Oak Street Bootmakers’ Field Boots and Trench Boots—part of what they call their Everyday Boots collection—have typically been machine-lasted without much in the way of additional work being done by hand. The exception has been their benchmade limited-edition offerings, which are hand-lasted—which offers greater control and upper manipulation in that stage—and hand-finished, often featuring thoughtful details in their components and construction.

Now, the exception is becoming the rule.

oak street bootmakers cap toe trench boot brown chromexcel

This past week, Oak Street re-introduced their standard Field Boots and Trench Boots with an improved level of build quality. It’s not the first time Oak Street has beefed up part of their regular lineup—the Lakeshore Boot actually became hand-lasted across the board back in 2020. Nonetheless, it’s great to see Oak Street continuing to up their game. (And, from what they tell us, there will be more products in their catalog getting the same kinds of upgrades in the future, too.)

oak street bootmakers cap toe trench boot black chromexcel

The new Cap-Toe Trench Boot ($498) is offered in brown, black, and natural Chromexcel leather from Horween. Aside from being hand-lasted on the Elston last, the toe cap also features freehand brogueing—no machine dies or stamps involved here—and the edge dressing is hand-brushed as well. These Trench Boots also feature a 360 flat welt paired with Dainite studded soles.

oak street bootmakers field boot natural chromexcel roughout

While the Cap-Toe Trench Boot isn’t exactly a faithful adaptation of the World War I-era M1918 boot it’s inspired by, the new hand-lasted Field Boot ($518) hews pretty closely to the N-1 boondocker of World War II. Also crafted on the Elston last, these Field Boots are available in natural and black CXL, as well as natural CXL roughout (à la the original “Marine Field Shoe” leather from Horween).

Each pair features a period-correct 270 flat welt, nitrile rubber soles (with the Vibram 700 nitrile cork variant acting as the modern stand-in), plus hand-tapped brass tacks applied to give extra reinforcement to the soles.

oak street bootmakers field boot natural chromexcel

Understandably, better build quality comes with a higher price. But, lucky you—Oak Street is offering the new Field Boot and Cap-Toe Trench Boot with an introductory discount, 25% off. This promotion is ending tonight at around midnight Central time, though, so don’t wait around if you wanna cash in on the deal.
No more articles