We’ve got a Dr. Sole exclusive for Withered Fig, Gallun Teton Stag at Grant Stone, Kudu at Parkhurst, a Rose Anvil Barefoot boot, and more, in the latest: Shoes ‘n’ Boots of the Week!
Delve deeper into this, and other boot-mysteries by checking out all of our previous roundups here.
[Ed Note: while we never choose anything specifically because of them, some of these recommendations contain affiliate links—the price is the same for you, but Stitchdown gets a small commission if you make a purchase. It’s essential to keeping the site alive, so we really, really appreciate it.]
Withered Fig x Dr. Sole OZ Trooper in Black Roughout: $585
Dr. Sole, fittingly, does most of their traffic in outsoles—but their in-house boot brand Pioneer is definitely one to pay attention to. Their new OZ Trooper makeup (read all about the model here) for Withered Fig takes inspiration from a vintage Aussie service boot, absent the get-them-to-the-front-already finish quality you find on some originals. The uppers are 6-7 oz. oil tan roughout, with white contrast stitching on the quarters, heel, and faux cap toe. Beneath the 270˚ flat welt, they’ve gone with #1225xx (xxtra heavy) Coir Full Soles, which we’re told are slightly lighter and more flexible than the equivalent model in Raw Cord, and use coconut fibre fill.
Grant Stone Brass Boot in Black Waxed Deer: $395
Excluding a super sweet sample sale pair, this week’s second (!) Grant Stone release marks their first ever makeup using leather from Gallun. The two models use the veg-retaned (the base tannage is alum) Teton Waxy Stag, which has tons of texture and in incredibly strong pull up effect. It looks particularly good good with the black edge dye on the 360˚ split welt and commando sole. They’re built on the Floyd last.
Grant Stone Garrison Boot in Black Waxed Deer: $395
You’ll find the same Black Waxed Deer on a wedge-soled Garrison boot with a perforated cap toe and 270˚ flat welt, this time on the Leo last.
Grant Stone Edward Boot in Black Suede: $360
The first of Grant Stone’s two releases was a pair of Black suede models, including this one, which combines a black suede upper and black Vibram cavity wedge with a stark stripe of natural veg tan at the 360˚ flat welt and bright nickel eyelets on Grant Stone’s dressier service boot pattern.
Grant Stone Traveler Penny Loafer in Black Suede: $348
The Traveler Penny also gets the black suede treatment, with the same C.F. Stead Repello calf on a 360˚ flat welt and Butyl leather sole.
Viberg N1 Feild Boot in Marine Field Shoe: $860
Suffice to say there are a lot of boondocker patterns out there, but Viberg’s take has seen a lot of refinements over the years. The latest version uses the specially designed N1 pattern and the relatively new 1940 last. In place of the more typical stitchdown is a faithful 270˚ flat welt using Viberg’s channeled insole construction. Horween Marine Field Shoe uppers are matched with grain-out natural Chromexcel tongues, and Raw Cord outsoles from Dr. Sole. The toes are unstructured.
Viberg 145 Oxford in Marine Field Shoe: $790
If your inclination leans a little more towards “screw history, give me chonk”, then it’s never a bad day for a 145 oxford release, and one of those never-bad days happened to be Wednesday, so here I am writing about a 145. Also in Marine Field Shoe with a grain-out tongue, this version has a double row stitchdown construction on a thick Vibram 2021 wedge. Interestingly enough these also feature an unstructured toe. Does this mark the end of leather toe-puff hegemony at Viberg? I suppose we’ll have to wait and see…
Parkhurst Allen Stitchdown in Gigembre Kudu: $428
Lately it’s seemed almost more efficient to tell you what Parkhurst hasn’t been up to, but instead, we’ll tell you what they have: in short, kudu. The Allen Stitchdown, which debuted just two weeks ago, just gained four new models in a variety of colorways. In addition to the double row stitchdown construction, the models feature a five eyelet, three speedhook hardware combo, a double leather midsole, and a commando outsole. We especially like the Gigembre version (though we can’t for the life of us figure out what that means)…
Parkhurst Allen Stitchdown in Inferno Rambler: $398
…and the Inferno Rambler, which appear to have just arrived from Parkhurst’s factory in Mordor.
Rose Anvil x Jim Green Barefoot African Trooper Boot in Fudge: $230 (Pre-order)
The “barefoot” footwear world and the heritage boot world rarely come close enough to catch a glimpse of each-other, let alone collide. This is the second time Rose Anvil and Jim Green have brought a full blown combo of the two into the world, and to their credit they’ve done so very thoughtfully, with a whole slew of modifications to the hardware configuration and spacing, and the shape of the quarters, heel counter, and toe. The construction is simple, with the uppers, a leather midsole, and a thin leather outsole combined with 360˚ stitchdown on the wide-toe Zero Drop last. Available in Fudge Nubuck…
Rose Anvil x Jim Green Barefoot African Trooper Boot in Huston Black: $230
…Huston Black Nubuck…
Rose Anvil x Jim Green Barefoot African Trooper Boot in Huston Brown:$230
…and Huston Brown Nubuck.
Bright Shoemakers Roper Boot in Sand Roughout: $539
Perhaps more than almost any other shoemaker, Bright has a number of models that leave me pleasantly conflicted between the adjectives “space,” “pirate,” and “cowboy” (please ignore that these are nouns). They’ve recently partnered with a small factory in Spain to produce a line of premium quality boots using Horween leathers and Dr. Sole outsoles. So far there are two engineers and these Ropers, with sand roughout vamps, grain-out shafts, a 270˚ flat welt, and supergrip outsoles. A logger heel and crown pattern on the counter cover add some extra detail to a simple but well balanced pattern.
Bordon Handmade Boots Tukano in Cinnamon: $429 (Made to Order)
Bordon is a Colombian bootmaker that’s working to continuously to bring more and more of its production process in house since its creation four years ago. Their made to order boots probably sit in the neighborhood of the PNW stylistic universe, but clearly have their own thing going on. The Tukano is a cap-toe service boot with a pull loop, built with double row stitchdown construction and available on commando or studded soles from Itshide, full or half sole versions of the Vibram V-Bar and mini lug, single leather soles, or a Christy wedge. Heel style, hardware combination, toe structure, and edge dye color are also customizable, and the uppers come in Cinnamon waxed flesh.
Truman Boot Co.20 Last Boot in Coach Rambler: $480
Truman mostly runs their service boot pattern on the 79 last, but every once and a while they’ll sneak one out on the bump toed 20 last (more often seen on moc toes). This time, it’s in Coach Rambler, with a 270˚ flat welt and commando outsole.