Friday, December 18
keep leather or go white vibram (crepe)
Newgrass reworked some old Red Wings (v v nicely) with white Vibram soles... had been tempted to do the same to these but after reading The Selvage Yard's last post might not. Pull the trigger?? The ankle top has been oiled here, the rest not... dragged out from a cupboard. Pops' boots, at least 25 years old... older than most of those reading this...
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10 comments:
I wonder if the top being "oiled" is just from the oil on the guys hands from putting them on and off a bunch of times...
I'm always curious about the utility of wedge soles. I figure that stacked heels are shaped like that because you don't need the wedge, like how they remove the unnecessary matter from steel girders to make I-beams. Light and strong. Why walk around with the extra weight? Evolutionarily, do you know how wedge soles came about?
tough call man, they could look sweet, newgrass's came out great
That's amazing that those are your pops' boots. I think I'd be a bit more hesitant messing with them because of that, but I'm a sucker for white vibram soles and I think it'd come out nice. I'd imagine they'd end up looking somewhat reminiscent of 875's.
Nice find! I do love nice boots, but really not a fan of those white soles you find on some Red Wings. I saw black rubber commando soles! ;-)
Keep 'em real.
JP
@ry'on the tops are oiled cause I had only oiled the tops so far... to show the difference between treated restored leather and moldy dry leather, as they started out. the whole boot is now oiled to hell I can assure you.
@jp, i think you are right. if i want RWs or similar I'll get them... not going to mess with these.
For sure, stay leather. I have a pair of 875s and while the crepe is comfy, its tough to avoid Herman Munsterism. Keeping the leather will just make them more versatile.
The wedge sole is actually related to I-beams. The point of wedge sole on workboots is for workers to avoid having a heel that can catch on things that would trip them up and maintain maximum contact with the ground so they don't slip. (Think construction workers on skyscrapers and roofers)
Since the crepe sole is so light compared to traditional leather/rubber soles, the extra material doesn't make a significant weight difference but a big safety one.
@cfj i knew about roofers but not why... also something about farmers and wives wanting to see the white soles so they know their hub's 'shoes clean. cant get an answer from red wing (well known for their wedge sole) about it.
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