Stitchdown - Wear Better Shoes

8.8

Red Wing Iron Ranger: A Four-Year Review of a Timeless Boot

They say it's dangerous to meet your heroes. Before I bought my first pair, Red Wing Iron Ranger boots met that classification. I saw them on the streets. I stared longingly at pictures of them beaten to hell and rich with patina. At night I dreamed,... Read More...

The Best Unlined Loafers for Spring and Summer

While structure is so important to quality footwear that fits well and stands the test of time, spring and summer tend to require something a little different out of shoes—namely comfort, especially if you're the kind of person who begins hating sock... Read More...

Boot I Can’t Stop Staring at: Wesco Axe Breaker

Long before I launched Stitchdown, I had a serious problem with shoes and boots: I couldn't stop looking at them. In stores, on Instagram, on shoemakers' websites, on shops' websites, on the feet of basically every single person I walked past. It's p... Read More...

Thorogood Moc Toe Boot In Tobacco Leather

8.9

Thorogood Moc Toe Boot: A Five-Year Review of One of the Best Values in Boots

One of my all-time most-loved—and absolutely my most-used—pairs of footwear is the deeply classic Thorogood Moc Toe boot. I've done everything imaginable in these rugged but impressively versatile babies, from chainsawing down trees, to climbing a (s... Read More...

JM Weston Le Moc Loafer In Light Blue Nubuck

J.M. Weston’s New Spring Le Mocs are Definitely Not Un-Colorful

While J.M. Weston makes many a tremendous shoe, including some of the finest pieces of ready-to-wear footwear available anywhere in the world, the 128-year-old French shoemaker's bedrock is the Mocassin 180 loafer. The more casual version of that sho... Read More...

These New Wesco Chromepak Jobmasters Are Extremely Serious About Being Boots

Wesco Boot's Jobmaster is a boot with incredible range—for starters, it can be six inches tall or 16. Various versions of one of the world's ultimate work boots wouldn't be identifiable as cousins to the untrained eye, let alone siblings. Case in ... Read More...

Corthay: Reveling in Some of the World’s Most Uniquely Beautiful Shoes

Most shoes at at least originally emerged from function: think of English country walking shoes, whose brogue detailing facilitated water drainage while sloshing around pastures. Others are designed for fashion: give people the latest trend, however ... Read More...

Miloh Trickers Shell Cordovan Robert Derby

These Tricker’s Plain Toe Derbies Offer Classic Cordovan Looks at a Terrific Price

Tricker's is among of the world's most trustworthy quality shoemakers. The plain toe derby is one of the most classic and versatile shoe styles that's ever existed. Shell cordovan is the ultimate leather. And $650 is a seriously nice price for those ... Read More...

Mark Albert Boots — Mark Barbera In the Factory

The Stitchdown Conversation: Mark Barbera of Mark Albert Boots

Mark Albert Barbera was born into bootmaking—he just didn't realize it. When the college-aged Barbera wanted a pair of Chelsea boots, he was dissatisfied with the available offerings and where they were priced. So much so that he decided to make t... Read More...

Design Your Own MTO John Lofgren Boots—And Meet John Lofgren Himself

John Lofgren makes some of the finest and most timeless boots known to this fair world in his workshop in Sendai, a Japanese city about three hours from Tokyo by (pretty fast) train. Luckily a few U.S. shops sell his fabled engineer, combat, and M-43... Read More...