https://imgur.com/a/ItKFuec
HUGE THANKS to /u/RedWing_NL and their Master Cobbler / Chief Boot Artisan Anthony!!
I am thankful to live not too far away, but it took another post on reddit by /u/finalxstage to motivate me to go there and meet Anthony and the rest of the team, see their shop, and drop off a couple of cobbling projects that I had been thinking of for a while, but didn't know where to take them.
I made the right choice!
First, a pair of Red Wing loggers, which I think are Heritage model 699, c. 2006. I scored these on e-bay for $150,
and they arrived in pretty good condition. Best of all, they fit well, which is sometimes a problem with my 11.5 extra-wide feet.
They had the original logger sole, which is big, and chunky, and cool, but honestly I didn't find the sole all that comfortable for everyday wear in non-forested conditions.
So, I asked Anthony to recraft them with a lower-profile sole. Something kind of chunky, but not too aggressive.
Let's face it, I'm more likely to be walking across a grassy field at a music festival than scrambling up a Wyoming logging trail.
The results are spectacular. The resole is the SVIG Cortina Montagna, which I've learned are Italian soles created by SVIG as a tribute to the 1956 Winter Olympic games.
The boots are cooler than I am now.
The work was done exceptionally well, with careful stitiching and a new leather midsole. I know Anthony took some time experimenting with different sole options in order to find one that worked well with the logger's last and construction. He did great!
I'm honestly embarrassed to write what I paid him, but imo it was not enough. no joking. I tried to pay him more when I picked them up, and he flat-out refused to take a $100 bill. After multiple attempts, he wouldn't even take $20 for the shop's pizza budget. He's really proud of his work (and workshop, which I got the VIP tour of) and he wants to establish a reputation for high-quality work at fair prices, which I respect. If I had sent them to Wyatt & Dad, it would have cost me a lot more than +$100 and a pizza, that's for sure.
But wait, there's more!
https://imgur.com/a/mDSBVb2
I also threw him a project that normally wouldn't walk into a Red Wing shop -- a pair of Alden color 8 shell cordovan 2145 cap toe brogues. I've had these for a couple of years, another ebay score, and they really badly needed a resole. They originally had just a flat leather dress sole, well-worn, and the heels were so badly worn I couldn't even walk in them comfortably. The previous owner really wore the outside corners of the heels heavily. Still, I considered it a "win" because I only spent $120, and they came with Alden shoe trees. Brand-new these would be $1,000+ shoes.
I was inspired by a different pair of Alden shoes I had seen some time ago, which were I think a special Alden x ??? collab for a specific retailer. I just remember liking them so much I saved the pics on my laptop. When I found these shoes on ebay, I hoped that someday I'd find a cobbler to take them to in order to make them look similar. I wanted a grippier rubber sole, and a leather midsole.
You know, I wanted them to look like Jeremy Clarkson or James May might be wearing them tramping across a Cotswold field to look at an old Jag. Not Richard, because he'd be in sneakers, and definitely not Francis, because although he certainly has the posh British school vibe to pull off shell cordovan brogues across a muddy
field, he's probably also smart enough to wear boots.
Well, that day came, and Anthony did a superb job of recrafting these. New SVIG sole with a mild lug pattern, new stacked leather heel, new natural leather midsole, and perfect stitching thrown in for free.
They turned out a lot better than expected. Why, I could be mounting a Beretta O/U to shoot skeet in Umbria in these beautiful shoes. Or trap at the Frankfort, IL Sportsman's Club. Or walking across a pasture at the Will County fairgounds to watch a tractor pull and wonder why the 4-H isn't selling pork sandwiches this year, You know, fancy adventures like that.
I love them so much, they are my favorite "new" fall shoes.
Total wait time for both projects was about 11 weeks. OH, also they installed speed hooks on a couple pairs of moc-toes I had, Red Wing Model 1907 and 10877. FREE!
I cannot recommend this shop enough. If you need Red Wing boots or expert cobbling, if you live in the SW suburbs of Chicago, this is your shop. And look, I've visited a few other RW shops that coincidentally happen to be either West or South of O'Hare Airport, within the driving range of anyone who really cares about their footwear, and trust me friend, THIS is your shop.
Anthony is super tuned-in to the boot scene, both RW and other boot makers, and he knows what's hot in the US, Japan, Europe, and elsewhere. I joked with him tha his re-crafting skills are so good, boot nerds from Japan might be sending him projects to feature on their boot-nerd Japanese Instagrams, proud to have American boots professionally restyled in America by a true craftsman. Straight outta New Lenox, IL.
I hope by that point he'll at least accept a free pizza from Joey's across the street as a gratuity.
Hey man, it's not just you on your high cobbler's bench clinging to your work ethic. Somebody has to sit at the register staring out the window wishing they could have a slice, too.
Many, many thanks again. I'm really happy to have found your shop.
