Footwear to go with our jackets

[cbez]

I think you would be surprised what % of the PNW clientele is casual or light duty compared to the firefighters, linemen, loggers etc.

 

[TLW '90]

This ad inspired me to get on my kilties soap box even though no one asked.

Yet another reason they are dumb is because the facings are not sized for them and end up with a ridiculous bulge like this around the calf.

If you like the aesthetics, cool, but let's not pretend 99.999% of us need the 'protection' when we already have laces, facings, and a tongue in that area.
View attachment 689334

Who wears their pants so the whole tongue of their boots is showing?
Even if you have oversized kilties that do this, your pants should be covering it.
I think you saw a pair of boots somewhere with an oversized kiltie and are assuming that this is how they always look.
In this picture I think the boots just weren't laced lightly up at the top because for some reason this person wanted to tuck their pants into their boots which is dumb.

I have kilties on my work boots, and they have done me some good.
They catch and deflect a lot of things because I do a lot of kicking pushing and nudging.

I think you have inspired me to order another pair of kilties to add to another pair of my boots.
I might actually even try kilties on one of my pairs of Vellies.

 

[TLW '90]

I think you would be surprised what % of the PNW clientele is casual or light duty compared to the firefighters, linemen, loggers etc.

Those are not their bread & butter, they make and sell far more boots for blue collar guys who are hard on their boots than anything else.

 

[Bennarion]

I've been waiting for 4 months and I've got them. Now I can't decide whether to wear kiltes or not. On his left leg, he slides to the side. I like the look of shoes with kiltes

.

 

[cbez]

Who wears their pants so the whole tongue of their boots is showing?
Even if you have oversized kilties that do this, your pants should be covering it.
I think you saw a pair of boots somewhere with an oversized kiltie and are assuming that this is how they always look.
In this picture I think the boots just weren't laced lightly up at the top because for some reason this person wanted to tuck their pants into their boots which is dumb.

I have kilties on my work boots, and they have done me some good.
They catch and deflect a lot of things because I do a lot of kicking pushing and nudging.

I think you have inspired me to order another pair of kilties to add to another pair of my boots.
I might actually even try kilties on one of my pairs of Vellies.

I have had both nicks and whites that came with kilties, and they look goofy with the kilties, because the patterns are not designed for kilties. For the people that happen to like the look cool, but imo they're more of a mancessory that some people promote as this vital thing to protect your fragile tongues, even tho I have tongues with 10+ years of heavy wear, multiple resoles, that show no damage.

Those are not their bread & butter, they make and sell far more boots for blue collar guys who are hard on their boots than anything else.

again I think you'd be surprised. look at their marketing efforts the past decade or so, how and what they promote online, all the trendy leathers etc. They're not stupid and realized there's only a limited # of wildland firefighters, loggers, and so forth, but millions of guys who can succumb to the workwear aesthetic. They know where they can expand.

 

[cbez]

I've been waiting for 4 months and I've got them. Now I can't decide whether to wear kiltes or not. On his left leg, he slides to the side. I like the look of shoes with kiltes View attachment 689378 View attachment 689376 View attachment 689377 .

I dont think the facing bulge looks good, but if you're in love with the look, you could put two holes through near the top and put a lace through to keep it in place.

 

[Bennarion]

Kiltes are made of very thick leather and I'm uncomfortable with them. I took them off and I like it better that way.

 

[TartuWolf]

In my mind kilties are simple.
You wear them if one of the following is true:
- Shaft is too roomy and laces go too close together.
- You are annihilating the front of your shaft and upper vamp area by trudging through destructive environment (for example logging, bushcraft, some other outdoor activities) regularly.
- You simply like the aesthetic.
- If your speedhooks or eyelets are poorly set and are really rough on your tongue (carving in holes). In this case it's better to fix the core issue, but kilties can help save the tongue in the meantime.

 

[Pandemic]

Maybe it’s age or maybe a suburban lifestyle, but I just don’t feel comfortable clomping around in big workboots these days. My go-to is either the RM Williams Lachlan (now discontinued) or some custom double-sole suede chukkas from TLB Mallorca:

 

[MrProper]

If I'm not wearing my Nike or Adidas, then these. And now they're clean again.

 

[IrishStu]

Maybe it’s age or maybe a suburban lifestyle, but I just don’t feel comfortable clomping around in big workboots these days. My go-to is either the RM Williams Lachlan (now discontinued) or some custom double-sole suede chukkas from TLB Mallorca:

View attachment 689528 View attachment 689529

Love the RM Williams. I have the exact same pair. Must dig them out of the bottom of the wardrobe.

 

[Pandemic]

Love the RM Williams. I have the exact same pair. Must dig them out of the bottom of the wardrobe.

Sadly, the Lachlans have been discontinued. For me, they are the perfect boot: the thicker leather and rugged sole of the Gardener model, with the sleeker shape and toe of the Craftsman.

 

[AeroFan_07]

I think you would be surprised what % of the PNW clientele is casual or light duty compared to the firefighters, linemen, loggers etc.

These days, yes...but again, look how many people buy a 3/4 ton pickup to hit up Home Depot once a month...

Yes, they have secured their future with world-wide appeal, just too bad that ordering a pair through Wesco that a person actually needs is now an 18-24 month proposition.

 

[Liam_Og]

Just found this blogpost today "European workwear boot brands" from end of 2024:

http://[URL]https://shoegazing.com/2024/12/22/buyers-guide-european-workwear-boot-brands/

[/URL]
Wow, so many brands I've never heard of! Seems like we have more options in Europe than I thought!

Good reference for made in EU. Thanks!

 

[TartuWolf]

The Willie's engineers came in brown CXL!
Asked for a single midsole but got a double. Although you could argue that the second layer is an outsole. Either way, not what I requested, but this can be considered as miscommunication.
Biggest issue is the instep and the whole shaft. Even though I sent him my calf and ankle measurements, together with several measurements of the instep it still came out unwearable.
I'll try to figure out what are my options from here with Willie.
Beautiful boots though!

 

[Tom71]

The Willie's engineers came in brown CXL!
Asked for a single midsole but got a double. Although you could argue that the second layer is an outsole. Either way, not what I requested, but this can be considered as miscommunication.
Biggest issue is the instep and the whole shaft. Even though I sent him my calf and ankle measurements, together with several measurements of the instep it still came out unwearable.
I'll try to figure out what are my options from here with Willie.
Beautiful boots though!
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Beautiful for sure. Total turnoff when you mail order boots or jackets, and they turn out just wrong. I feel you.

 

[Drzdave58]

The Willie's engineers came in brown CXL!
Asked for a single midsole but got a double. Although you could argue that the second layer is an outsole. Either way, not what I requested, but this can be considered as miscommunication.
Biggest issue is the instep and the whole shaft. Even though I sent him my calf and ankle measurements, together with several measurements of the instep it still came out unwearable.
I'll try to figure out what are my options from here with Willie.
Beautiful boots though!
View attachment 689834

View attachment 689835

View attachment 689836
View attachment 689837

View attachment 689838

Beautiful boots! Did u try experimenting with insoles or heel lifts?

 

[TartuWolf]

Beautiful boots! Did u try experimenting with insoles or heel lifts?

Haven't had any success with improving the fit of engineers using those methods in the past.
Full length insoles make the fit at the toe box worse as they push your toes up and therefore decrease the volume.
Heel lifts don't help as they push your heels up and out of the heel cup that would lock your heel in at least partially helping with heel slip.
Mid foot or arch lifts do help a bit with instep, but I have two massive folds on both sides of the boot if I cinch in and an arch lift can only go so far to mitigate that. Nothing I can do about the enormous shaft where I can put my whole fist in.
But this is a good opportunity to see how's the customer support side of Willie's boots - how does the maker respond when things don't go right and the customer is not satisfied.
If I had only given my foot length and width or if I had specified the instep and shaft myself then this would be a no-starter, but since I gave my 3d measurements (instep, ankle, calf in several places, etc..) as requested then it's their responsibility to make sure these would fit me well in those areas.
At least that's my opinion, but we shall see what Willie thinks.

 

[TartuWolf]

Here's a visual of them next to my other engineer boots.

I measured the shaft and the instep (crudely, but same way across them).
Upper shaft : ~41cm vs ~37cm
Lower shaft right above the buckle/strap: ~37cm vs ~33cm
Under heel near the rand - right below the strap/buckle: ~41-42cm vs ~44-45cm
- Overall 3-4cm larger shaft /instep.

So the vamp/counter (bottom part) is good, but the shaft/instep/upper part is oversized or way too large for me at least.

 

[Liam_Og]

Here's a visual of them next to my other engineer boots.

View attachment 689999

I measured the shaft and the instep (crudely, but same way across them).
Upper shaft : ~41cm vs ~37cm
Lower shaft right above the buckle/strap: ~37cm vs ~33cm
Under heel near the rand - right below the strap/buckle: ~41-42cm vs ~44-45cm
- Overall 3-4cm larger shaft /instep.

So the vamp/counter (bottom part) is good, but the shaft/instep/upper part is oversized or way too large for me at least.

So nearly a 12cm difference in circumference of the upper shaft if you measured without flattening the leather. Seems like a large difference. The area diff and shaft volume diff would be even bigger.