The Stitchdown Shoecast

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Cowboy Bootmaking Legend Lisa Sorrell on Myths, Lore, and Why Craft Has Never Been More Important May 09, 2023

Show notes

Guthrie, Oklahoma-based Lisa Sorrell can trace her own bootmaking ancestry back to one of the first cowboy bootmakers ever: Gus Blucher (a man quite aptly named for a shoe). Gus presumably would've been quite proud, as for the last three decades Lisa has oh so gracefully maintained a position of remarkably high esteem in the cowboy bootmaking pantheon, thanks to her overall skill and coveted inlay/overlay work that commands a starting price of $10,000 per bespoke pair.
In what is without question one of our personal favorite episodes ever, Lisa dispels a stack of cowboy boot myths; gets deep into why the form and construction of the uniquely American art form evolved in the ways they did; discusses what makes 1940s cowboy boot lasts the unmatched pinnacle; and explains why she’s the “ambassador for raising prices” (it's almost certainly not why you’d think) and why cowboy boots are a whole lot like lingerie.
This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange, which has taken all of the finest Japanese boots and brought them to Oakland, NYC, and Sante Fe, just for you
Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera

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Shoebag! Horsebutt: Over- or Underrated? Crucial Overdye Explorations. And What's the Deal With Gaston's Boots?? May 03, 2023

Show notes

That's right it's time for another SHOEBAG episode, in which Ben and Ticho dig precariously deep into such pivotal topics as: what is an overdyed leather and how is it the same or different from teacore? What’s the deal with that eyelet at the top of the speed hooks? Which outsoles make for the best toe spring? Chelsea boots with suits: yay or nay? Where are we at on balmoral boots? What's the story with those floppy-topped boots Gaston wears, and why isn't anyone rocking them today? And are horsebutt boots underrated or (gasp)...overrated??
This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange, which has taken all of the finest Japanese boots and brought them to Oakland, NYC, and Sante Fe, just for you
Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera

How the Stitchdown Patina Thunderdome Is Judged Apr 19, 2023

Show notes

The six months of beautiful boot-aging mayhem known as the 2022-23 Stitchdown Patina Thunderdome is OVER! The esteemed judges have selected their winners in both the Work and Open categories (all of whom you can see right here). Fabulous prizes from our incredible sponsors are being dished out left and right. Boots are looking really, really, really good.
So how'd it all happen? How did the judges approach this monumental task? What went into their decision-making? What surprised them along the way? Get deep inside the Dome as we pull back the curtain on the whole damn thing in a roundtable discussion with every single esteemed Thunderdome judge.
This episode was sponsored by Grant Stone—just like the Thunderdome!
Theme song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera

Nicks' CEO Shuyler Mowe on Explosive Growth, Developing New Leathers, and Spokane's Uniquely Competitive Bootmaking Scene Apr 11, 2023

Show notes

For the past three years, CEO Shuyler Mowe has lacing up his now decade-old Builder Pros to helm Nicks Handmade Boots, shepherding the Spokane maker from a pure focus on work boots and into a new era of lifestyle relevancy—and dramatic growth that's seen the company add more than 40 employees in that time.
This episode, Shuyler and Ben dip into Nicks' deeply interesting, twisty-turny historical path, what it’s like to exist in the uniquely competitive Spokane bootmaking landscape, the limitations of Nicks' MTO offerings and how their lead times are trending, the brand's growing content empire on YouTube and beyond, developing their proprietary 1964 leather with Seidel, if Nicks 55 and White’s 55 lasts are actually the same, how to fit a customer's MIND, and plenty more.

This episode was sponsored by Taft, whose new line of stitchdown construction boots is, believe it or not, right up our alley.
Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera

Taft's Kory Stevens on How to Accidentally Start a Hugely Successful Shoe Brand Apr 03, 2023

Show notes

In 2014, Taft Clothing was selling camouflage and polka-dot no-show socks. One fateful Reddit moment later, Kory Stevens was somehow overseeing a shoe and boot brand that was absolutely on fire—and designing some of the most unique footwear you’ll ever see.
9 years later, we had Kory on the Shoecast to tell the honestly captivating tale of how Taft came storming in through the footwear world’s backdoor, the gap between what he personally loves vs what sells best, Taft’s new stitchdown construction service and Chelsea boots that are the by far the sturdiest product the brand has ever put out, and why Kory knows he’s not going to spend the rest of his career in footwear.
On top of it all, Kory is just one heckuva guy—this one is about as heartfelt as shoe conversations get.
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This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange, which has taken all of the finest Japanese boots and brought them to Oakland, NYC, and Sante Fe, just for you
Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera

Cobbler Lorena Agolli on Apprenticing Under a Bespoke Master, Her Red Wing Habit, and the Nice Way to Tell Customers Their Shoes Suck Mar 27, 2023

Show notes

Back when Lorena Agolli was getting started in the trade, an aging cobbler grabbed her forearm, frowned, and dismissively said, "you’re not strong enough." Well that was the wrong read on every level—almost a decade later, Lorena is currently entering a new era as the proprietor of Toronto shoe repair shop Sole Survivor.
After scaling up the Sole Survivor business to multiple storefronts and largely training both locations' staff from scratch, Lorena has intentionally dialed things back to allow her and her team to focus on the types of repair jobs they're legitimately excited about. This episode, Lorena and Ben chat about how to listen to what an old machine is telling you, the conundrum of the next generation of cobbling talent, why the old ones are so darn grumpy, and the joy (ha!) of doing a single task for 8 hours straight every day.
This episode was sponsored by Taft, whose new line of stitchdown construction boots is, believe it or not, right up our alley.
Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera

Grant Stone's Wyatt Gilmore on GYW Shoe Addiction, Japanese Old Man Style, and NOT Grant Stone Mar 24, 2023

Show notes

Wyatt Gilmore runs Baroda, Michigan-based, ever-rising footwear brand Grant Stone. So of course we had him back on the Shoecast and completely barred him from even mentioning his own company.
Instead, Wyatt gets into what makes the feeling of Goodyear welt shoes so damn addictive, just how casual our world is going to get by 2050, the lifestyles that hugely successful shoe and boot brands attach themselves to, the shoemakers both new and legendary he respects the most, and JUST HOW TOUGH THIS WHOLE DAMN SHOE BUSINESS IS. He even tries to sell Ben and Ticho on tassel loafers being cool, and it maybe almost works.
As conversational as Shoecasts get, this one's absolutely a fun little ride.
This episode was sponsored by Taft, whose new line of stitchdown construction boots is, believe it or not, right up our alley.
Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera

White's Boots President Eric Kinney on the Bootmaker Shortage, Stitchdown vs Handwelt, How the MP Came to Be, and More Mar 14, 2023

Show notes

When Eric Kinney took over as president of Spokane legend White's Boots in 2019, the 170-year-old maker didn't even have a website. Just four short years later, Eric—a former White's bootmaker for 26 years who made upwards of 50,000 pairs himself—and the White's team have positioned the brand as one of the preeminent and beloved high-quality lifestyle bootmakers anywhere in the world.
This episode, Ben and Ticho chat with Eric about the unceremonious reveal of the first table-setting White's MP boot Eric developed; how he views the differences between White's Goodyear welt, stitchdown, and handwelt lines; if we can expect to see fully custom offerings from White's into the future; how Japanese conglomerate ABC Mart's ownership of White's has changed things for the previously family-owned company; and how the brand is contending with an ongoing bootmaker shortage.
Perhaps the quote from the episode that sums up Eric, and the brand, best: “To be truthful, the [best] part about being in charge is being the one who can make White’s…stay White’s. What happens when I leave? I don’t know. I do know that if I’m still there, it’s not going to change.”
This episode was sponsored by Grant Stone
Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera

Red Wing's Mike Larson on How the Heritage Line Was Developed, 100+ Year Old Shoemaking Machines, and More Mar 07, 2023

Show notes

As global product design & development manager at Red Wing Shoe Co., Mike Larson has touched every single product that's ever been placed into a Red Wing Heritage shoe box over the last 13 years—a lineup that was 260 styles strong just over three years ago, before shrinking to just 12 over the course of the pandemic.
After truly banding together as a brand-within-a-brand amidst Covid, supply chain messes, AND a brutal hack that shut down Red Wing's site and internal systems, Mike's team is currently back on track and working on product the rest of us won't see until two years in the future.
In the first episode of Shoecast season 8, Ben and Ticho chat with Mike about how the Red Wing Heritage development process works (it's uh...very long and far more complicated than probably anyone realizes), the insane level of historical detail the brand imbues into all their Heritage products (they're legit matching thread tension from the 70+ years ago!) and the research behind it, the oldest working machine in the factory, Red Wing's approach to preserving institutional shoemaking knowledge, how American manufacturing survives our currently trying times, and oh so much more.
This episode was sponsored by Grant Stone—they make very good boots, here go give them a look
Theme Song: the Road by Punk Rock Opera

Rose Anvil Talks About More Than Just Alden Indy Boots (We Swear) Jan 24, 2023

Show notes

A little over three years ago, Weston Kay cut some Dr. Martens boots in half on YouTube. Today, millions of people watch videos of him hacking all sorts of other shoes in half to break down the materials they use, on Weston's Rose Anvil YouTube channel.
And it's no secret he said some very serious words about our beloved Alden Indy boots in one of them, and so we had to drag him onto the show and confront him.
So how'd the guy who was making DIY wedding rings and rebuilding motorcycles just months before the Doc Martens vid become just about the most heavily watched men'sfootwear reviewer on YouTube? What does he feel the job of a reviewer on the internet should be in 2023? And most importantly (obviously), has he reconsidered anything about that Indy boot video?
Buckle up for the final episode of Shoecast season 7...
This episode was sponsored by Division Road
Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera

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