i saw that on their insta. but do they have other shoes there or just those dodgy sneakers

lol..that sneaker..anyway the leather, sole and the finish ok or not?

Haha, that is their Instagram pic. Still haven't gone to see it. Sorry to disappoint.

Although now I'm starting to doubt their words...cannot trust some of their product descriptions.

The tassel sneaker says:
http://zeveshoes.com/products/tassel-sneaker-blue-leather
Full leather midsole with leather sole.
High Quality Rubber Sole.

Obviously it is a rubber sole, and no midsole in sight.

The loafer slipper says:
http://zeveshoes.com/products/loafer-slipp...ant=19178279750
Full leather midsole with leather sole.

Again no midsole. Can obviously see that from the side pics.

But the double monk dress shoes, and all their other shoes that actually have a midsole:
http://zeveshoes.com/products/double-monk-...olished-leather

I would guess this is Blake-Rapid stitched. That is in my book, superior to Goodyear welted shoes in terms of construction.

The leather is still a question mark though. But RM319 for a Blake-Rapid shoe is well worth it in my opinion.

Lol, i thought u went there, hmmmm yeah im eyeing the double monk too. But didnt have time to go their launch at klcc, so still didnt pull the trigger

according to their insta they have other shoes at isetan as well.

Nah, the EG is not MTO. It was a Loughton which I tried in store but decided to sleep over it a day or two. But alas I bit the bullet and called them up instead to be collected when I make a trip down next month.
It's been an expensive month

Did you check out Cheaneys at Jermyn St.? It's a lovely store and friendly staff.

Saw the Zeve shoes in KLCC. There's only about 3 shelves of shoes. The shoes are patent leather and painted in a way that's not my taste. The dark tones are way too contrasting for me.

And the monk strap sneakers are way too hip for me as well.

Did u tried the shoe? Hows the quality of the shoe?

No, I didn't. Since all the shoes have shoe trees in them. Construction looks solid, but since it's patent leather, I can't tell it's quality as much. Anyway, I'm no shoe pro Didn't like the way it's painted. Definitely don't look as subtle as in the website pics. Makes the shoes' colours look muddy. Their single coloured suede shoes looks better, i feel.

I dont know much about Indo makers to be honest but I have been reading some positive remarks about them - the likes of Sagara or Fortuna - but of course their prices are higher than Zeve - hence much better leather quality, construction, etc. You get what you pay for, i think.

As I said earlier-they tend to exaggerate their shoe quality but it's marketing 101 and it's okay and perfectly normal to do that as long as you don't misled the customer.

Leather quality is not a question mark - the moment they say polished leather - or corrected leather, without any doubt, they are using a cheap low quality leather which is nothing wrong given their target segment and price point - as you have said yourself in earlier post. Looking at the pictures in their website, i dont think their leather quality, finishing - look at the stitches and how the sole bends are better than similarly priced shoes - Hush puppies or Bata offerings. But, as I said earlier, maybe in person the quality looks and feels much better.

As for construction, two comments from me:

1. If you think there is no mid-sole, then it is most likely not the blake rapid construction but rather the normal blake construction - as the main difference between these construction is the use of mid-sole that is connected to the outer sole as well as the insole. I am not a shoe expert and dont know much but that's i have read from various Books and shoe sites.

2. There are tonnes of debates about types of shoe constructions in many forums. Well, again it's up to one's preference but this is the first time I've read where one claim the Blake construction to be superior than goodyear welted (GW). The GW is more complex, process intensive for good reasons - hence, better durability, better constructions, easy to resole, etc. One may say the Blake is as good as GW but to say the Blake is superior: It's fine and not fine for two reasons:
(a) fine, from the perspectives of advantages Blake has to offer - much lighter shoes, its sleekness, etc.
(b) not fine from complexity of the constructions. The GW can be resoled for many times without affecting the outer sole. repel water better than Blake shoes, etc. and as a result better durability in long run.
But dont get me wrong, I still have my 10 year old GW Loake and also almost 7 year old Blake stitched Ferragamo - both still in good condition but I hardly wear them at present.

Would be interested to learn why you think the Blake is a better construction, in your book.

This post has been edited by nikfs1881: Jul 23 2016, 04:36 PM

Good catch man! A laughton is very nice-love the design.

As for Cheaneys, i went there but didnt buy anything. All of the salespersons were busy with other potential customers. I spent about 5-10 minutes browsing the collections then i went out.

My way of thinking(about shoes) is very much influenced by DW Frommer II.

I've followed his shoemaking traditions thread in SF ever since he opened it 2 years ago, and also read through the entirety of his older shoemaking thread, behind the veil:

http://www.styleforum.net/t/412909/shoemak...-foolish-things

http://www.styleforum.net/t/191166/shoe-co...behind-the-veil

Somewhere in there I came to agree with DW that Blake-Rapid (not Blake) is superior to GYW because unlike Blake, BR can be easily resolved multiple times either by hand or by using a curved needle stitcher. The exact same method you use to attach an outsole to a GYW shoe or a handwelted shoe.

And unlike GYW, BR does not rely on a welt attached to the insole through a piece of canvas gemming that is glued to the insole. According to DW, this gemming, once it has come loose(remember it is glued, not stitched) is practically impossible to put back in the original location by a cobbler who doesn't have the original last. This is obviously not a concern for people who religiously send their shoes back to the manufacturer for a full recrafting. But to some people(like me) getting good shoes is about getting good value, and that is diminished somewhat by high recrafting costs.

This post has been edited by niakulah: Jul 23 2016, 04:43 PM

Thanks for prompt reply. Interesting perspective I must say. I am really intrigued. Sounds logical from resoling perspectives but still not convince that this point alone would make Blake Rapid more superior - different structure and equivalently good - for each has its pro and cons. Will read more about it from the very helpful link you have kindly shared. I also wonder how long would it takes until the canvas gemming start to be a problem.

Unfortunately in Malaysia, we dont have any cobbler or shoemakers that can resole/repair GW shoes anyway. Nearest in the region would be in Singapore or Indonesia. To a certain extent personally, this point doesnt bother me that much as I topy'd all my GW shoes that I dont think it's worth to send back to the country of origin for resole/recrafting service. As for certain category of shoes, I wont trust any local cobbler in the region to recraft/resole them anyway.

This post has been edited by nikfs1881: Jul 23 2016, 06:35 PM

Reckon Zeve shoes are rapid stitched? The threads on the outsole sole don't quite correspond with the welt?

i believe zeve is blake stitched.talked to the owner, young guy and doesn't really know what specific name his shoe construction is called.he only said his shoes are 'gam dan jahit' so blake stitched?

OMGnessssss he reply you Gam & Jahit.

also asked him if i can send back any of his shoes if the soles wore out. he said no need because its synthetic leather sole

honestly,i had better luck with tomrichshoes if you are looking to make cheap-ish shoes,their GYW start from 700 but they only do MTO now.

Technically it's not wrong for attaching the outsole in Blake-Rapid. The gam holds it in place while you jahit.

Actually a lot of leatherwork is gam and jahit.

Synthetic leather WTF. More and more red flags.