Shoes ‘n’ Boots of the Week: Yuketen Loafers X-Stitched To Infinity, The Real McCoys Boondockers, and More

As we leave the 2022-23 Stitchdown Patina Thunderdome in the rearview mirror, it’s already time for next year’s contestants to start thinking about what they’re going to be competing in. This week’s release roundup has some possible contenders to consider, including a Nicks Boots waxed flesh MTO, a black teacore boot from Briselblack, a custom chukka event at Truman, and more. Just food for thought!

More release 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.]

The Real McCoys N1 Field Shoes in Brown Roughout: $1300

Japanese brand The Real McCoys is renowned for absolutely nailing all the fine details in their clothing reproductions, and while they rarely dip into recreating boots or shoes (a shame), they’ve just produced a very nifty replica of the World War II-era N1 Field Shoe, or as it’s more commonly known, the boondocker. They definitely look the part, and check all the right boondocker boxes—seven sets of brown-painted eyelets, three lines of stitching on the heel panels, four lines of stitching on the quarter panels, a custom raw cord sole, the works. Now available in extremely limited quantities at Standard & Strange.

Nicks Boots LL64 in Natural Double Stuffed: $749.64 (Pre-Order)

The initial 50-pair run of these very special 5-inch boots sold out in about a week. Just after we crowned Luke Larsson’s LL64s the grand prize winner of the most recent Thunderdome, Nicks Boots decided (wisely, in our opinion) to open the books for this model once again—seemingly without a cap on the number of pairs being produced.

Nicks Boots Luke Boot in 1964 Brown Roughout: $569 (Made to Order)

Nicks has also just added a 1964 Brown Roughout variant of Luke’s boot (henceforth known as the Luke Boot) to their Quick Ship section. It lacks the old-school logo stamp of Luke’s original pair, but it features the same HNW last, 5-inch height, and Vibram 430 soles.

Nicks Boots Tan Waxed Flesh MTO: $579+

Also in Nicks news: they’ve just received a batch of Horween’s Tan Waxed Flesh. All the usual options (last, height, hardware, etc.) are on the table here for this limited MTO offering.

Russell Moccasin Zephyr II in Chocolate Oil Tan: $625

This engineer moccasin from Russell offers both ruggedness and convenience. The single vamp + molded sole construction is durable while also being lightweight, and the shaft features a zipper on the back for extra ease in getting these boots off or on. The Chocolate Oil Tan leather will be great for keeping the elements at bay, while the Vibram Gumlite sole offers a decent amount of traction with much less heft compared to other lugged soles.

Parkhurst Richmond in Rust Waxy: $358

A big restock just landed at Parkhurst, and they’ve also added a couple new styles—their cap-toe Richmond is now available in a Rust shade of their waxed suede leather…

Parkhurst Allen in Snuff Moose: $438

…while the Allen has gotten the C.F. Stead treatment, in the form of this wild-looking Snuff Moose.

Yuketen Rob’s Loafer in Tosca G Brown: $660

Check out that |X|X|X|X|X|X| stitching! These penny loafers are made with a brown roughout leather from Italian tannery Conceria Opera and feature single leather soles. The X-stitching along with the pinking along the collar make these a bit of a quirky pair, but they’re otherwise fairly restrained (as far as Yuketen goes).

Briselblack Buck in Black Teacore Horsehide: $545 (Pre-Order)

The Buck certainly caught our eye when Benzein pivoted into their new identity as Briselblack. Good news: this newer model from the brand is now available for an open pre-order in this terrific teacore horsehide from Shinki Hikaku. Other features of this lace-to-toe pair include an unstructured toe and some Dr. Sole raw cord soles.