SHELL CORDOVAN! That most magical of shoe leathers. King of shine, paragon of durability, bastion of beauty. There really is nothing quite like it.

But shell cordovan also has its downsides! The cost, the maintenance, rolls gone wrong.  So is it truly the best shoe and boot leather? Oh, and is it even leather at all?!? This week on the Stitchdown Shoecast @tichoblancoshoes and I are here to engage in the most probing possible discourse to figure it out.

We also tackle: what even is shell cordovan? When and where was it first created? How’s it made? Who’s making it today and what do you need to know about those tanneries?

There’s a lot in this one! Give it a listen!

And you can listen to this and every Shoecast episode on:
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Stitcher
Or check out the Shoecast archives right here

 

This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange, where you don’t NEED an engineering degree to buy their engineer boots…but it helps.

If you’ve been enjoying the Shoecast, please consider supporting it by joining Stitchdown Premium—which also gets you access to giveaways, the best shoe/boot chat on the Internets, and a 10% discount on Grant Stone, Sagara, and Parkhurst
No more articles