Shoes ‘n’ Boots of the Week: New Nicks Cypress, Lots o’ Loafers, Some Top-Notch Sales, and More

As Ben recovers from galavanting through a best-hits-list of Japanese bootmakers in Tokyo (lots and lots of video coming!!), I’m here to reiterate that the pre-order deadline for our Russell Fishing Oxford makeups have been extended through Friday May 24th. Because it’s only fitting, we’ve also got twenty four new shoes and boots for you this week, plus some sales. Woo.

You’ll find those Fishing Oxfords, a new collaboration between Rose Anvil and JK, some aggressively well sculpted Zerrows boots, Nicks’ excellent new Color 8 Cypress leather, and more, in the latest: Shoes ‘n’ Boots of the Week.

Yes we’ve got more right 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.]

Nicks Custom Configuration Boot in Color No. 8 Cypress: $609

One of the upsides of the made to order model is that a new limited run leather isn’t restricted to just one—you can have it on whatever you want. That holds for the supply of Color No. Horween Cypress currently available at Nicks right now, either through its own custom configuration page or as a leather option on other models. Like Chromexcel, Cypress is a vegetable-retanned leather from Horween, but hot-stuffed with a wax blend that’s closer to the Predator or Dublin tannages—ready for rough use and patina. Short story: it’s really good stuff.

Brogue x Alden Boondocker in Tan Suede: $708

Brogue just restocked their Alden-special-makeup take on the boondocker, which hews closer to the “homage” than “repro” side of the spectrum. Lasted on Alden’s chonky, accomodating 379x (which Brogue runs frequently), it has a relatively sleek and precise silhouette, executed in tan suede with matching tan eyelets. The construction of choice is 270˚ flat welt, on a black nitrile cork sole.

Stitchdown x Russell Moccasin Fishing Oxford in Walnut Timberjack: $650 (Pre-Order)

We are back (!) with an extended pre-order, now set to run through the week and end today, Friday May 24th. If you don’t know the blurb by now, you will by the time this is through, and they’re a damn good makeup so we aren’t even sorry:

The first model is in S.B. Foot’s Walnut Timberjack, a wonderful pull-up leather that wants to be worn hard (and wants to reward you for it), but with a single vamp + molded sole construction on Russell’s Munson (or “30”) last for little extra room. Really fun casual shoes you can wear with pretty much anything.

Stitchdown x Russell Moccasin Fishing Oxford in Tan Laramie Suede: $650 (Pre-Order)

And then there’s there, a loving reimagining of our first Fishing Oxford collab, although this time on a light and cushy Vibram 2060 cavity wedge (you have to mix things up a little). By and large, this is the same model we’ve worn to death and love even more on the other side of it. The Laramie suede is coarser than some, while still durable, soft, and ready for some slow burn patina. The single vamp and molded sole combo is identical to the Timberjack above. We’d never rank our personal boots (it would hurt their feelings), but, as said previously, these would be quite high up on the list if we did so. Hypothetically.

Rose Anvil x JK Boots Bear Slayer in Bison Roughout: $650 (Made to Order)

As part of an ongoing battle to win the Washington state title for most boot collaborations, Weston Kay of Rose Anvil just launched a new one with JK Boots. The “Bear Slayer” is essentially a heavily modified O.T., a JK model that’s designed to be more flexible than standard PNW boots. The model has been modified by extending the quarter panel underneath the “medial quarter” for addition arch support, adding relief cuts at the instep to reduce break in, and placing a pair of speed hooks between the eyelets on the instep that allow the boots to be quickly transitioned to box lacing. The 7″ boot is built from 8-9 oz shrunken Bison roughout on a v100 honey lug outsole using single row, 360˚ stitchdown construction.

Division Road x EasyMoc Rambler 3-Eye Moc in Toffee Crazy Horse: $385

Division Road has run a series of larger than life, wedge-sole-equipped EasyMoc collaborations, and the latest pair of entries to that lineage are the 3-Eye Rambler mocs that released this morning. The uppers are handsewn and then stitched to the midsole, which is cemented to a Vibram 2060 outsole. The uppers are available in Toffee Crazy Horse from Seidel…

Division Road x Easymoc Rambler 3-Eye Moc in Black Chromexcel: $385

…and black Chromexcel, on a recycled Ortholite wedge sole.

Standard & Strange x Unsung House Slog Boot in Walnut Overdye Olive Latigo: $1,475

Unsung House is a Nashville-based repair outfit with some serious chops (check out this relast they did for Josh). They’ve moved into the bootmaking space in a major way in the last few years (see this Shoecast episode for the first leg of that journey), and now you can get two of their models in stock at Standard & Strange.

The U22-1 Slog Boot is one of Unsung’s debut models, built to a 7″ shaft height on a pattern based loosely on the Pershing trench boot. This makeup uses olive latigo finished with a walnut based overdye (made in-house) that’s something of an Unsung signature, with contrasting tongues in black horsefront. The bottoming is straightforward and neat: a (fairly high SPI) 270˚ flat welt with a leather midsole and a Vibram western comp sole.

Standard & Strange x Unsung House Jim Casy Roper Boot in Natural Latigo Roughout: $1,650

The Jim Casy Roper is a Grapes of Wrath-inspired labor of love designed by Unsung’s Grant Gustafson and S&S’s Charlie Dargan. At their heart they’re a western-style roper in natural latigo roughout with a requisite low block heel, but there’s a ton of detail work in the finishing that’s totally supererogatory and quietly adds quite a bit of decoration (see the shape of the vamp at the instep, the heel counter, and the backstay, as well as the triangle motif in the stitching). 270 degrees of handwelting attaches the upper to the leather outsole, reinforced by a Vibram topy.

White’s Chukka 853 in British Tan Double Shot: $340

As the dreaded Bootmaker Bottleneck™ pushes lead times up on White’s traditional, handwelted stitchdown boots, they’ve built out their machine stitchdown and goodyear welted lineups in order to keep meeting demand and introduce options at lower pricepoints. This week, there were two additions to the welted lineup: the Chukka and 853 Chukka.

The 853 is a beefy 2060 wedge-equipped three-eye chukka with a 360˚ goodyear welt, built out on the low(er) arched Northwest last. The Double Shot leather chosen for the uppers is certainly dressier than a true work leather, but White’s bills these as capable of medium duty work use, and we concur — if you don’t know that you need more boot than this, then strictly speaking, you probably don’t.

White’s Chukka in Black Double Shot: $325

The “Chukka” designation (no numbers) refers to the Christy soled version of the Chukka, though the last, pattern, and construction appear to be otherwise identical. This version is $15 cheaper than the 853, and comes Brown Distress and Tobacco Stampede, in addition to the Black Double Shot shown here.

White’s Lady Packer in Burgundy and Natural Chromexcel: $600 (Made to Order)

The other new addition at White’s is four fresh two-tone colorways for the women’s version of their Packer boot, an 8″ laceup built around the W895 women’s cowboy last (relative to the men’s equivalent, it maintains the high arch but is narrower in the ball and heel). White’s traditional handsewn stitchdown anchors the upper to the Vibram comp sole. Except for the Brown Distress option, all colorways are two tone, like the burgundy Chromexcel vamp, natural Chromexcel shaft model shown here.

Leffot x Alden Penny Loafer in Alpine Grain Calf: $704

It’s about time to get serious about summer loafers, and Leffot is one step ahead of us. The new Alden penny in Alpine grain has a blacked out sole stack, 360˚ flat welt, and single leather soles…

Leffot x Alden Tassel Loafer in Hummus Suede: $670

…while the hummus suede tassel loafer uses a 270˚ flat welt on single leather soles, a combination that ends up being shockingly casual (almost to the point of being outdoors). Both models are far from the typical shell-cordovan-and-marble-floors loafer aesthetic, but it works.

Alden Madison Ranger Mocc in Brown Chromexcel: $715

A lot of apron stitched makeups this roundup, and here’s another one: Alden Madison is currently stocking a brown Chromexcel Ranger Mocc with a 360˚ split reverse welt and a commando outsole. It’s made up on the Van last.

Zerrows Pecos Boots in Brown Dagres Leather: $963

Tokyo’s Zerrows is a bootmaker with an enormously broad corpus (see more of that here), spanning most of the common styles and a few of their own creation, all while running a healthy sandal operation on the side. One of their distinguishing factors is exaggerated but precise last geometry, and that’s at play even on these relatively subdued Pecos, which have a slightly squared toe with substantial toe spring with a shallower forefoot that curves up into the arch where the rubber halfsole terminates, and climbs towards the shaft at the instep, to make getting them on and off easier. There’s a neat 270˚ row of welt stitches and a slight logger heel. East West apparel is currently stocking them in Brown Darges…

Zerrows Pecos Boots in Natural Chromexcel: $963

…and natural Chromexcel.

Zerrows Engineer Boots in Black Chromexcel: $944

Even more stylized is the engineer currently on offer, which almost looks like it’s in italics, with a sleek, square toe and low instep that rises quickly and continuously up into the shaft. The logger heel, rubber half soles, and 270˚ flat welt are edge dyed black to match the black Chromexcel uppers, with the color broken only by nickel plated buckles and a stripe of exposed natural veg-tan under then instep.

Leffot x Rancourt Weltline Penny Loafer in Dark Brown Calfskin: $368

The sheen to the calfskin on these full-straps is wonderful, as well as some slight grain forming at pinch points along the handsewn apron. The 360˚ flat welt is low profile and trimmed tight, ending almost in line with the walls of the upper, and the outsoles are (single) leather.

Leffot x Rancourt Kiltie Loafer in Carolina Brown: $328

The kiltie loafer has a bit more of a camp vibe to it, with black rubber Reltex outsoles. The rubber has a bit of clouding on the surface, and the lugs are just a little off center in a way that ends up giving them a very 20th century feel for reasons we can’t perfectly identify, which the kiltie and the robust looking Chromexcel (in Carolina Brown) certainly contribute to as well.