Getting older has seemed to make me go a bit soft, as my snobbish side is not as loud as it used to be and I seem to only write positive stuff these days (relatively). But seeing things like this just make me want to lash out. I mean, who would wear these? Just maybe (big just) could I think that it would be fun to wear mismatched laces (not that I would do it myself, but would not ridicule someone else doing so) but this is just beyond comprehension. I could envision a circus clown wearing these and they would be totally acceptable with his brightly colored wig, baggy clown trousers and red nose, but as a shoe that you would wear with regular clothes, no way!! And don’t get me wrong, I am not against 3 colors in one shoe (although two is my own personal limit – not including sole color), but the fact that one shoe is different than the other is simply silly to me. It’s just showing off really, “look at what I am doing, being eccentric.” Please, designers of the world, stop trying so hard to outshine each other by triple reinventing the wheel. Just make stylish stuff that looks good and leave it at that!!
On another nice and positive note, Foster & Son did a nice write up and interview on yours truly should you wish to read it:
http://fosterandson.wordpress.com/2013/10/11/from-ar-man-to-shoeman/
Until tomorrow,
Justin, “The Shoe Snob”
Oh my god! Way too many colors, too flashy and then different colorway on top (not to mention the Thom Browne price range).
A more subtle example of mismatched shoes (that works, imho) is the one showed some time ago by Nick Wooster: http://tsbmen.com/4947/not-so-traditional-tailoring-featuring-nick-wooster/3/
not to my liking either, but yes, way more subtle for sure and acceptable
Unacceptable. 2 different shoe is 2 different shoes. Just because the last and material is the same does NOT make it ok. Terrible.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6FDHv_hTbgA/Tv7yapWtGoI/AAAAAAAABQ4/8MlrWtJtH2c/s1600/Vendome+multicolour.jpg
these are terrible…but these I think were made as show, not actually for selling to people…at least I hope not
yea, I guess that you are right in actually….i was just being a bit soft I guess…but it is not because of Wooster, that is for sure…
It seems like anything Wooster puts on people go ga-ga for and are loathe to criticize him. This is terrible idea. A cap toe and a wing tip as a pair looks like you put on 2 different shoes. People that follow GQ and such so blindly are just trying a BIT too hard and it’s noticeable when you see it.
Sorry Justin, but it is totally unacceptable to call ‘ Rubbish ‘ something that you don’t like.Have in mind that many others like something different than the expensive classic shoes you constantly promote – which are more or less all the same…
I am sorry George, but I think that you are forgetting the title of the blog. I am well aware that other people have their own opinions and that is fine. But that does not mean that I need to like them or refrain from saying what I want on my own blog at the sake of not offending anyone. I am sorry but I am not here for diplomacy. And if you feel that all i write about is the same stuff, why do you keep reading?
It’s not called diplomacy, but good manners, which simply you don’t have…
As far as your last comment, I kept reading from time to time because I didn’t see such comments before. I won’t do it any more…
“Which you dont have”?? Give me a break please. Manners has nothing to do with me calling something rubbish on a public blog known for being snobbish. I am sure that you use that word to express your opinion. Is it manners for a person to tell a stranger what he should or should not be doing on his own site? Well i dont think so. To me that is bad manners. I find it quite silly that you take such offense the fact that i dont like something you do. But oh well, such is life.
Dear George,
You’re an ass. Justin writes a highly opinionated blog, that’s why we all read it, and love it. Agree, or disagree, but whatever your opinion, Justin is entitled to, nay justified in having his opinion. If you cannot understand that, than you will have to find another shoeblog.
I’d never wear them at all, but I can see how they’d work as a haute couture shoe thing. Or like a concept car, something never really designed to be produced, but to get the idea across.
For one thing, the shoes look like entirely different shoes, even though the pattern is the same, just with the way they have the different leathers arranged.
i could see how they would work as concept shoes as well, but I still find it a bit silly how many of the high fashion designers make thinga that are so outlandish that one could not theoretically wear them, for example all of the stud work that I see these days…for me it’s really strange and that is putting it nicely…I quite like the right shoe (left looking at the pic) as it’s own, so why ruin it with the left being different??
The one with the white vamp doesn’t look that bad. What I really hate though is the sole. The shoe looks incomplete without a distinct heel.
On a side note, the interview was a nice read. Really like the boots too. You should probably make a cap-toe boot at some point! After all, you said boots are the next big thing!
I’m one of those odd types that loves Thom Browne (it is mostly the fit that is really flattering for my body type), but I found last season’s shoe line up really bizarre. The silver shoes were interesting, but these, which I saw in person, seemed to me unwearable.
thanks for sharing Basil, I quite like his version of this in the black grained longwing
well, as always my friend, to each his own!! I can’t knock someone for liking things, that would be unacceptable and while I actually like the colors used and think that they go quite well together, I feel that it’s just too much, simply put…but hey, it would be a boring world if we all liked the same thing!! (thanks for the back up btw)
Those shoes are pretty hideous… I probably would have been all over them in my university days.
In the interview you mentioned the Montrose being your favourite Foster & Sons shoe – have you got any plans to expand your own line with Balmoral captoes? Maybe with some slightly tamer colours like your Wallingford shoe?Or maybe the Balmoral boot market might be becoming a bit saturated?
yes I do my friend, but not in the traditional sense such as the Montrose….the whole point of my range, is to do things that are different than the rest, this is how I set myself apart…
These are trainers. I find a huge percentage of trainers much uglier than this. I have long wanted an offering of trainers that had a decent last made like a real shoe. So as trainers go I like them compared to many other trainers. I won’t be purchasing them though and have no desire to do so.
Must admit would like to have some MTO’s one day that the colors don’t match. They are a little but more subtle than this shoe but they aren’t trainers.
I see your point….but still hate them…