How did you find the quality of skolyx's new line bro? The price is very reasonable.

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Finally got a can of mirror gloss, tonight I'll see if it lives up to the hype.

And 2 tubes of edge dressing in mid and dark brown to fix my Cheaney's from a few posts back. I will be sanding down the welt and use these to re-colour it after.

Aaaand the mirror gloss hype is well deserved
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It's not a proper mirror shine (which honestly I have never achieved before), but I only spent about 15 minutes on it last night, including time taken for some light conditioning and creme.

I'll be voting in style today. 

Oh hi, niakulah. Thanks for dropping by! These are the pics (hope they show up, cos Post Preview dont show the pics)- ones right, ones left.

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I think even toe taps are out, cos the cobbler would need to shave off about 1 mm or so,
right? which would shave off the threads at the toe!

@Kelvw  Hi, Kelv, thanks for your views! BTW, I do miss your new shoe postings, been too busy, huh?

@niakulah  Vow! So they really DO shave off the toe threads - OMG. If you did not tell me your experience,
I would have gone: That shoe is kaput!

Anyway, thanks guys. I feel much better. Now I can go clickety-clacking for a while, on the leather sole,
before I put on a topy!

I've got this one. Well, sort of got it. I have the right foot. Leffot sent me the left foot in blue. Waiting to reunite the green pair.

thank you for the recommendation, however the missus frowned upon my preference for expensive shoes as i do not take any care of it at all (no rotation, no polish, walk in the rain, gravel road etc)

that being said, are there any value for money 'daily beater formal shoes' in the market?

so far i've been wearing hush puppies (around rm200 after discounts) and without any care they tend to spoil every year or so..

Will do, on the shoe pics. Somewhat funny story about Norman (and Ramon Cuberta). I actually did kinda meet him, I think, about a week ago. I was on a work trip in Barcelona and wanted to visit both famed shoemakers, or at least their shops. I found the Vilalta boutique and walked in to find a selection of breathtakingly beautiful shoes in the front and an 'open kitchen' sort of shop in the back, where one Spanish man was quietly plying his trade. He greeted me, but never said anything else, something I took to mean, perhaps, that he does not speak English. So I shopped for a while longer and left, which is okay, as I didn't plan on buying anything at full retail anyway, and I didn't see evidence of seasonal sales.

The Meermin shop absolutely did not disappoint. The unlined calf loafers are indeed delightful. I snatched a pair in brown, and it literally does 'fit like a glove', in that it fits so close to the foot but absolutely comfortably. These will get a whole lot of wear, I am sure. They are on the Ron last, which is the more forgiving of their loafer lasts, I am told. I also picked up a pair of string loafers in rapello suede on the Hiro last, which is noticeably smaller around the vamp. Since I was saving all the tax and shipping and duties, I splurged on a pair of cognac museum calf monkstraps, which just kept calling my name. The shop itself is beautifully appointed, complete with a selection of beautiful women's shoes, and of belts and bags and wallets. And fur rugs. Truly a delightful experience to shop there, it was.

In my opinion, the value calculation when comparing Meermin and Carmina swings wildly to the Meermin side. To me, Carmina shoes feel overpriced -- well, at least in comparison to Meermin. I just don't see enough differences between the two to justify the gulf between their pricing. I'm happy to own a couple pair of Carminas, but happier to own the Meermins.

Man, every time I read your posts, I need to put on sunglasses!

I see the shoe horn gets a fair bit of use?

Beautiful color! Would the soles be rubber, seeing as the shoes are for rough weather?

duly noted! will head over to choose a pair soon!

I have a pair of black and coffee colored dress shoes. Safe to use just neutral cream and neutral polish throughout the shoe's lifespan or do I need to get colored version?

Wahh. That's really lucky. If I do get the Strands, I'll probably be using it once-twice a week as well. I'd actually love to use them on a daily basis but I'm worried that I'd wear it down too quickly. Thinking of getting Chelseas for my daily usage, but then I'd be out of my fashion budget for this year, haha.

Burgundy ain't my cup of tea. I only like them for ties and pocket squares. I have a thing for shades of brown, heh. I feel that they are really underrepresented in classic/semiformal fashion, with most of the love going towards shades of blue and grey.

I may be going to a trip to London next year, do you know if Pediwear has a physical store that I could visit? Or for that matter, any good physical stores in London? If so, I'll wait till next year to get the Strands/Aldwychs. I might visit P Lal during Black Friday if they have any sales — do you, by any chance, know if they'll have these? I won't mind a discount of a buck or two. If not, I'll probably wait for Christmas to check them out, haha.

Oh damn, thanks! That's a lot of info. I'm planning for a trip March/May next year though, hahaha. Savile Row is way over my budget, only limiting myself to around 1.4K per pair of shoes. You a Londoner?

Ahh, okay. Loake shoes are currently the ones I have in mind. If I had that extra 350 pounds I'd buy another one, just so that I'm able to rotate between two pairs of shoes rather than taking out all the abuse on one pair. VAT sucks, haha. I've heard of J.FitzPatrick shoes, their suede loafers look beautiful. I'd love to visit Bicester Village! It seems like quite the place to do a little shopping. Looked at their website; they have a truly astounding variety of products. Thanks!