Role Club By Brian the Bootmaker
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yeah curious how long this 1 man thing can go on.
also curious if this artisanal/quality bubble is going to be to support what he does
My worry as well. I would love to support him, and asked him about making me a pair of custom Boondockers, but he was unable to build what I asked (which I didn’t think was too crazy) and was priced almost double what a similar pair of Vibergs cost.
I get it, you pay for quality, but in the end, my
$1,000 road champs did not treat my feet much better than my $350 red wings do, so I would never be able to justify it, although I respect his work and would love to be able to give him my business.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Just made the correlation from where/what other forum i know you from ravination.
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dope boots, thanks for the image @UnTucked
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dope boots, thanks for the image @UnTucked
I'm just snagging them from his FB page, lol!
He started the thread but doesn't seem to be keeping up with it, so I'll just keep the pics flowing
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hey everyone doesn't follow social media so having it all here on the forum is appreciated, by me at least.
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Oops. No.
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Ready for pickup - will swing by the shop on Wednesday.
Impressive!!!!!, excellent boot, you must be very happy and I'm very jelous
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Thanks @rio ! I do love them but haven’t worn them much lately with all the work travel. Mostly a weekend or date night pair right now.
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@Manticore what size are you??? I could break them in a little for you ??? ???
they are a beauty -
It IS green shell. It's an interesting look, that I wouldn't choose to buy with my own money… But, I'd wear them if they were free, lol
Nerd fact: The green/red colorway is a nod to the very first pair of boots he made in olive leather with red stitching. Here's an example of the engineers in olive horsehide with red stitching (which looks far better than the green shell with red stitching combo).
That quadruple stitching is amazing!!!, I would not mind wearing those, they look like they will get darker after a while, this guy talent is well represented on his work, I love his resole videos, I hope to score a pair of those boots.
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Re: earlier discussion about growing his business, I'd love it if he could find a willing apprentice so that he could pass along what he learned from his mentor and have the tradition carry through. Luthiers and custom knife makers have this ancient mentor/apprentice thing still in place and it's a shame that automation has largely killed it in cobblering bespoke footwear from scratch.
I have these custom RC oxfords coming my way soon and, as a longtime admirer of Truong's work, am very excited.
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He told me last year that most of the people who show initial interest either don't want to put in the time and effort to go through an apprenticeship-type education or come to him with prior experience and feel like they have nothing new to learn.
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Thanks UnTucked! They will have a Christy-style outsole, which I normally hate, but it looks good in this build with the dark color and will be very comfortable.
Yeah Manticore, that's what I was reacting to. It's a shame. But I get it, we live in an expensive, fast-paced world. It's probably harder to make a lengthy apprenticeship work, beyond whatever cultural or generational problems there may be with patience, humility, etc.
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Boot making is hard damn work, and it doesn't really pay that well. And that's if you can maintain a customer base of people willing to pay what custom boots cost, which is getting hard to find, too.
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It seems like a lot of places in your home state have managed to pull it off for many decades, but I suppose the cultural appeal of cowboy boots in the region is a horse of another color versus bespoke work wear boots.
