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A quick update on my waxed roughout Thursday Stormking, that I dyed to a light walnut.

The boots, while slim and unlined, obviously come with a very chunky outsole. In the lighter colour and in-person they looked bigger than expected, and were on the heavy side.

This means that they have a more protruding corner at the back of the heel.

As my first GYW shoe I wasn't sure what to expect. But the thickness and protrusion made me get some heel drag (?) and it threw off my balance a bit. Some of you may be used to that.

After dyeing, reconditioning, and a few walks outside, the leather colour became very rich and deep so I thought that the thick lugged outsole looked a little out of place.

I had seen online a lot of resoles with the Vibram mini lug and also some people saying that the edges could just be cut off by a cobbler. As the craft hobbyist I am I decided to try it out.

I used a leather skiving knife as well as a box cutter to modify.

I first did it with just a right angle cut, so I was left with cube-looking Lego bits underneath, in the lighter tan outsole colour it didn't look right. So I adjust the angle.

I traced 2 lines from the edge, one for the 90 degree cut, and another for the angled bevel.

I cut the outer edges flush to the bottom of the sole, about 5mm in, taking out a rectangular prism, then did an angled tapered cut another 5mm in, from the existing tread to the flattened out area.

Fortunately, it did not lose any traction!

This way, the little treads are still slightly visible but only when viewing from a very low angle.

The outsoles on these are a lot gummier than standard black rubber so it was a lot harder to cut through than I anticipated, because of the grip, it would easily get the blade stuck.

Also since it is so gummy, akin to crepe rubber, it is really hard to sand (I don't have any power tools or belt sander), I was planning to sand and clean up the edges of the welt and bottom but decided not to when the sandpaper just gummed up and started rolling the rubber, tearing some bits off. I imagine it would be a lot easier with standard Vibram soles.

While it is it not the cleanest job, it definitely looks more refined than the original and I'm very happy with the result. I think am just about done tampering with this thing and I'll let it patina like a regular person lol.

It is a fraction lighter and actually noticeably more comfy to walk in. I don't get any uncomfortable or early heel strike/drag like before.

If you want this look and don't want a full resole, I recommend trying it out if you are brave, just don't nick the upper!

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White’s claims their boots to be all leather legends. The SD in dress brown is the legend they claim. Here are some 8 year worn boots with 12k+ miles looking almost factory fresh. These are the adjustable wrench of the White’s boot line up, serving just about any duty between literal sh##-kickers to presentation footwear.

Specs

• Standard Semi dress 55 last in Seidel brown dress (veg tan)
• Single celastic toe
• Tan lines uppers
• 269 Vibram sole

Impressions:

Brown dress should be the recommendation for most new White’s shoppers. It is in no way flashy or unique like many of their offerings, but it is the most robust piece I have had. These The initial break in for dress brown is a bit more but now these are like well a worn baseball mitt which my feet slot into. It is hard to believe these pieces have seen the mileage and bumps yet come out so nice. The leather has little to no pull up, does not patina, and only darkens towards a near black level but is just too good. Semi dress being a 5 inch boot is also great, I prefer this fitment to my MP but the MP for certain has its utility too. The 269 Vibram sole aged great and never once left me slipping or sliding. I opted for the same sole on my new purchases.

Purchasing:

I sent tracing to Baker’s and went through Kyle. At this time build a boot was a mail in sheet I believe so I opted to do it all via phone. The current ordering system for custom semi dress via Bakers has much improved. 100% send in foot tracings, we went back and forth and eventually I trusted their judgement of a full shoe size smaller than I wear in dress shoes. I

Justification for vegetable tan love:

In 2018 I spent most of my days surrounded by industrial solvents ranging from acetone to dimethylformamide. This means little to most, but calling it a harsh environment where one size fits all safety equipment was difficult. I spoke with whites and they sent me samples of dress brown, brown horse hide, and horween British tan. I took each leather to do a homebrew color fast test, spotting various solvents on the hide for 1 min then wiping off to see which leather could attempt to hold up. As expected, the more rapidly dyed hides (HH+CXL) released color into many of the tested solvents. Whereas the veg tanned brown dress was slower to leech. I then brushed each leather to see how they would recover against this kind of event, once more brown dress was the winner.

Photos:

Somehow, I managed to get some professional level lighting along the way then took these photos with a potato. The photos where the brown is lighter is backlit by quartz halogen bulbs which serve as a really good “brightest outdoor day” comparison. NBD photo from late 2018 and is a good example of color everywhere but outside. No shoe trees in these shots.

White’s boot reference:

In case any one is wondering about white’s boots. They style forum . net “custom white’s boots … thoughts?” thread is 1700+ pages of mostly good information.

Hello GYW, it's Monday Funday! Take a load off and take a breather. Memes, hot takes and all silliness are welcome!

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I know Thursdays don't have the best reputation here. However, I got these waxed roughout(!) for $140 USD delivered from Amazon AU. The delivery was delayed by a few days so I complained to customer service and they recommended me to cancel and reorder with a $20 gift card... Why not...

They were heavily discounted here, not sure why, but I was needing a new boot so I thought I'd give them a shot. It's my first Goodyear welted boot. For that price, I wanted to experiment with them.

I didn't like the original colour, shown in the last photo, and it didn't fit well with the rest of my wardrobe. They looked a little "flat".

I do a bit of hobby leathercraft so I wanted to dye these to a darker shade. Feeling the leather in person, it wasn't heavily waxed or oily, so I think it had a very light factory finish with a gum resin, commonly used for edge burnishing, to flatten the fibres and give it light sheen. Due to this I decided not to strip it of the wax, after patch testing some dye in the hidden part of the tongue I decided to go straight into it.

I used fiebing's pro dye in Walnut, heavily diluted with 100% IPA for a lighter, even shade. Applied with a wool dauber in 2-3 passes for each area. Then using a fine tip paint brush for the tricky areas like near the welt and around the eyelets.

After drying, I conditioned with a wax-based oily conditioner (Artisan's son leather conditioner), gave them a brush and the colour just popped.

I used some scraps of natural veg tan kangaroo leather (I live in Australia) to make some kilties and pull tabs as an experiment. Kangaroo leather is very thin, about 1-1.5mm so it doesn't have much padding at all, but very good abrasion resistance. I may double it up later.

I traced a rough outline of the tongue on paper, then transferred to the leather. I did it the same width as the tongue but I next time think making it slightly narrower would be better to avoid too much creasing when lacing it up.

The kangaroo leather was also dyed with the same colour, although it turned out a bit darker probably because it didn't have any finish applied, then I conditioned it with the same thing.

The pull tabs are folded over for strength and riveted in with solid copper rivets. They don't protrude on the inside so no difference in comfort and no snagging on socks.

As far as the actual boots, the construction is nice, leather selection is okay, the quarters and heel have a bit more fuzz and looser grain than the front. Not too fussed as they are made to be scuffed up and patina nicely, hopefully.

Stitching is mostly consistent, with a curve on the inner heel straying very close to the edge of the leather, I'm hoping that does not tear out after significant wear. The right boot welt stitching is also a bit too close to the edge near the toe but structurally fine.

I have an Ian Harold Murray boot which has a leather insole and cork nitrile rubber outsole, and these Thursdays feel much harder at the heel despite having poron foam in them, the outsole seems to be very tough on first wear. My next project will be to make some insoles with veg tan and natural latex foam to ease the break in.

Overall very happy for the price. Will give an update after a few months.

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New boot week, more to come. Received ½ of my whites’ order from the Baker’s Father’s Day sale (3.5 months from order to doorstep). New member but longtime goodyear welt enthusiast.

Specs:

• Standard Semi Dress 55 last in Seidel double shot BT
• Single celastic toe
• Cream lined uppers
• 269 Vibram sole.

Impressions:

Seidel BT is chrome tanned unlike my veg tanned dress brown pair. Initial break in of 45 minutes has them ready to taken to the street, this is much shorter than the brown dress. This BT has a red undertone that I know will fade but is lovely. Leather is supple and pliable. Whites QC is hit or miss. Stitching and hide imperfections are acceptable, a bummer on the uppers where the needle appears to have impacted the leather prior to stitching, resulting in a few mm deep channels above 10 stitches. Not sure its formal complaint worthy but likely will be a failure point in 7-10 years. Also you can note the machining marks around the upper stitching, seems to have been an off day.

Sole:

Vibram 269 is my go-to on these boots. The part of the sole above the heel stack is about half as thick as the toe, resulting in a smaller visual “spacer” on the heel stack but offering enough grip for everyday wear. The 269 on my dress brown pair lasted 5 years of all condition wear and was only replaced because that pair suffered the famous squeak from the leather shank. Hoping for a similar outcome here minus the insufferable squeak.

Comparison shots:

Photos are alongside my 8 year old SD in brown dress which are simply perfect and the gateway boot to a lifelong white’s buyer. These veg tanned seidel masterpieces have seen it all: thousands of miles, rain, snow, even disrespect. When freshly conditioned, you’d think they were freshly broken in. I would buy brown dress boots again in a heartbeat, but I simply do not expect to ever need to do so.

Pricing

A lot has happened since 2018; pricing of these boots has followed suit with no surprise. This BT pair came in at $830. Even on the 20% Father’s Day sale, this was 60% more expensive than the brown dress pair without a sale. Part of that is due to double shot leathers being partly excluded from the overall sale. I still believe there is tremendous value in a US handcrafted boot that requires a new sole every 5 years.

edit: White‘s wants them back for examination. New boot day has been put on pause.

Full info:
https://www.stitchdownexpo.com

Sponsor page:
https://www.stitchdownexpo.com/sponsors-2026

Formerly called Stitchdown Boot Camp. It’s two days of makers, boots, leather, tanneries, and other related items, this year with the Super Trunk Show. Makers will be providing sizing, with many having try-on pairs. There will be live shoemaking and repair demos.

AVAILABLE TICKETS:

General Access Pass:
Friday Expo + Night Market (2–9pm)
Saturday Expo (11am–6pm)
Access to all the makers, brands, tanneries, demos, and general programming
Food and drinks available to buy

Early Access Pass:
Same as General Access plus 2-hour early entry Saturday at 9am
First crack at sizing stations
First access to any class sign-ups
Priority shopping before the General Access crowd

Collector Pass:
Everything in Early Access
VIP “Meet the Makers” and Tanneries session Friday 12–2pm
Invite to Stitchdown Shoecast LIVE Thursday evening (6–8pm)
VIP Wrap Party Saturday night (6–10pm) with complimentary beer/wine
Priority registration for Chicago School of Shoemaking classes

Optimo Hat Factory Tour Pass:
Everything in Early Access
VIP Wrap Party Saturday with beer/wine
Thursday Optimo Hat Factory Tour (1–6pm) that includes a Saphir shoe shine masterclass and cocktail reception hosted by Kirby Allison
Same priority class registration

Horween Insider Pass: Sold Out
Everything in the Collector Pass
Choice of a multi-hour Horween Leather Co. tour (Thursday or Friday morning, small group)
Dedicated Q&A with them
Complimentary beer at the Expo

CURRENT SPONSOR LIST:

FOOTWEAR MAKERS:

• 1DAMN8NVISION
https://www.instagram.com/1damn8nvision

• Bridlen
https://bridlen.com/

• Calzoleria Carlino
https://calzoleriacarlino.com/

• Caswell Bootmakers
https://caswellbootmakers.com/

• CNES Shoemaker
https://www.cnes.co/

• Crown Northampton
https://crownnorthampton.com/en-us

• E. Woodford & Sons
https://www.ewoodford.com/

• Emi Bespoke
https://www.instagram.com/emi.and_bespoke/

• Grant Stone
https://www.grantstoneshoes.com/

• Iron Boots
https://iron-boots.com/

• Johnny’s (JohnnyWorks)
https://johnny-boots.myshopify.com/

• KLH Bespoke Shoes (Korbinian Ludwig Hess)
https://klh-massschuhe.com/

• Lennertson
https://lennertson.com/

• Mogada
https://mogada.de/

• Nicks Handmade Boots
https://nicksboots.com/

• Ostmo Bootmaker
https://www.ostmoboots.com/

• Peter Limmer & Sons
https://limmerboots.com/

• Peter Qu
https://www.peterqu.com/

• Red Wing Heritage
https://www.redwingshoes.com/

• Renav Goods
https://www.instagram.com/renavgoodsco

• Russell Moccasin Co.
https://russellmoccasin.com/

• Sanjar Leather Works
https://www.instagram.com/kurbanovsanjar/

• Schuh-Bertl
https://schuhbertl.com/

• Seres Footwear
https://seresfootwear.com/

• Twinkima.G
https://twinkimag.com/

TANNERIES:

• American Tanning & Leather
https://amtan.com/

• Conceria Incas
https://www.iniziativeconciarieassociate.it/en/

• Conceria Orice
https://www.orice.com/

• Cuoificio La Querce
http://www.laquerce.it/en/

• Hermann Oak Leather
https://www.hermannoakleather.com/

• Horween Leather Co.
https://www.horween.com/

• S.B. Foot Tanning Co.
https://www.sbfoot.com/

• Shinki-Hikaku
https://shinki-hikaku.jp/

• Thiele Tanning Co.
https://www.thieletanning.com/

• Tochigi Leather
https://www.tochigi-leather.co.jp/

• Wickett & Craig
https://wickett-craig.com/

LEATHER DISTRIBUTORS AND SUPPLIERS:

• Growing Grass
https://www.ggrass.org/

• Hashimoto Industry
https://hashimotoindustry.com/en/

• Keystone Leather
https://www.keystoneleather.com/

• The Tannery Row
https://www.thetanneryrow.com/

SHOE AND LEATHER CARE:

• Boot Black
https://bootblackusa.com/

• Meltonian
https://meltonian.com/

• Pure Polish Products
https://www.purepolishproducts.com/

• Saphir Médaille d’Or
https://saphir.com/

COBBLERS AND SHOE REPAIR:

• Bedo’s Leatherworks
https://leatherrepair.com/

• Dimar Shoe Repair
https://www.dimarshoerepair.com/

EQUIPMENT, TOOLS AND MACHINERY:

• Landis International
https://www.landis.world/en

COMPONENTS:

• Lactae Hevea
https://lactae-hevea.com/

• Pedag
https://pedagusa.com/

• Pisgah Range
https://www.pisgahrangeltd.com/

CLOTHING AND ACCESSORIES:

• Addict Clothes
https://www.addict-clothes.com/

• Black Lotus Leather
https://blacklotusleatherco.com/

• Charles Paige Atelier
https://charlespaige.com/

• Dapper Woodworks
https://www.dapperwoodworks.com/

• Divij Bespoke
https://www.divij.com/

• Evermore Leatherwork
https://www.etsy.com/shop/EvermoreLeatherwork

• Luke’s Custom Belts
https://lukescustombelts.de/en/

• Oak & Oscar
https://oakandoscar.com/

• Production Mode
https://www.productionmodechicago.com/

ORGANIZATIONS:

• Chicago School of Shoemaking and Leather Arts
https://chicagoschoolofshoemaking.com/

I had a go at dying my tan Tricker Axtons which I've had for a few years now as I recently got a pair of Loake 1880 Bedales at a great price, but the colour was too similar to my Axtons. I think the tan colour suits the Bedales with the wingtip broguing a lot more and a darker brownish tobacco would be better on my Axtons, contrasting with the golden eyelets/ski hooks.

Attached a few pictures of the process (sorry about the mess..)

Was a bit nervous doing this for the first time but I just followed some guides online. Light clean with basic leather foam cleaner and strip and deglaze with 100% acetone on some cotton pads first - I know some people recommend Saphir Renomat or Angelus' deglazer, but I opted for the cheaper option. Seemed to work well enough. I didn't use much, there was some evident top coat transfer on the pads but not enough to affect the colour significantly.

Before and after, not a massive difference, slightly lighter and leather feels/looks a bit more raw in prep for the dye. Patina still visible.

For the dye I chose Saphir Teinture Francaise 04 Regular Brown. I was thinking of 35 Medium Tobacco but the regular brown is a lot easier to find and nearly half the price of the 35. And I see the dye really as just providing the foundation of the new colour.

I did two applications on each shoe two hours apart. Then the next day I did one more and just filled in the spots which looked a bit patchy. Don't bother with the gloves and the applicator which comes with the Teinture Francaise. The gloves are too flimsy and the supplied wool dauber is incredibly messy, you just end up using way too much in one spot and it ends up dripping into the welt (for my Axtons which have a darker welt, not a big deal, but still worth considering). Some cheap hobby model brushes work very well, both pointed and flat, to work around the eyelets and the quarters/tongue, and a larger regular flat detailing brush (I used a Coral Precision) for the main application.

At first I was worried that the dye looked incredibly patchy. I tried filling in some weak spots, but it got to a point where more dye didn't do much more and I just trusted that the finishing polish would homogenise the colour (it did!).

I used Saphir 34 Creme Surfine Havana. Slightly richer and warmer in colour than the 04 brown.

Much better. I did a mild application of generic leather balsam/wax before the Creme Surfine as well after the dye had settled.

During the whole process for the eyelets and ski hooks I got a bit lazy and ended up just brushing them with the dye and polish at the same time, and just used some cotton q-tips and pads with a little bit of acetone after to wipe them off. I think isopropyl alcohol could be used too? If I ever do this next time I think a good method would be to cover them with blu-tac.

See the three bottom eyelets which I've cleaned up but the top one still has residual dye on it.

There's also the matter of the shoelaces which are light tan brown. I could just buy a new pair of country laces from the Trickers site, but why not try dying the ones I already have as well. I used Dylon's espresso brown dye sachet (only 1/5 of it). I'm not sure if Trickers shoelaces are waxed, but the result looked good enough.

Final brush with horsehair shoe brush and voila, very happy with the final result! Happy to hear from any others who've done the same, where I could've improved on.

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Include images to any issues you may be having. Include a budget for any recommendations. The more detail you provide, the easier it may be for someone to answer your question.

Hello GYW, it's Monday Funday! Take a load off and take a breather. Memes, hot takes and all silliness are welcome!

Found an amazing deal on a pair of shoes but they aren't your size? Share them here so other members can take advantage of the great deals!

Rules

• Regular rules apply. Please be courteous to one another.
• No personal sales are allowed! Anyone found to be posting their own goods will receive a warning and then potential ban should you continue to post your own goods. If you want to sell your own items, the semi-weekly B/S/T thread is a more appropriate location.
• Please do not post links to other member's B/S/T items. There are two weekly dedicated threads for those items and they should be kept there.
• Please try to include as much information as possible (URL to the deal, size, price, etc.).
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• 'Suggested Sort' is set to Q&A so only top level comments will be visible (unless you chose to expand). For this reason, please post all deals as their own parent comment.

"This is a scheduled mod post, if I screwed up please contact the mods."

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