Stitchdown Shoecast

Houston Boot Company—Custom Cowboy Boots in Virginia City Nevada—Jake Houston Interview

Custom Cowboy Bootmaker Jake Houston on Preserving Knowledge, León Mexico, and Zebra Races

About a half hour from Reno, there’s a place called Virginia City, Nevada, where everything feels like it’s 1859 and the US’s largest silver deposit was just di... Read More...

Seiji McCarthy Interview—Exceptional Bespoke Shoemaker in Tokyo

Seiji McCarthy is Hand-Making Some of the World’s Greatest American Shoes—In Japan

Growing up outside Philadelphia, half-Japanese, half-American Seiji McCarthy never once dreamed about making shoes—that spark didn’t ignite until his 30s. So... Read More...

Is Turriff Functional Footwear Making the Best-Quality Barefoot Shoe on the Market?

Barefoot shoes! They make it so it feels like you’re walking barefoot! But while… wearing shoes! And boy are they getting popular. The basic theory of barefoot or minimalist shoes is: regular shoes constrain our feet, not allowing them to spread and... Read More...

How Tariffs Are Already Impacting the Footwear Industry, with FDRA CEO Matt Priest

Matt Priest, President and CEO of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, came on the Shoecast the morning after 104% tariffs on Chinese goods into ... Read More...

All the Footwear Derek Guy Loves—and a Few He Really Doesn’t—From Bespoke to Workboots

OMG it’s Derek Guy. Derek’s an OG forum junkie turned menswear writer for Put This On, mass publications like The New York Times, and his own always-excellen... Read More...

What Opie Way’s Justin James Lost in Hurricane Helene—and What He Found

In 2019, Justin James started Opie Way, a recraftable sneaker brand made right in Asheville North Carolina, USA, using incredibly high quality materials—something that basically didn’t exist previously. So of course right away covid hit and everyt... Read More...

Skateboarding Legend Jamie Thomas Is Here To Cook Your Shoes in a 300° Oven

Even if you’ve never been on a skateboard before, chances are you’ve worn and loved skate shoes at some point in your life, even if you didn’t realize it—maybe ... Read More...

How to Make Your Leather Footwear Last Literally (Possibly) Forever, With Pure Polish’s Andy Vaughn

The idea that well-made, resoable footwear can last almost literally forever is one of its core allures—but it’s a promise that simply won’t come true if it’s n... Read More...

Shuyler Mowe and Brett Viberg on the Stitchdown Shoecast

Shoecast BONUS Episode Preview: Shop Talk With Brett Viberg & Shuyler Mowe of Nicks Boots

We've been at the Stitchdown Shoecast—our podcast, if you couldn't tell from the clever name—for almost five years now. In that time, there have been requests for specific guests, and topics, and different types of episodes. But the overwhelming requ... Read More...

Holly Henry on the Cowboy Bootmaking Community’s Sustaining Power (Also: Saddles)

I will tell anyone who dares listen that handmade bootmaking—and perhaps specifically, cowboy bootmaking—is the highest form of leatherwork as functional art. A... Read More...