
And of course both gets a medial-side lineman’s patch, which both supports the foot, delivers a nod to the pole-climbing work these boots descended from, and, let’s be honest, just looks really darn cool.
When ordering, you can select the patch leather to match that of the upper part of the pattern (yes I understand the entire pattern is called the “upper” but just play along) or the lower part of the pattern. You’ll see on the Nicks order page here.
The Construction
As with the bulk of Nicks’ line, the Bromley boots are made with a very serious double-row stitchdown construction. There’s a fairly serious leather midsole underfoot, plus a slip sole layer that firmly attaches to the wedge outsole.
Just be prepared that Nicks Boots are absolutely no joke—even though it’ll be much quicker than a full-height Nicks, this boot will take a bit of time to break in, even if it’s largely comfortable in terms of fit at first. But once they do work in properly, the comfort is quite serious, in addition to the support a build of this kind offers.
The Last & Sizing
Nicks’ HNW last is a time-tested PNW classic—nice and round up front and fairly accommodating throughout. Plus the lace-to-toe design allows for as much dialing in that sizing and snugness as you could hope for.
Nicks considers the HNW to have a “moderate” arch underfoot, and that’s pretty fair. It’s nowhere near the ladder-rung of, say, their 55 last. But it does provide a noticeable if not extreme level of support in the arch area.
As for sizing, I personally like the HNW last at .5 down from Brannock and up a width. So as an 11D Brannock, my sample pair is a 10.5E and it works quite nicely with thick-ish socks—the length feels perfect, and everything is in there quite snugly.
Others go with .5 down from Brannock length at their measured width, but in my opinion it’s best to have some familiarity with Nicks’ sizing and this last to make that call. Again, Nicks are very serious boots! And sizing them too snugly could backfire.
Some people do order true-to-Brannock to free up a little extra space, and of course everyone’s feet are different. But I’d personally recommend opting for the width increase instead if you’re looking for more room. Nicks will also be able to help if you reach out, especially if you have sizes on file in other Nicks’ lasts.
Pre-Ordering Details
The first Bromley boots cost $700 and all pre-orders must be placed on the Nicks Boots website by December 2nd, 2025, with the boots scheduled to be completed by March 2026—both makeups of the Bromley can be found here.
