WESCO-MRLOU-NATH - Wesco® - 10" Horsehide Engineer Boot - Natural. The "Mister Lou"
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Fit question for the forum. Received my pair on Thursday and got to try on yesterday. For context I’m in between a 10 and a 10.5 redwing and a 10.5 in converse chuck 70s, I have a pair of the jobmaster all black suede flat soles from The Shop (10D) and my brannock is a 10.5B. I purchased a 10D in these Mr. Lous. Currently I can get the boot on, some heel slip (minimal / acceptable) and I can wiggle my toes they are about 1/8 to a 1/4 inch from the front of the boot. My big toe does feel like it’s pushing on the top of the boot due likely to the lower volume in the front. If I remove the insoles they fit better but obv more comfortable with them in from a cushion perspective. Recommendation from the group if this sounds like a good engineer boot fit? I should have purchased both the 10D and 10.5D for comparison but that wasn’t an option. Curious how these break in (ie fit when brand new vs after a bit of wear). New territory for me here in the engineering boot category hence the call for help. Much thanks !
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@Kjunx horsehide doesn’t really give… you could try 3/4 insoles
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@Kjunx I believe recommendation is go 1/2 size up in tall heel wesco boots and down a 1/2 size in the flat sole last. That seems to work well for me. I’m an 8.5D in mister Lou and 8D in the short stack boss from the shop. How do you like the rough out job masters from the shop?
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@Kjunx This sounds like a pretty standard MrLou fit to me, a little bit of heel slip is pretty normal in engineers so long as it's not egregious and a certain level of toe squish is to be expected given how slim/flat the MP toe box is.
However if the toe squish is uncomfortable, then it's uncomfortable and that's unlikely to change as they break in. Even going up half a size may not remedy it greatly enough to offset a worse fit elsewhere in the boot eg. Increased heel slip.
That low profile toe is one of features that makes a MrLou a MrLou but it isn't going to work for everyone. Feet are odd, you could get 5 people all with the same size foot on a brannock device but all have feet completely different in terms of shape and fit tolerance. All we can do is take what we know about your sizing and apply some logic and educated guesswork to it.
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Second time wearing them today. They were a lot easier to get on. They’ve already loosened up. Really liking these. Wearing them with my 888-19 oz lht…
I also spilled some water on the right boot which caused some of the dots you see.
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@Ross much appreciated detailed response.
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@bluemantra the rough out jobmasters are amazingly comfortable. The leather is thick but really pliable and the lace to toe allows me to dial in the fit just right. They are really heavy though.
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@blackbolt look great
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Haven’t worn these in a bit, been way too hot in New York. Weather is perfect today so I busted these guys out for a trip to the brewery. Wearing the 888 SBG.
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@jcurry23 I don't have these but I do have the sample of the these in the same hide and been giving them some serious abuse - I've just used the Obernauf's followed by a go over with some plain boot polish to keep the British weather out. Only needed doing about twice in a years wear, once just before the winter started in earnest then a top up in the new year, not touched them since.
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@Ross thanks a bunch for that info.
Any chance you can through some photos up of how they are aging for you?
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@jcurry23 This is the most recent pics I've got at 6 months in, honestly they're not that much darker/different now, although they have picked up a bit more indigo transfer from my jeans and a spot of paint from propping a door open with my foot without knowing it had recently been painted
I'll get some more pics up when I can
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@Ross Understood. I'll look out for some updates in the future.
Sorry to hear about the paint situation.
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Just got my pair in yesterday and again thank you to Graham, James, and Ross for the assistance. Doesn’t get any better with this whole team.
Initial impressions:
Color. Peachy! These arrived exactly the color shown in pictures on Iron Heart’s website. I have no doubt that they will take on a solid tan in the next couple of months and maybe weeks.
Fit. I got these in 9d just like my black horsehide mister Lou’s. I don’t have a narrow foot but it’s sure not wide and they feel great. It seems that the heel cup has been updated since my last pair, because there was much more of a pop when putting these on and significantly less heel slip compared to my others.
Leather. Ok so I am a bit confused and maybe someone can chime in for me. These are much more supple and soft than my black pair. I have always believed that my black pair were Maryam as well. There is no Horween stamp and they had more of a sheen when I first got them and they are very noticeably more stiff. So much in fact that these naturals are softer on the 2nd day than a year of wearing my black ones. I don’t know if that’s a characteristic of Horween or if it’s a result of being undyed?
I’m really excited for these especially since the grain is so tight and they seem that they are gonna roll more than crease. They don’t have extreme stations like my black pair but that’s a trade off with this specific pair.
All in all, I am pumped to see what these do over the next few months of wear.
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@jabodunn The extra softness compared with the black is a result of this being the Natural leather rather than the black, with the brown (and the purple) Maryam falling somewhere in-between in terms of pliability.
If my natural Maryam boots are anything to go by you can absolutely expect some great patina and some beautiful, almost caramel, brown tanning as they soak up the sun and age.
