In what is perhaps a fitting reflection of the utterly random weather we’ve had on the eastern seaboard, we’ve got all sorts of boots for you this week.
Tall: check. Short: check. Chonky? Sleek? Double check. We can’t tell tell which ones will be temperature-appropriate, but we can tell you they’re worth checking out. Don’t believe us? We’ve got a limited-run Iron Ranger makeup, four new Rolling Dub Trio models in stock at Standard & Strange, a new shell Halkett boot at Viberg, and more, in this weeks: Shoes ‘n’ Boots of the Week.
We’ve rounded up all our roundups for your convenience 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.]
Hep Cat x Riders Room x Redwing Iron Ranger in Black Harness: $425
Hep Cat is a menswear retailer in Lund, Sweden focused on rugged heritage wear and repro militaria. They’re also one of the biggest Redwing stockists in Europe, and in collaboration with Hamburg-based Riders Room they’ve persuaded Redwing to produce 1,200 of this special Iron Ranger makeup with Black Harness uppers, green Vibram outsoles and tonal sage stitching to match. While these are a special Europe makeup, Hep Cat ships internationally.
Viberg Halkett Boot in Old Bronze Shell Cordovan: $1,620
Hot on the heels of their SS24 drop, Viberg just released these 2030-last Halketts. The Horween Old Bronze shell cordovan is paired with the temporally appropriate “antique” finish on the midsole, heelstack, and 360˚ scalloped welt, which attaches the upper to the french oak bark-tanned leather outsole. Viberg Shell tends to go fast, but at time of writing there are still a few relatively common sizes left in these.
Brogue x Alden Nob Hill IndyBoot: $702
A returning favorite named for the luxe San Fransisco neighborhood (not the Silver Spring, MD apartment complex), Brogue’s latest Alden makeup is built on a cream cavity wedge sole and 360˚ degree flat welt. The uppers are black teacore Chromexcel from Horween, and are adorned with a rarer and rare handsewn apron stitch and contrasting brass hardware. As you might imagine on a chonkier build like this one, Brogue has gone with the Alden’s Trubalance last.
Division Road x Easy Moc Rambler 3-Eye Moc in Beach Roughout: $365
DR and EasyMoc are ready for Spring, and these wildly comfy made-in-Maine moccasins are too. Also Maine-born Tasman aniline roughout leather sits atop a Vibram Christy sole, which provides a muscle that many similar camp-soled mocs lack.
Division Road x Easy Moc Rambler 3-Eye Moc in Coyote Waxed Roughout: $385
More Tasman here, in a darker shade that should rough up nicely over time as the wax gets worn. These guys have Vibram’s 2062 Olympic sole, a 2060 brethren with a grippier tread pattern but no less semi-chonk.
Rolling Dub Trio Stan Chelsea Boot in Black Horsehide: $600
This week at Standard and Strange it’s a quartet, not a trio, of new boots from Rolling Dub. The first of the four is their Stan Chelsea in a black teacore horsehide from Italy. Built out on the voluminous CBT02 Last (sorry, they can’t give you cognitive behavioral therapy), these fall clearly into the design lineage of the Casper and Coupen models, with a black rubber heel and nitrile cork outsole, with a leather insert at the toe and bronze finish toe taps, all held in place by a 360˚ flat welt.
Rolling Dub Trio Casper Side Zip Boot in Burgundy Chromexcel: $750
If the Stan just wasn’t enough leather, S&S is also carrying the aptly named Casper in Burgundy Chromexcel, which uses the same last, construction, and sole setup, but on a chunky wholecut side zip…
Rolling Dub Trio Coupen Mid-Cut Boot in Natural CXL: $575
…and the Coupen Mid-Cut, in the same cork / CBT02 / flatwelt combo, this time on an odd but extraordinary boot-shoe in natural Chromexcel.
Rolling Dub Trio Colobus Seamless Monkey Boot in Black Vachetta: $550
In a rather different vein, drawn from the stylistic no-mans-land between the soft and unstructured end of the boot spectrum and the serious side of sneakers, the Colobus is a wholecut monkey boot with blind eyelets in tumbled black Vachetta. The construction here is Blake-stitched rather than the more typical Goodyear welt you find on most RDT makeups, and I suspect this is to allow the soles to be trimmed extremely close to the uppers, in keeping with the minimalist aesthetic.
What little of the sole stack is exposed is fudged, a nice touch in a place where it might be easily overlooked. The sole stack here is the same basic setup as the other three models—nitrile cork with a leather insert and a toe tap—though with the exception of the toe tap all of these components are considerably slimmer than on the other boots, for an extremely low profile sole, and the edges are finished black. Can’t wait to see some of these broken in…
Russell Moccasin Backcountry in Horween New Bronze Chamois: $695
Wisconsin’s rightly lauded Russell Moccasin is releasing a new (in-stock) Backcountry this morning, and if there was a comfydome I would seriously try to get my hands on a pair of these. The combination of Horween Chamois, a soft Lactae Hevea outsole, and Russell’s double vamp construction—in which the inner “vamp” wraps three dimensionally around the last—is a recipe for something startlingly comfy from day one, built in a way that can still take a beating.
Ealdwine x Alden “Yarborough” Jumper Boot in Color 8 Shell Cordovan: $895
Call me superstitious, but a dressy Color 8 Shell drop seems heavily correlated with a good week to come (even when you aren’t getting in on it) and if that’s the case, we can all look forward to next week thanks to Ealdwine’s “Yarborough”. This straightforward but very clean makeup features french bound Color 8 shell on the Barrie last, with tonal brown hardware a brogued cap toe. Double oak leather soles and a 270˚ flat welt keep things sleek but serious.
Dashing Chicago x Alden “Madison” Long Wing Blucher in Brown JS Leather: $686
We’re not Al-done quite yet, because we’ve yet to talk about the last (but not least) release of the week—the Dashing x Alden “Madison” longwing. With textured brown JS grain uppers and a 360˚ split reverse welt, this is an undeniably casual spin on the brouged blucher, and man it works. The Madison is outfitted with antique edge finishing, black eyelets, and single oiled leather sole.