Lots of tasty new boots coming out this week, plus a whole slew of heavyweight jackets and coats to take on winter with.
New Releases – November 7 – November 13, 2023
Thursday Boot Co.
Thursday Boot Co. just released a lugged sole version of their Diplomat Moc Toe. This is a welcome design, as I’ve always preferred a lugged moc toe over the far more common wedge.
There are 3 leather options: Thursday’s classic Brown Chrome leather, plus Tobacco Rugged & Resilient, and a Cinnamon Oil Snuff Suede.
The Oil Snuff Suede looks like an upgrade from Thursday’s usual WeatherSafe Suede. And I noticed that neither the Brown nor the Cinnamon leathers have speedhooks, so these are definitely “dressier” style moc toes.
I haven’t seen these in person yet, but it’s a cool looking style—I think cooler than the original Diplomat. And at $199, it’s still a great price.
Oak Street Bootmakers
Oak Street Bootmakers released a really interesting new leather: Natural Iron Overdye.
Basically, they’ve taken to using natural iron oxide pigments and overdye on Horween Chromexcel roughout.
Like with natural indigo, or any other natural pigment, you don’t get absolute uniformity, and that means the aging process is really unique.
I’m really stoked on where Oak Street has been going the past several months. New ideas like this are really exciting. Now, I’m not sure exactly how this natural iron oxide overdye is going to age—not boots have been out for 6 months.
But all signs point to this being a really special leather.
Truman Boot Co.
That Truman Boot Co. Wooly Bully version of Truman’s 79 last on a Christy Wedge sole comes out November 7th.
If you’re a wide-footed fellow, the EE widths should be out later in the week as well.
This is an S.B. Foot Tanning Company light sand-colored roughout. I’m not 100% sure on this, but I believe it’s the same Hawthorne Abilene leather Red Wing launched on their Classic Moc for this past spring and summer.
In any case, S.B. Foot roughout is some of the best in the biz, and I think this is another boot that’s going to look really special given just a few months of wear.
Red Wing Heritage
Also coming out November 7th is a Red Wing Heritage collab with the artist Gary Stranger.
Gary Stranger is a famous graffiti artist that does some pretty extraordinary typographic style murals.
This collab is basically the Red Wing Classic Moc with Oro Legacy leather, with a Gary Stranger brand on the ankle. Plus, you get a signed print of the same “Scenic Routes” design with the boots.
This is an extremely limited edition, with only 25 pairs available.
I think this is a super cool idea. Given Red Wing’s manufacturing capabilities, I think they could’ve gone a little more unique with the boot beyond just putting a brand on one of their most common boots.
But regardless, it’s awesome to see artists come into the boot world for special limited edition boots like this. It’s something the watch world has been doing for a long time, and I love to see it with boots.
Viberg
Viberg has a new Goodyear welted three-eyed chukka called the Uplands boot, out in three rich C.F. Stead Waxy Commander leathers.
Three-eyed chukka sounds like a card you’d play in Magic the Gathering.
The Uplands boot is built on the same 2030 last as Viberg’s most popular service boot. True to Viberg style, the finishing on this boot is superb, with French Binding and a beautiful kip liner.
This is a solid all-weather chukka, though I still wouldn’t trust a chukka in bad weather.
Unmarked
Unmarked released their flashy Torino boot in Black Bison leather.
This Chelsea boot is definitely more of a western style, and it’s a bit flashy for my tastes.
However, one of the most popular Chelsea boots is the YSL (or Yves St. Laurent boot), which is way overpriced.
But if you’ve got hair like Russel Brand, then you can pull off this look at this Unmarked boot is an exceptional value.
Still, the look ain’t for me. But it’s a good boot none-the-less.
Huckberry
Huckberry has dropped a few boots this past week. First is more of a utilitarian boot: they collaborated with rubber-boot-maker XTRATUF to update and overbuild XTRATUF’s old-school commercial fishing boots.
I actually had a chance to try XTRATUF boots and they’re legit quite comfortable. And since they’re rubber, they’re totally waterproof.
This is a cool collaboration for the rainy season.
Huckberry also teamed up with White’s for a wedge-sole engineer boot.
Based on some comments I read, the Huckberry crowd wasn’t ready for that White’s price tag.
From what I can see, it looks like this is built with what’s called a lineman’s shank, which is basically like a skived half leather midsole.
That gives you the added arch support—White’s also uses a leather shank—and that durability in the heel.
It’s got a nice roughout heel counter cover, and you know with White’s, you’re getting exceptional build quality.
Personally, I don’t like the look of a wedge sole on an engineer at all. But I bet it’s comfortable and supportive.
Taylor Stitch
It’s overshirt time. Taylor Stitch dropped their Connor shirt, which is a thick corduroy fabric in camel and burgundy.
It’s a good looking shirt, and an awesome way to add some texture to your outfit. But the real exciting stuff is from the re-release of Taylor Stitch’s Moto Jacket.
Just look at this thing.
This is made by Golden Bear in San Francisco with nice 3.5oz steerhide leather. A lot of leather jackets are lambskin, which has a tighter grain and is more supple, but to me, this is the way to go.
It’ll probably look a bit stiffer straight away, but it’s all about how it’s going to look a few months down the road.
Division Road
Division Road still has their White’s collab going on strong, with their Semi-Dress boot in Brown Waxed Flesh leather and their lace to toe Cutter in Cinnamon Waxed Flesh.
Beyond those, Division Road is wooling out with new Motiv Manufacturing coats, trousers and vests.
If you wear a vest, can you let me know why down in the comments below. Genuinely curious.
See You Next Week
If you missed my recent poll here on YouTube asking if people had to choose between Truman Boots, Grant Stone, Parkhurst, and Oak Street Bootmakers, here are the results.
With over 900 responses, Grant Stone came out on top with 55% of respondents choosing them. Truman followed up with 30%, and then Parkhurst and Oak Street were both at 7%.
If you’d like to see my full video breakdown of my experiences with those boots, you can watch it right here.