Hello gentlemen

I am a lowly student in London Town who has a penchant for suits, shoes, whisky, wine and most other indulgences that one may be able to think of. Being Malaysian, I am pleasantly surprised by a few threads in this forum. At some point in my life, I will probably return to Malaysia and I hope to get to know more about the sartorial (I'm almost gagging at the thought of myself actually using this word) scene there. My collection of note-worthy articles of clothing remain limited at the moment but I would like to share some of them here. I will try my best to contribute to the forum and perhaps use my current location to provide updates on the latest exploits in Northampton and Jermyn Street. Savile Row remains out of reach.

Before I become a bore, here are some of my shoes for your amusement. Pardon me for the bad photo quality.

Loake, Oxfords



Loake (L1, made in India line), full brogues



Church's, Custom grade full brogues



Kurt Geiger, blake-stitched patent leather dress shoes

As much I like goodyear welted shoes, I do draw the line at dress shoes



Reiss, chestnut (or is it closer to ox-blood) "I-don't-know-what-to-call-them" shoes. The leather isn't fantastic and cracked heavily after half a year. It's currently three years old. The only reason why they're not with Oxfam is because I quite like the patina it has developed. Perhaps it's not very visible in the pictures, but this pair's ability to age rather gracefully makes it a joy to polish.



That's all for know. I shall post in the suiting thread very soon. My suits are not spectacular though. Just some heavily altered ready-to-wear ones.

While I cannot give any recommendations in Klang Valley, I do believe that the Isetan in KLCC carries a range of Woly and Church's shoe care products. I remember getting a tube of neutral shoe cream from them a year ago. Even then, I can't give my guarantee that they will have polish or creams in the colours that you want. So don't make that special journey!





Well, I believe that Beau is right in this case. For shoes, most good ones are made in Northampton and from what I hear, if one went to the factory stores there, a pair of C&J can be had for around £100. In London itself, I know of a store selling Loakes for £65 for entry level ones to £85 for those in calf skin. They do Barker calf skins for just below £100. The great thing is that the store is easily accessible and the same prices apply all year round. Plus, they're not seconds. There's a Church's outlet store in Bicester where seconds of their custom grade shoes go for £160. If one can afford them, London gives access to the real John Lobb (not the Hermes owned company) and George Cleverly!

I don't really want to talk about shirts and suits here for the fear of being chastised (there is a suiting thread after all), but since I am asked... The average ready to wear shirt here is much better than the average tailored shirt in Malaysia (be it MTM or supposedly bespoke). For around £25, one get purchase shirts of very decent quality from Charles Tyrwhitt, Hawes and Curtis and T.M. Lewin (I include Lewin with trepidation). They come in a large variety of fabrics (twill, herringbone, pindot etc) and styles. Going a few steps higher in the hierachy of shirts, Turnbull and Asser do offer shirts for around £50 during the summer and winter sales.

Suits are quite a different story however. Most MTM or bespoke suits are hideously expensive. Almost all the lower end tailors outsource their work to Thailand, China or Nepal. Like many tailors in Malaysia, they don't actually know the difference between MTM and bespoke. The ready to wear scene is good though. I just bought 2 suits from Charles Tyrwhitt (one of them a 3-piece) for less than £600 with alterations included. They are made from pure wool (I think they are 110s) fabric milled in Yorkshire and are half canvassed (horse and goat hair). Working cuffs too! Having said all of this, most clothes here are too large for me and need alterations which adds up to the cost.

To sum up, I believe that Malaysia may be cheaper if one really takes the extra mile or in some cases miles. On average though, England is probably cheaper given the prevailing exchange rate. Furthermore, sales assistants and shop owners in England tend to be more knowledgeable than their Malaysian counterparts which takes a lot of frustration away. Please forgive me for being very bourgeoisie by mentioning money (£) very often in this post. I mean to cause no offence but only to provide a point for comparison.

Greetings

I'm glad that my initial post has proved to be of interest. Since this thread is for shoes, I shall keep it that way. I will post a more thoughts and rants about the British tailoring scene in the suiting thread. Without a doubt, shoes are cheap in the UK as long as one know where to go. The last thing I want to do is to pay the full RRP for commonly available shoes. Edward Green, Lobb, Berluti and shoes from a few other artisans are the few that I will be willing to pay full price for if I had the money.



That's a pair of semi-brogue oxfords I reckon. Clearly, it has cemented, synthetic soles which is not to my liking. However, I doubt even 1 in 1000 people will notice that, so I'm just being a pain. For most shoes, I prefer to polish them at least once before I wear them. It gives makes them look less crass in my opinion. Trust me, it does wonders especially on lower end shoes. Just a word of caution, while most leather can be polished, avoid polishing patent leather.

I would match your shoes with a pair of jeans. Something that looks a little on the vintage side will be good. Make sure they're not too baggy ! As your shoes look quite contemporary, I would avoid wearing them with anything more formal than jeans, khakis and cords included. If you want to make a little statement, wear them sockless with shorts! In Malaysia's climate, don't forget to powder your feet if you did that.



I've paid them a visit. I don't fit into their RTW and asked about their MTM. The entry price is £350 but I was told that it usually runs to £450 or so. Well, maybe for Christmas.

Before I move on to the suiting thread, I shall leave you folks with a photo of one of my workhorse shoes. For suede, it sure has taken a lot of punishment and has surprisingly held up quite well. Pictured with it is a replica Victorian shoe horn. I like how the handle has a little dog thing on it.

I just clicked on the pic to enlarge it and indeed, it does seem to be blake stitched. That is assuming that the outline on the sole is actually stitching rather than a print that looks like stitching. Blake stitched soles is still better than cemented soles. Cemented soles means that it's just glued on. There may be a little sticker inside the shoe indicating the composition of the shoe but an easy way to tell if it's leather or otherwise is to scratch it. This can be done with a fork or just by wearing and walking in it for a while. By scratching the surface (pardon the pun), it will be clear what's inside! It's definitely not a pair of full brogues. Full brogues have much more punching.

Thanks for the heads-up about Robinsons but I'm in the other corner of the globe!

I really like the whole Cote D'Azur look. I have a pair of Paul Smith loafers for that purpose! The only thing is, I've worn it far too many times without no-show socks and it looks a little scruffy now. It's time to bring it to a leather specialist. What I have in mind now is a pair of horsebit loafers. I was in Milan in December. Too bad I missed the Berluti outlet. Then again, while I like the distinct Berluti leather, I doubt I can pull it off.

Well, I presume that your meetings are in the City. There are lots of nice shops on Cheapside and the Royal Arcade. That means you don't have to run off to Jermyn Street or Old Bond St.

Looks like Ralph Lauren purple label tassel loafers to me. I think EG makes them for Rl though.

BTW, has anyone seen Tom Ford shoes? I just saw them in Harrods yesterday and they looked really great. The leather is well antiqued and the shape of the shoe was very unique - traditionally shaped with very slim soles. The downside - they retail for £900. I wonder who makes them.

P.S. - I realise some of you attach a thin rubber layer on your shoes. Doesn't that defeat the purpose (besides aesthetic) of wearing goodyear welted leather soled shoes since it reduces the ability for your feet to breathe?

Sorry if I appear to be a toff, but I'm afraid you're not going to find a pair of shoes that will be anywhere near the standard of an average shoe posted in this thread with less than RM500. Plal (www.plal.com) which is based in KL, does offer a very good selection of shoes from Cheaney and Loake for around RM500-700. If you take good care of them, they will serve you for years. Otherwise, I do believe that a gentleman in this forum did manage to procure a rather decent pair of goodyear-welted oxfords from kulitkraf for just RM150 (correct me if I'm wrong).

Leatherwise, at your budget, it will have to be corrected grain. Tan brogues (be it wingtips, semi or full) go well with jeans. Formal dinner shoes, if it's a black tie event, I will go for a pair of black patent leather shoes but they are not very versatile and wouldn't go with an ordinary business suit. I suspect that the degree of formality that college events will call for would be at most a business suit. In that case, you wont go wrong with a pair of black, cap-toe oxfords.



Wait.......you're not wearing that to Bali are you? In my first year as an undergrad, I managed to totally ruin a pair of Church's (wore it everyday, walking for miles in the face of the elements) while on holiday with it. How foolish was I.

I cannot comment about Johnston & Murphy but can certainly do so for the rest of them. Loake would be the cheapest among the brands that you listed other than Johnston & Murphy that I am unaware of. Quality-wise, it does not measure up to AF and Cheaney. Their lower end lines (L1 and Loake England) are all constructed using corrected grain leathers which is rather stiff and little too shiny initially. Even then, they are perfectly wearable as everyday shoes. I personally own a pair each from those lines that I mentioned and they serve the purpose as my school/ going out/ interview shoes. Loake do have a line of calf skin shoes as well. They are not as supple as higher end (C&J, Church's) calf skins but at they are priced very reasonably in my opinion. I prefer Cheaney to Alfred Sargent although my preferences are probably skewed by the fact that I see more Cheaneys than Alfred Sargents. If the rumours are true, Cheaney shoes are made out of leathers that fail to pass Church's quality controls. This means that they are actually really good leathers other than perhaps very minor flaws that a plabian like me cannot tell. But I shall refrain from comparing Cheaney to Church's as it's like comparing a 3 series to a 6 series BMW. So, my conclusion is that, if budget is a huge consideration, go for Loake. Otherwise, Cheaney is what I recommend.

Get a pair of tan semi-brogue Oxfords, a pair of black derby and a pair of black single-monkstrap!



*stares down at own shoes... see's something very similar*.... no! it's a fleur de lis...

I'm finally back after being incommunicado for a while. It seems a little quiet here lately.. well, that's just an excuse for me to post a pic of my latest acquisition (>2 months). Just a pair of tan brogues, nothing fancy. I usually wear it in informal situations with jeans or chinos. When I feel slightly more adventurous (which is rare), I pair it up with a mid-grey suit for a somewhat Italian look. Being Chinese makes me feel a little self-conscious about my ability to pull off a nonchalant Italian look.

I hate you! It's indeed corrected grain leather. I can't afford to get all my shoes in calf-skin.In my opinion, corrected-grain is acceptable for everyday wear especially for a sod with not much to spare. Maybe I should just stop purchasing too many pairs and focus on quality instead. The problem with corrected grain leather is that it doesn't really develop a patina. Any tricks?

I'm planning to buy a pair of boots for winter but am facing a dilemma. Leather soles don't offer much grip and I'm not a big fan of rubber. So the question is, should I buy a pair with leather soles and get a cobbler to attach a rubber outsole or should I buy a pair with rubber soles like this one? http://www.herringshoes.co.uk/product-info...selectedFitID=0

Bingo! It's a Panama hat. I'm a big fan of hats but never (or extremely rarely) wear them. My book-ends, on the other hand wear them 24/7.

Here's a pic of Mr. Acorn the book-end who wears a tweed cap.

I shall prescribe myself with ten "Hail Mary"s to cleanse my thoughts. They are garden ornaments mind you. Perhaps you need to take your dog for a walk to get your mind off certain things.

I believe some higher end (i.e. mainline) Paul Smith shoes are made by Grenson. Under the Grenson label, it's about a good 30% cheaper but you miss out on some colourful trimmings.

Personally, I'm no longer a fan of Bicester as it's just too crowded with people hoarding out polo-Ts and ugly shirts from Burberry (I only like their trenches and certain coats) or Armani. Northampton is a good idea but it is quite a journey from London. However, my company may ship me off there for a couple of weeks and I can take that opportunity for shoe shopping.

P.S. - 3ff3z8e, do you mind sharing the discount code with me? I shall buy myself an early Christmas present.

Based on my personal experience, I have some reservations about buying used shoes. The creases on the upper and the inner sole moulds to one's foot shape after a period of wear. Even though the size of the shoe may be right, getting those creases etc. to that of your own feet can be a painful process as the existing ones can cause minor blisters or just general discomfort. I've never faced that with a new pair. Perhaps it's because they're still nice and smooth. Having said that, my sample size is small and thus not statistically significant (I'm such a geek).