The third White’s Boots x Stitchdown collaborative boot is one we thought about endlessly. The challenge to ourselves: rethinking a White’s classic—without going overboard.
The foundation was taking our personal favorite White’s pattern (their lace-to-toe “Cutter” lineman) and their Brown Dress leather, which is somehow perhaps White’s most iconic and most under-appreciated article. Baffling! Then we started playing around a bit, raising the overall height to 7 inches, opting for an unstructured toe box to allow the naturally robust silhouette to become pleasingly sleeker over time, and going with a half-sole instead of a full sole to offer a bit more balance to the boot.
Seidel Brown Dress Leather: a Somehow Overlooked Icon
Let’s talk about that Brown Dress leather upper. Tanned by Milwaukee titan Seidel, it’s at once a White’s staple and somehow drastically overlooked. It simultaneously lives up to its “dress” name—it has a wonderfully soft hand, an impressively tight grain break, and will even take a shine especially once worn in—and defies it, by dint of being a hugely hardy work leather underneath it all. As a teacore leather with a light brown shade lurking underneath the approach-black dark brown exterior, the patina potential is out of control. The harder you push this leather, the more you are rewarded.
White’s Handsewn Stitchdown Construction
One aspect we did not need to re-think was these Wallace boots being made with White’s rightly iconic double-row handsewn stitchdown construction. White’s now offers very good boots made with Goodyear welt and machine-stitched stitchdown construction, something we’ve been quite excited about. But the handsewn stitchdown—rolled welt and all—has been the hallmark of White’s for decades. And given that it will be less present in the brand’s overall lineup going forward, we needed to ensure this boot got the full classic White’s treatment.
7-inch Boot Here
We find White’s Boots to fit, feel, and look remarkable at a 7-inch height. Especially when combined with the visual aggression of the half-sole + LTT pattern + logger heel, the proportions just sing at 7 inches, the extra support support is noticeable, and man does it feel like you’re wearing a boot when you’ve got a new 7-inch White’s on.
Unstructured Toe Box
The unstructured toe, not seen all that often in White’s lace-to-toe models, is a design consideration that ends up altering the overall look of the boot significantly over time. The Brown Dress leather, while soft to the touch, is quite thick and firm, which sets it up perfectly to descend gracefully and uniquely over time while maintaining its overall posture (aka it’s not gonna get all weird and floppy). The combination of 1) an undoubtedly chonky, rugged boot and 2) a toe profile that will gradually become more and more sleek with wear just hits a wonderful sweet spot we can’t get enough of.
Lineman’s Patch!
And then there’s that lineman’s patch on the medial side of the vamp/lacing—a personal obsession of ours. When used to, you know, climb telephone poles, the patch offers extra resistance and longevity. When not…they just look so damn cool, and don’t detract from comfort a bit. This may sound bizarre but that doesn’t make it untrue: crossing one boot over your knee and staring endlessly at a lineman’s patch on an LTT White’s is one of the more transfixing joys in rugged boots. Just gonna have to trust us here.
Sizing Recommendations
White’s 55 last is a highly accommodating last that fits a very wide range of feet, with different combinations of length and width capable of fitting just about any foot.
Our standard recommendations for White’s 55 last in a lace-to-toe boot with no toebox like this one is:
–.5 down from your Brannock size/width for a snugger fit (I’m 11D Brannock and wear essentially dress socks in my 10.5D quite comfortably)
OR
–.5 down from your Brannock size + up one width (again, at 11D Brannock I have found that 10.5E with thick socks to be a slightly more generous and comfortable fit that I prefer, with a just bit of acceptable sacrifice made in terms of heel tightness)
Given that this is a custom pre-order, you can order any size in the White’s 55 last arsenal, which ranges from 5A to 14FF. We only have C through EE sizes listed on this product page, but if you’re interested in anything else from 5A to 14FF, please contact ben@stitchdown.com and we’ll get you all set up.
Unless you already know it works well for you, due to its aggressive arch support—which is absolutely wonderful if it works for your feet—we would recommend that people with extremely flat feet steer clear of White’s 55 last.
THIS IS A PRE-ORDER. $350 deposit required to reserve your size; you will be invoiced an additional $350 upon your pair’s completion for a total cost of $700 + tax and shipping. NOTE: unworn custom pre-order pairs are eligible for Stitchdown Shop credit only.
ESTIMATED DELIVERY: MAY ’22. Lead times for most US-made boots have skyrocketed in the past year due to supply chain issues. Meaning this timeline is pretty much just how things are for the moment, and we absolutely appreciate your patience.
WHITE’S HANDSEWN STITCHDOWN is a uniquely intensive hand-making process that requires exceptional skill and a remarkable amount of time. Due to the nature of the process, and the hand-sewn rolled welt that sits atop the midsole, some variation in stitching spacing and visibility is to be expected simply as part of the nature of this product.