It all started at a birthday dinner last January.
I was placed next to Florent , a friend who is very passionate about the world of tailoring and beautiful shoes.
He was talking to me about his next trips and he said to me:
“— With a few friends, I'm going to London in March to visit some shoe factory stores and attend the world shoemaking and patina championship.
- Eh ? I don't know about this world championship, but it looks so good! And then I want to discover English shoes better, can I come?
— Of course, here are the timetables for our train..."
And that same evening, I took my tickets for a trip dedicated to beautiful shoes not really knowing where I was putting my feet .
Here is the story of a trip to England where, in a group of 7 people, 23 pairs of shoes were purchased in three days, the weekend of March 23, 2019.
The aim was to make this trip as profitable as possible: four days in total, two of which were in Northampton devoted solely to visiting factory outlets, then heading to London for this famous world championship of patina and boot making which I don't know never heard of it.
These are the four outlets we wanted to see, all of which are easily accessible and easy to do in a single day. Alfred Sargent is not on this map, they are further out, towards Rushden.
What about our Barker shoes then? They are made about twenty minutes from Northampton, in Earls Barton. They also have an outlet store, but we didn't have time to visit it.
The English shoe is a subject that we had already started to explore through three models:
So I was very happy to go further and discover other brands in more detail!
I joined a happy troop of calceophiles
Among them were:
- Florent therefore, behind Sartoriaworld . You have already read him in our columns, since he is the one who wrote our test of J. Fitzpatrick .
- Guillaume, known as " Grizzly of the Pyrenees ", immensely passionate, very educational, rugby player, and (very) happy-go-lucky
- Jonathan, known as " Dilettante Paris ", another immense enthusiast, who was the most bulimic in his purchases during this trip
- Then, there were Pierre-Yves, Pierre, and Raphaël, equally passionate, but unfortunately they don't have an Instagram account.
I'll be honest with you, I had absolutely no idea what to expect, I only knew Florent, I don't have shoemaker-level knowledge of shoes, but I'm curious and I like to learn.
So what did I see in the outlet stores? Where have we gone? What did I buy? Who won this championship? I tell you everything!
Where do these 23 pairs of shoes come from? At what prices did they buy? And or ? You will know everything in this article.
Northampton: the cradle of English shoes
As a French person, it's very hard to understand what makes Northampton so special. But I'll try to give you a comparison...
Imagine that in France, there are four or five brands of shoes equivalent to Weston, at several hundred euros per pair, and sold in the most prestigious boutiques around the world... In short, brands with global influence.
Then imagine that these brands all manufacture in the same French city…
And imagine that each factory has its own clearance store, for unsold shoes, for shoes with slight defects, where pairs are sold at -50%.
Obviously, this place becomes the Mecca for the least shoe enthusiast.
And that’s what happened to Northampton. There were once many English tanneries precisely here due to the special quality of the water in the area. And in turn, shoe factories were set up around it. Today, the tanneries have disappeared, but the shoe factories remain.
And among them, we find Alfred Sargent…
Alfred Sargent's visit
The journey begins! In the photo, it's Jonathan who is about to go through the door...
Alfred Sargent is a brand that enjoys good sympathy among calceophiles.
I understood that it is a brand that is a bit different in the English landscape. The shapes are fine, formal, and one could almost doubt its English DNA.
It's simply a beautiful, elegant shoe, sometimes with a little creativity. But above all, for “made in Northampton”, the prices are very competitive.
In the showroom, here is an exhibition pair that shows the construction of the shoe. We can clearly see the cork paste (the granular substance), the attached wall (the white ribbon), and the arch (the wooden tongue).
It was Paul, on the right of the photo, who gave us the factory tour, and it was a treat. He is a huge shoe enthusiast, who is inexhaustible for each stage of manufacturing.
For a long time, Alfred Sargent shoes were rarely distributed under his own brand, which paradoxically meant that it was very popular with enthusiasts. For information, today, they have a Parisian boutique at 50, rue du bac (Paris 7).
And based on what I've seen, I understand why this brand has won the sympathy of shoe lovers.
Photo credit: Florent Sartoriaworld
The brand's workshop is now run by a Frenchman. In terms of the visit, ultimately, I was not disoriented since, at my humble level, I saw that the production line was very close to what I had seen at Barker.
The Cambridge, a rather casual model very easy to wear every day.
They have several grades, and the highest, the "hand grade" contains some hand operations. For example, the skins are cut by hand, which allows for a cleaner edge, a detail that Japanese customers love.
The Budapester style of Alfred Sargent, which was far from unanimous in our travel group. Photo credit: Guillaume
Its Budapester style is really debated among fans, and the team I was with finds it very massive, while the Japanese love it.
Always the eternal question of tastes and colors…
These are the labels sewn inside the shoe, where the model and size are written by hand. The funny thing is that Japanese customers noticed that the letter "E" was written in several ways. So they began to demand that it always be written the same way, with a slight curve at the bottom horizontal bar of "E". They called it the "E with tail". Photo credit: Guillaume
On the way to the factory outlets…
There were seven of us, we hired a van from St Pancras station and then drove to Northampton, which is about an hour and 40 minutes' drive.
Edward Green, Alfred Sargent, Tricker's Crockett & Jones, and John Lobb are within a small radius of Northampton, a 15 minute drive.
Oh, and of course, all my companions had a travel shoehorn, and I cannot highly recommend having this accessory in your suitcase.
As for the “socks”, they were all wearing My Red Socks knee-highs. Here too, I am a very big fan of their "Super Solide" range which keeps all its promises on my feet, and it will also be essential for your trip there.
Factory Outlet #1: John Lobb
Here's the entrance... It's hard to believe we're at John Lobb's.
First contact with a shoe factory store. The first thing that strikes you is to believe that the entrance absolutely wants to dissuade buyers from entering. A hanging flower pot hardly brightens up the entrance.
Prices are around £600. It may seem enormous, but we must not forget that these shoes cost double in stores.
This is what a factory store of a globally prestigious brand looks like…
There, they explain to me the Lobb style that I only vaguely knew, and I can only marvel at the leathers they use, called “museum”.
The leather museum on the brown moccasin, where we can see the multiple caramel shades of the leather.
Coming from Italy, they have a slightly marbled appearance, full of nuances, as if the shoe had weathered very harmoniously over several years of wear.
I really appreciated Lobb's creativity, there is color, super cool shapes, variety, and a very elegant style.
Where do factory outlet stocks come from?
Indeed, one might wonder how it is possible to find pairs for more than €1000 on sale at -50%, -60%, or even more?
Either they are end of series to be sold, with zero defects, or they are pairs which have not passed quality control.
The defects present are often very minimal: here it is a very small scratch on the leather, there it is leather with a slight defect, or even a seam that is not quite straight.
In the jargon, a pair with a defect sold in a factory store is called a “sub”.
Quite honestly, most of the time I had to look closely to find the fault. Sometimes, there are indeed some that are more visible, but it always remains an excellent deal considering the price.
Factory Outlet #2: Edward Green
The journey continues!
I couldn't wait to see this factory store (located inside the factory, in a separate room) because I knew very little about this brand, but I knew that it has a renowned manufacturing one of the best in the world.
It's a bit the same spirit as at John Lobb: a very bare but effective interior.
Inside, the prices are identical to those at Lobb, expect around £600 for a pair.
We are on a less exuberant style than Lobb, but still very elegant and dressy.
There, they explain to me all the subtleties of several of their flagship models, like the Gallway or the Dover…
The Galway model, an emblematic casual boot from Edward Green (and very pretty by the way).
I am taught all the details to look at to check the quality of a shoe costing several hundred euros, the seams, the assembly, in short, it's a treat!
And I will buy my only pair of this trip: a pair of midnight blue indoor moccasins, very summery, unlined and incredibly comfortable, the Polperro .
His price ? £80 instead of £475! With Florent, I looked at the pair in every direction, impossible to find the fault in the pair, it seems to be the end of the series.
Raphaël, always very kind towards my entry into very high-end calceophilia, advises me to still put a skate on them if I want to wear them outside.
£80 for these adorable Edward Green indoor shoes. A very English charm, which will fit perfectly with your country house.
Factory Outlet #3: Crockett & Jones
You can't make the factory facade more English...
It was the brand I knew best before coming. And I'm not the only one, because it was by far the busiest outlet store, with lots of Japanese people, so happy to come and pay a fraction of the Japanese price for their pair.
The “SUB” stamp which indicates that the pair was purchased in an outlet store, to avoid speculation on resale purchase.
Precisely, in terms of prices, count on £200 or £220 for a pair, so we might as well tell you that this makes the brand very accessible compared to the €600 boutique price.
But at Crockett, there is no fantasy, it remains very classic and very English lines.
However, I'm not taking any pairs, because I don't see anything that wouldn't duplicate what I already have. There are certain moccasins that I want, but I am discouraged by the lines which I find quite austere.
In other words, it would have been gluttony!
My companions leave with Pembroke (the iconic grained brogue) and Coniston (the rather casual cap-toe ankle boot).
Please note, purchases are limited to four pairs per person.
Here, these are the women's models, if you come with your loved one!
Outlet Store #4: Tricker’s
The Tricker's factory, with undeniable charm!
Just a few miles from Crockett there was the Tricker's factory and its factory outlet inside.
Florent whispers to me that it is the oldest shoe factory still in operation.
Little extra: to go to the factory store, you have to go through the entire workshop, it's really nice.
There, we discover a number of large brogues with a so-called “triple welt” seam and soles that overflow enormously.
We can clearly see the "massive" style of the house, a real sturdy shoe.
You have to like the style, but as Guillaume pointed out to me, it goes well with the more “rock and roll” side of the brand.
At least there's some real flair and use of color.
And here are the 4 factory outlets that we did.
I couldn't help but think of the equivalents we have in France: Weston, Corthay, and obviously Aubercy.
Besides, Aubercy is in the same price range as Lobb and Green, but at Aubercy, the Goodyear is sewn by hand (we call it welt stitching), the one cuts are real one cuts, and — something very rare indeed. -to put on — there are buttresses at the level of the arch of the foot.
The World Skating and Booting Championship
After these two days of browsing the factory stores, return to London, and it's time for this world championship, which takes place over one day.
I was super curious to see what "a world skating and booting championship" organized by the blogs Shoegazing and The Shoe Snob would look like.
It was the second edition in London, so it is a very recent event.
On the figures side, to remember:
- around 1,000 visitors over one day
- 10 shoe brands that exhibited
- fun fact: 90 pairs were sold during the day, for a total of €43,000
It took place a stone's throw from Jeremyn Street, the street with all the shoe shops
There were two events: skating and booting.
Given that it is a recent and very "niche" event, it is difficult to measure its impact, but it is clear that for the winners, it is a consecration in the calceophile community, and it allows them to enjoy 'high visibility.
Patina: long live France!
The test was simple: three “skaters” had five hours to skate a pair of brogues from the TLB Mallorca brand.
Then the three pairs were submitted to a jury which deliberated to elect the best patina. The jury looks at transitions between colors, risk-taking, innovation, etc.
Who says patina says polish, and it is therefore logically the maintenance brand Saphir which sponsored the event.
And it was a Frenchman who won the event! This is Stéphane Villette, the former colorist of the Corthay house, with a very beautiful patina full of nuances, where dark greens (!) rub shoulders with brown tones.
The three pairs after five hours of patina. Personally, I find the one on the left very nice, but the brushstrokes are still visible. As for the one in the middle, I find that it lacks that extra soul to snatch victory. Photo credit: Florent Sartoriaworld
The pair that won this championship, in an indescribable color. A big congratulations to Stéphane Villette! Photo credit: Florent Sartoriaworld
Boots: a literally wearable shoe that wins
For this test, around ten shoemakers had to reinterpret a brown brogue.
Among the criteria to be respected, here are some:
- the shoe does not necessarily have to be portable (I’ll come back to that in a moment)
- the shoe must be a brogue brogue, the flowered toe is not obligatory, but it must have the characteristic cutout of a brogue
- the shoe must be a left foot in 42
- the shoe must be dark brown, in aniline leather (so no suede calfskin or exotic skins)
- the sole must be leather
- the sole must be sewn by hand
- the shoe should be lined as if it was going to be worn
- the shoe must not display a logo or distinctive sign of a brand
There were many nationalities represented: France (with Anthony Delos and Christophe Corthay), Japan, Korea, Hungary, etc., it was a real tour of the world of boots that was offered with these ten pairs presented.
The ten candidates for the title of the most beautiful shoe 2019. Photo credit: Guillaume
So who won ?
And it's the bootmaker of the prestigious house Gaziano & Girling, namely a very, very fine brogue , quite spectacular when you have it in your hand.
No, there is not a compression problem in the photo, the shoe really is like that.
What makes me skeptical is that it was a shoe that you can't wear that won the prize. Certainly, the work behind it is absolutely impressive: EVERYTHING was done by hand, with no machines, and the fineness of the stitching is surreal.
But still, a shoe is made to be worn! Except that in this case, it was not a criterion for victory.
My traveling companions told me that because of this very narrow shape, the work was all the more difficult.
So it was with this perplexed thought that I left the place, having attended my very first World Skating and Booting Championship!
For the most curious, Shoegazing has published a very long report , full of photos (you can even see me in some of them!).
The final word
Finally, I would like to end on a more personal note: I sometimes hear that the sartorial world is “snob” and cryptic. Well, I experienced quite the opposite, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all this joyous group during these four days of trip.
They answered my many questions educationally, and made sure that I understood each pair I had in my hands (or on my feet). I was faced with very passionate people who were delighted to transmit.
I am very grateful to have had such a four-day crash course on the greatest English houses.
All 23 pairs out of their boxes! Note: the two purple pairs are Lobb will be colored in another shade, they will not stay purple like that.
For me, that's what the sartorial world is: passionate people, who want to explain, share, and obviously (very) hedonistic when it comes to good, friendly food, good wine, or even a good cigar! (don't panic if you have no idea how it is smoked and appreciated, we will explain it to you).
And I was very touched that in front of the London flagship Arc'téryx, full of Gore-Tex, Guillaume came to me and said "Benoît, now it's up to you to explain your world to us and show us the pieces to be to know". What a pleasure to have had such open-mindedness in front of me.
Really, a huge thank you to them, and I only want to accompany them on their next sartorial trips.
Note: Florent has also just published his report on his (excellent) blog.
