For far, far too long, the guys at Alden Madison in NYC and I were going back and forth and back again on what our third Stitchup boot should be. We all agreed not to veer from the trademark pattern—especially the 2-2 stitching (two slightly spaced double rows) on the cap toe and heel foxing—and Alden’s Barrie last. Which left upper leather choice as the main consideration.
The black shell cordovan original is one of my personal favorite Aldens of all time (No I’m not biased. How could I possibly be biased??) and the Arabica Lux Stitchup 2 was something of a direct reference to that one: a similarly dark, handsome boot that people would presumably get out there a little harder than the shell version.
So we wanted a lighter colored leather, talked about switching from the Alden commando sole but still wanted really nice all-around capability, and were definitely all game for something in the more casual/still-classy-enough bracket. I even was hammering home the idea of a wedge sole just to enrage Ticho.
Then I started wearing my first-ever pair of Alden Indy 405 boots as my Patina Thunderdome pair, and everything became obvious. Alden uses the Brown Legacy leather from Horween on their most classic boot (although really almost nothing else!) for a damned good reason. It starts out as just a really nice brown, but man does it wear in well.
Curtis from the Alden shop says he tells people to go with the brown Chromexcel 403 Indys if they want to keep them nice and sparkly, and to opt for the brown Legacy 405s if they want to beat them up. I’ve been working mine hard in the Dome (it’s kind of the idea), and the way scuffs and scratches reveal the lighter tan teacore underneath is just fantastic. And when you condition them, that variance lessens but never really fully goes away. I’ve also been very impressed with how this stuff creases—little variance and in all the right places.
My Alden 405 Indy boots, with ~3 weeks of pretty darn hard (but loving!) Patina Thunderdome wear
I’d also never had Alden’s neocork sole—the 405 staple—on anything before, and man have I been wondering what I was waiting for. Even though I’d heard the lore, the thing is far more grippy and capable than I expected, especially off-road, where my Indys have been logging the bulk of their miles.
So there it was, sitting in front of us the whole time. In addition to the Brown Legacy leather and brown neocork sole, we kept the 405 Indy’s natural 270-degree storm welt and Thomas heel, added in those 2-2 stitching details, and carried over the Barrie last and Stitchup-signature brass eyelets and hooks. And there it was: the Stitchup 3. I’m not gonna lie, I really like this boot.
Pre-Order the Stitchup 3 Boot
The whole package has plenty of that 405 Indy feeling, but is just a sleeker boot all around, something with a touch more pizzaz but the same endless capability. The above photo is just a Photoshop, but it should be very, very close to the final boot—which you can pre-order from Alden Madison as of right…now.
They’re available for pre-order now with a $300 deposit, with an estimated delivery date of June 2021. Final retail price is a little TBD because Alden hasn’t finalized 2022 pricing just yet, but you can expect somewhere right around $650.
Thanks for coming to my Boot Talk.