Every Single Winner From the Inaugural Stitchdown Patina Thunderdome

Seven months. 457 pairs. Made by exactly 100 brands. 271 different leathers. Contestants from 29 countries around the world (shout-out Cyprus!). 17 pairs of handmade boots. Literally every square ounce of boot-and-shoe-loving enthusiasm that could be wrung from this world of ours.

That’s where the inaugural Stitchdown Patina Thunderdome presented by Grant Stone, Standard & Strange, and Wesco began.

So where did it end up?

330 pairs intrepid crossing the finish line, an estimated 25 million steps taken in them, brilliant and personal and moving essays written by every contender, and a panel of esteemed judges faced with some of the toughest decisions of their lives.

But they did it! You all did it. We did it.

The Thunderdome directive was simple: make people pick a pair, commit to it, and wearing it hard, but lovingly and honestly. And man did everyone deliver on that. But the bigger goal was to create the world’s largest reference of how boots and shoes and incredibly specific leathers age over time. That ability to peer into the future—what will your next pair look like? What do you want out of it? Where do you want to go together?

Well, we definitely did that. We’ll be posting all manner of Dome-fueled content right here on this site—but you can also spend time with every single picture from the Thunderdome (over 20,000 of them!) in the excellent Patina Project app, where you can also sort by leather, maker, or model. It’s fantastic. I highly recommend you spend some serious time with it.

Huge thanks to every single one of our sponsors: Brooklyn Clothing, Carmine Jack, Division Road, Dr. Sole, Frank’s Boot Company, Guarded Goods, Iron Heart, Jim Green, Meermin, Nicks Handmade Boots, Oak Street Bootmakers, Østmo Bootmaker, Parkhurst, Rancourt & Co, Rose Anvil, Sagara, Signet, Tricker’s, Trinity Handmade, Viberg, and Withered Fig.

And the very same to our judges, some of the whip-smartest leather and boots people in the world: Wyatt Gilmore from Grant Stone, Neil Berrett from Standard & Strange, Tim Singler of Titletown Goods, and mister Guarded Goods himself, Jesse Ducommun. (Vic Tsao from Dr. Sole, we missed you so much! Next time!)

But now…the boots! And shoes!!

Here are your top 25 winners of the inaugural Stitchdown Patina Thunderdome. A massive congratulations to each of you. You’ve done something that shouldn’t be important at all, and yet is monumentally important. That’s special.

PRE-REGISTER FOR THE 2ND ANNUAL STITCHDOWN PATINA THUNDERDOME BEGINNING OCT 1, 2022

1st Place: Your 2021-2022 Stitchdown Patina Thunderdome Champion

Steven Lee

IG: @ibehangry

Viberg x Lost & Found Service Boot

Horween Natural Chromexcel

We probably considered a dozen pairs as first-place contenders (certainly all of the top 10), but in the end, one of the simplest boots ended up standing out as the platonic ideal of what this Thunderdome competition represents. These Viberg brogue cap toe Service Boots—a long running Lost & Found staple special makeup with an unstructured toe box—boots are beyond perfect, but most importantly, they’re ready to remain that way for years to come.

The natural CXL displays everything it can do when split thick, worn hard, and cared for the way it deserves. Every single crease and roll is in the right place. The depth of color is like the Marianas Trench. And just the way that the midsole edge stain has chipped away so darn honestly and beautifully. They’re just so good.

There’s often talk of the CXL lottery; you may just write these off as a $500 million winner and continue on with your day. But what the esteemed judges discussed—especially after seeing dozens of CXL pairs that were absolutely beautiful and completely lacking in “bad” break—is basically this: if it’s thick, and is wielded by a maker holding deep experience with the leather, Horween’s Chromexcel eternally holds the potential to become something stupendous. This isn’t news! But damn if it isn’t an excellent reminder.

Seven Months of Wear

Day 1

2nd Place

Januar Dwi Juang

IG: @januardwijuang

Benzein Engineers

Overdyed Horween Brown Chromexcel Horsehide

Second place is an Indonesian competitor wearing Indonesian boots. And the complete lack of surprise around those two things display just how incredibly firm of a foothold the Bandung bootmaking scene has latched onto in recent years. Benzein’s engineer is one of the very best examples out there (and they’ve upgraded it since these were made!), but when paired with this leather and worn the way these have been…geeeeeez.

On that overdyed Horween horsehide: at one point during the Dome I posted some pics of these on Instagram, and there was some blowback that these boots had been overworn, or inappropriately abused, or hit with some gimmick. I didn’t agree at the time, and neither did any of our esteemed judges. We looked at the heels, and the pants-protected shafts, and all concurred that the way this leather was lightly overdyed was meant to create this kind of look, and we’re damn thankful for it. If it takes seven months or seven years, I’m pretty sure we all want boots that look exactly like these.

Seven Months of Wear

Day 1

3rd Place

Nando Bloch

Red Wing Classic Moc Toe

SB Foot Maize Mustang

I suspected there would be some Red Wings in the Top 10; I couldn’t have been more overjoyed to watch this exact pair evolve throughout the seven months.

The all-too-rare Maize Mustang from SB Foot, the Red Wing-owned Minnesota tannery, went from mustard yellow to hot-dog-dropped-in-the-dirt and I couldn’t imagine it going any better. That patina isn’t surface, ready to come off when hit with a wet rag. It’s been BAKED into these suckers. Red Wing moc toes are without question one of the iconic boots; to many in our community, they are the boot, the only one that truly matters. These back that outlook up so very hard.

Seven Months of Wear

Day 1

4th Place

Steven Vande Hei

IG: @_steven__v

Paraboot Avignon

Lisse Gold

Dress shoes in the top 4! Or, dress chonk at the very least. I loved it when Steven filed these Paraboots as his Dome shoes—cutting directly into the prevailing boot-winds of this competition. Outside of small contingent of loafers and a few excellent Aldens, there simply weren’t a ton in here. My suspicion is that after this result, Thunderdome Two will see plenty more in the mix.

I’ve seen these shoes in person, at the Stitchdown Chicago Shoenanza, and Steven didn’t even bat an eye when I asked if I could just run my hands over his shoes. The transformation on these is insane, up there with the most extreme of the Dome.

But it’s really more about the finished 7-month product: just a perfectly painted canvas, perhaps consistent at first glance but revealing everything that was inherent on the calf hide to begin with, while also bearing the marks of a life well lived (and worn basically every day for those seven months). We’re waiting for a confirm from Paraboot, but our best guess on the tannery/article on the Lisse (“smooth”) Gold upper leather is Gold Novanappa from Tanneries Haas. BRING IT BACK, Paraboot!!

Seven Months of Wear

Day 1

5th Place

Travis Houlette

IG: @patinathunderdometurner

Viberg Service Boot

Horween Bourbon Shell Cordovan

Ah yes, these ones. The boots from the guy who basically created an Instagram account just for the contest, with the best name imaginable. The boots that at one month old were already unrecognizable, toes sprung to the sky, perhaps already lost to Thunderdome over-aggression (and let’s not forget these are, uh, not exactly cheap Horween shell cordovan Vibergs…)

But then the ship steadied! Product was applied, care occurred, and they gradually became very ok with themselves—and something I’ve simply never seen before. Which in some ways is a major underpinning of this entire Thunderdome.

I think it’s important to say this: in lesser skilled, less thoughful hands/feet, these boots would likely not be placing where they are, if at all. The razor’s edge was tiptoed along for seven months, and I’m quite uncertain they could do it for another seven years. These are the work of a true master, pushing the race car right that edge of the life/death envelope. This is a pair to be inspired by, if not mimic directly. But MAN, what a marvel to behold.

Seven Months of Wear

Day 1

6th Place

Brian Kenney

IG: @thepatinaarena

Viberg Wholecut Boot

Horween Rowdy Dachshund

Available for purchase here

Viberg wholecut boot + time + heavy wear + care = something very different than what you started out with. This is just an incontrovertible axiom now, thanks to these boots. Sure it’s true for most, but I don’t think a pattern evolved in this entire contest the way this one did. They’ve settled into themselves, rewarding the excess toil and expense to make a wholecut boot. And man was it all worth it.

Turns out it’s perfectly mated with Horween’s combo-tanned Rowdy Dachshund leather (the artist previously known as Mocha Oil Harness!), which starts out funky and somehow becomes more consistent in color and texture with wear…and then the life the boots live gets painted right on top of it. Do these things need a resole? Yes. Am I beyond thrilled that they made it seven months, clearly worn aggressively, and crossed the finish line with their own original clothes on, looking fly as all hell? I am, I really am.

Seven Months of Wear

Day 1

7th Place

Hillary Arurang

Flame Panda Monkey Boot

Maryam Natural Horsebutt

Yes, Hillary co-built the Patina Project App where you can find EVERY photo of every boot and shoe from the Thunderdome, searchable by maker, leather, and style, which you should download now. Coming right out and saying that! But the fix is not in at all—she had no influence on anything, and we actually judged these totally blind.

So it comes down to: we just really loved these boots. Flame Panda’s chunkier monkey may get a little more buzz out there, but Peng’s stripped down, hyper-simplified monkey pattern is beyond perfect for showcasing interesting leathers and where they want to go. This upper leather from Italian horsebutt maestros Maryam has definitely darkened, but it’s really about just how well it accepts dings and scratches and dirt and says “thank you, this looks even better, more please”. I could say this about all of this, of course, but: I want these boots.

Seven Months of Wear

Day 1

8th Place

Aaron Huebner

IG: @aaronhuebner

Viberg x Division Road Boondocker

Horween Natural Waxed Flesh

I said it maybe 15 times on our esteemed judging call full of esteemed judges: the thing I love most about these boots is that I’ve simply never seen anything like them. This is Horween natural waxed flesh! This is not how it’s supposed to look!

But oh that’s what it is, transformed by over 2 million steps and 25 hours of brushing. This particular result may not have been intended, but the care experiment (ex-care-iment??? No. Sorry.) surely was. And boy oh boy was it a success. This is another pair I’ve had the honor of personally spending time with twice in person over the course of the Dome, and every time I was astounded. Aaron’s photos are very good! But even they can’t quite capture the color and texture and just rarity and uniqueness of these beauties. I love how the pattern panels all started out a little different and then…became one.

I’ve long admired how Jason from Division Road (hear him on the Shoecast!) eschews spec-monster makeups to design simple, straighforward boots he knows will become what they’re supposed to only when worn and cared for appropriately. This pairs delivers on that promise so very, very hard.

Seven Months of Wear

Day 1

9th Place

Brilliant Lin

IG: @brl.lin

Benzein Jodphur Boot

Shinki Hikaku Red Brown Horsebutt

“But wait!” the esteemed judges said, over and over, as we finalized selection of each of the preceding pairs. “Can we please get back to the sorting hat!”

Obviously, as HarryPotterPedia tells it, the Sorting Hat was a sentient magical hat at Hogwarts that determined which of the four school Houses each new student belonged most to. And man does it bear a resemblance. Although these look better.

The Shinki red brown horsebutt got a little darker, sure, and shifted in a color a bit. But there’s no point in beating around the bush: these boots captivated so many throughout the Thunderdome because of these ROLLLLLLLS, people. The right pieces of shell-in horsebutt roll (instead of crease) very similarly shell cordovan, yes. Fact. But I’m not sure any boot has ever rolled so sublimely as this. I’m not even going to waste time attempting to describe it. Spend your time just soaking them in instead.

Seven Months of Wear

Day1

10th Place

Bill Dahab

@dontshineyourshoes

Benzein TDD-01 Boot

Conceria Cloe Crust Shell Cordovan

Man this one was a tough call. There were at least five exceptional pairs in the Thunderdome that deployed Italian tannery Conceria Cloe’s surely now-to-be-famed, unfinished or “naked” crust shell cordovan—an article that could understandably initially be viewed as a stunt leather, just due to its inexorable hunger for aggressive change.

But once you get past the whiplash of what happens to the crust shell, its end product is what matters. And the end product basically is always different. If you want this exact boot—a natural reaction to every single pair in here, and the rest of the winners—then you’re probably out of luck. But if you want to create your own world in a boot, then there are few more leathers that could be more exciting.

Props to @dontshineyourshoes for somehow resisting the urge to shine his shoes. And shout-out to Benzein…three boots in the top 10!! Bravo, Adi and crew.