It’s time once again for the world’s premiere boot-wearing/-aging/-loving competition: the Stitchdown Patina Thunderdome! (Yes you can wear shoes too).
Once again, noble contestants from around the world will devote themselves to wearing a pair of boots (or shoes! Shoes are fine!) for up to six months, wearing and caring and tracking the aging process as they go in our partner Patina Project app. Endless reports confirm that the journey is far more enjoyable and dare we say meaningful than one might possibly expect. And just a helluva fun time.
OH RIGHT THE PRIZES. In addition to some wonderful memories and glorious leather patina, contestants are also gunning for a shot at fifty total prizes totaling $35k+ in value, including a trip to Tokyo + a pair of Clinch Boots (ok!), $5k straight hard cash (thanks Nicks Boots!), and lots and lots of other boots and leathergoods and more.
Here’s where you can see all the prizes in both the Open and Work Dome categories, plus rules, Stitchdown Premium community membership requirements, photo submission dates, and everything else.
Yes this lovably insane contest starts Oct 1—but there is still time! Initial registration doesn’t close until October 15th—and it reopens from November 1st-5th for late entries.
Last year’s Thunderdome drew over 1,000 participants, and featured over 400 different models in almost five hundred leathers, all of which are now documented on the Patina Project app in perpetuity. If you want to step into patina arena to the thunderous applause of thousands of adoring boot-nerds, well, you’re going to need some boots.
Allegedly there are people out there that can buy a pair of boots and then keep them totally unworn for days, weeks, or even months. But if you don’t have a pair on ice, you’re not out of time just yet.
Looking for a Dome-run? Aka something way better than that terrible pun? Read on to see our suggestions…
Division Road x White’s 350 Cruiser in Natural CXL: $800
Natural Chromexcel is arguably “the safe option” as far as Dome leathers are concerned, and for good reason. It’s a light colored leather with plenty of oils and waxes to speed the whole process along. It’s widely available. First place in the first ever Thunderdome went to a natural CXL boot—you get the idea. These 350 Cruisers make for a pretty ideal canvas. The structured toes won’t collapse, but they will serve as a focal point for patina, ensuring the uppers get maximum contact with the environment.
Division Road x White’s 375 Semi-Dress in Brown Waxed Flesh: $800
It’s hard to find a Division Road x White’s makeup that isn’t great Dome material. Case in point, this Semi-Dress makeup. Taller shaft = more leather = more patina? That’s the running theory, but what we know for sure is that Horween waxed flesh is also just a classic let’s-watch-this-stuff-age leather choice, especially if you’re leaning towards a darker leather where you wouldn’t get the dramatic darkening you see on natural or crust leathers…
Division Road x White’s 375 LTT Logger in Cinnamon Waxed Flesh: $825
…of course, if waxed flesh is great, and natural Chromexcel is great, why pick just one? We can imagine a scenario where the shafts and the vamps actually end up converging in color as these wear in, leaving the visual focus on a texture contrast between the exposed nap of the worn-in waxed flesh and the dark shine of the patina-ed CXL. Only one way to find out!
Division Road x Tricker’s Stow Boot in Elbamatt Liscio: $765
Perhaps the biggest part of Thunderdome optimization is picking a boot that you can wear day in and day out, regardless of what you’re doing. The Tricker’s Stow is the kind of boot you can live in if you want. This version uses a crust veg-tan leather from Tempesti—a really promising option—but if you’re not ready to spend the winter on leather soles…
Tricker’s Stow Country Boot in 1001 Burnished: $800
…then you’ll want something with a rubber outsole. One Stow leather option comes burnished from the factory, which is not technically cheating. Call it… anticipatory illumination. Seriously though, it shows you what this leather can do.
Division Road x Trickers Churchill Boot in Natural Dublin: $695
If you don’t want tromping boots to become your whole identity there are also plenty of “stealth country boot” options that lose the brogueing. It goes without saying that Dublin is also an excellent choice, we’re talking about a hot-stuffed natural veg-tan with pull-up here.
Grant Stone Brass Boot in Tan Essex: $395
Horween’s Essex shares the same base tannage as Dublin without all of the extra oils and waxes that give Dublin its pull up and darker color. These will take a bit more proactive maintenance than a Dublin boot might, but they also start out lighter in color, giving you more room for transformation.
Grant Stone Ottawa Boot in Natural Minerva: $296
The natural Badalassi Minerva version of Grant Stone’s Ottawa Boots is currently on sale, and it’s still available in a mess of sizes, including a number of E widths.
Grant Stone Edward Boot in Cognac Ecbatana: $395
These are a recent limited run drop, but we think Cognac Ecbatana would be an interesting Thunderdome leather for a few reasons. First, those markings on the leather are embossed, and because of that, it’s possible that they would be intensified by wear, especially the larger ones. On the other hand, this is still a veg-tan with a relatively light dye coat that has the capacity for large transformations.
Y’2 Leather Work Boot in Kakishibu Horse: $900
Y’2 Leather’s Kakishibu Horse is another leather with a trick up its sleeve, and it’s one you won’t see in the product photos. The leather is drum dyed using persimmon tannins, imparting a pigment that darkens as it’s exposed to sunlight. That’s full blown patina accelerationsim. Suffice it to say Y’2 is underrated. In stock at Standard & Strange…
Y’2 Leather Engineer Boot in Sumi Dyed Horse: $930
…as are Y’2 Engineers in teacore horse dyed with traditional sumi ink. We get the impression that you’re going to have to put in some work to break through the dye on these, but it could be well worth the trouble. That’s the point of this whole thing anyways.
Attractions Engineer Boot in Black Suede: $900
“Attractions” pretty much sums up our feeling about these boots. From the patina perspective, think of these as the opposite of waxed flesh—the goal is to wear them hard enough to lay down the nap and let it start to burnish.
Rolling Dub Trio Griffin Plain Toe Boots in Beige Suede: $850
Light colored suedes or roughouts play a different game: picking up traces of the things they encounter. That can make them a very strong choice if you’re into denim and can leverage that combo into some heavy crocking. Something about the Rolling Dub Trio lasts makes their boots age very gracefully.
John Lofgren Duke Roper in Natural CXL Roughout: $1,100
A roper takes the color-absorption potential to the next level, and these are an especially good pattern, with a slightly sprung toe on a boot that’s fairly minimalist but still distinctly western.
Brogue x Alden Boondocker Boot in Tan Suede: $708
There aren’t too many sizes left at this point, but if someone enters these and wears them really, really hard then 2024-2025 might just be the year that Alden wins big.
Brooklyn Clothing x Viberg 2040 Service Boot in Marine Field Roughout: $880
Viberg has historically done very well in the dome, though that may be a product of the sheer number of Service Boots which are entered every year. The 2040 last is interesting because the combination of a leather toe puff, a bump toe, and stitchdown construction (which produces more structured uppers) results in a wide range of different kinds and degrees of toe collapse. Marine Field is like supercharged CXL roughout (aka: good at this).
Brooklyn Clothing x Viberg 2040 Service Boot in Horween Golden Brown Roughout: $880
Horween’s Predator makes for a very impressive roughout, in part because the fats and tanning compounds that lead it to burnish quickly continue to work their magic when you flip the leather over. The leather is so saturated that the flesh side could almost pass for a waxed suede.
Viberg 2040 Service Boot in Raw Natural Wooly Chromexcel: $800
Speaking of saturation, everything we’ve read about Wooly Chromexcel (and the life-improving effects of lanolin wool grease), lead us to think that it’ll develop patina like a juiced version of regular Chromexcel. Your mileage may vary, but the Dainite half soles work their own magic.
Parkhurst Allen Stitchdown in Cognac Veg Tan: $438
It just so happens that most of Parkhurst’s in-stock stitchdown models come in very patina-friendly configurations, like this Cognac Veg Tan version…
Parkhurst Allen Stitchdown in Brown Waxed Flesh: $438
…Brown Waxed Flesh…
Parkhurst Allen Stitchdown in Waxed Mohawk: $398
…or even this heavily scarred Waxed Mohawk.
Caswell Boot Co. Shaw in Whiskey Predator: $360
Caswell Boot Co. Shaw in Whiskey Predator: $360Caswell’s Shaw is available in-stock in high-risk, high-reward Horween Predator. Despite the model’s clean look, these are boots that need to be thrashed—lovingly, of course.
Nicks 365 Stitchdown Boot in 1964 Tan: $530
Finally, we’d be remiss not to mention Nicks in-stock boots. It’s too late to order MTO boots for this year’s Thunderdome, but you can still swoop in on someone else’s MTO that fell through, and get a brand new boot shipped to your door in a couple of days, often at a discount. There are a handful models posted that look perfect for the Dome. If you have small feet, check out these 365˚ stitchdown boots in Tan 1964, complete with padded collars and Sierra soles. This is what Timberlands want to be when they grow up.
Nicks In-Stock Boots
The rest of the page is definitely worth a trawl! Just make sure you’re properly checking out the widths!