The Stitchdown Shoecast (Stitchdown)

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	Pub. Date	Title	Duration
	21 Feb 2022	A Highly Emotional Shoebag!! Wedding Footwear Rules, Best Winter Boots, and is Ticho Getting Rid of All His Shoes???	01:20:02
Ticho and Ben from Stitchdown are back with another good ol' fashioned Stitchdown Shoecast Shoebag episode, in which we answer probing listener questions like "are there any more rules with wedding shoes?", "how important is historical context when it comes to a pair of shoes or boots?", and "what's your ritual when you get a new pair?"—and we discover that Ticho's process is incredibly long, complicated, and full of olfactory satisfaction. Also he's very happy to tell everyone how much he loathes the carving stations at weddings that everyone else finds to be incredible. Classic Shoebag stuff!! *This episode was sponsored by* *Standard & Strange, which is now stocking excellent Japanese footwear brand* Rolling Dub Trio—which is a very good thing Join the Stitchdown Discord today, unless you hate boots of course** Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	24 Feb 2022	Wesco's Chris Warren on How Engineers Should Fit—and the Issues the Bootmaking World is Facing in 2022	01:20:08
The bootmaking world is a strange one in 2022. The easy part for top makers: finding customers who can't wait to buy their boots. The hard part? Sometimes it feels like literally everything else. Supply chain breakdowns are slapping delays on leather and other materials. Recruiting and training skilled bootmakers: never simple. So how's Wesco dealing? How's this whole thing get solved and what are the worries along the way? The 103-year-old Scappoose, Oregon bootmaker's sales director & more Chris Warren gets deep into it with Ben, along with running through Chris's 100%-Wesco personal collection, how you should size and fit and break in engineer boots, those dastardly four-wheeler injuries, what do to when Gen answers the phone at S&S, and plenty more. *This episode was sponsored by* *Standard & Strange, which is now stocking excellent Japanese footwear brand* Rolling Dub Trio—which is a very good thing Join the Stitchdown Discord today, unless you hate boots of course** Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	09 Mar 2022	Freenote's Andrew Brodrick on Pairing Boots with The Right Denim, and How to Manufacture in the US	01:11:23
Along with his brother Matt (the one with the mustache), Andrew Brodrick is half of Freenote Cloth, the near-decade-old denim-'n'-more brand (yes they sell boots!) that's committed to manufacturing its entire widening range of menswear in a small radius in and around Los Angeles. Andrew came on the Shoecast to lay out his philosophy on which cuts of denim should go with which boots (be warned: he's gonna push you towards the wider stuff); how maddeningly hard—but also extremely rewarding!—it can be to make heritage goods in the USA; where vintage reproduction menswear draws its inspiration; why he wears the same boots every single day; and, naturally, the best way to surf on the job. But without a doubt the most important part of this episode is Andrew's advice on how to break in a pair of raw denim, which includes a panel van, an airport parking garage, a giant pile of insurance money, and a near mass-kidnapping. We couldn't think of a better way to end Season 5 of the Shoecast. *Help support the Shoecast by* *joining the Stitchdown Discord today* *(unless you hate shoes and boots of course)* Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	31 May 2022	FEIT's Tull Price on the Promise and Limits of Sustainable Footwear	01:05:06
Over a decade ago, Tull Price's job was to travel to the world's coolest cities to expand his massively successful sneaker brand, Royal Elastics. Sounds pretty great, right? Nope! The realities of the forces of globalization—and just how much landfilled-destined plastic waste the athletic footwear industry created—eventually became all too apparent. Tull sold his stake in Royal, and began traveling Europe and Asia with a different purpose: encamping in veg-tan tanneries and small workshops run by master shoemakers. To figure out a way to build footwear—and a brand—in a completely different way. From that, FEIT was born—some of the most unique truly handmade shoes produced at a moderately industrial scale that exist in the world. Tull doesn't hold anything back while chatting with Ben from Stitchdown.com as they roll through the life cycles of Tull's two brands, why he chooses to manufacture in China (maybe not the reasons you expect), what can drive sustainability in footwear (and what sustainability even truly means), how to evolve a brand that's committed to minimalism, and the ways micro-communities can sometimes have the largest positive impact of them all. *This episode was sponsored by* *Grant Stone, one of the best values in Goodyear welted footwear, period* Join the Stitchdown Discord today, unless you hate boots of course** Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	02 Jun 2022	Nerding Out With Young Stud Bootmaker Nathan Florsheim	01:13:59
Rising bootmaker Nathan Florsheim's shoe-famous last name isn't a coincidence—the great great grandson of Florsheim Shoes founder Milton Florsheim decided over a year ago to become the first person in his family to actually make a pair of boots themselves in generations. And man has he gotten good at it quickly. Under the benevolent tutelage our mutual friend Lars from Østmo Boots, Nathan has evolved into one of the most impressive one-person bootmakers in the US—NF Bootmaker—in basically no time flat, hand-making service boots with his trademark rivet using an impressively wide range of leathers. And he's committed to the craft—just before we spoke Nathan actually quit his day job to go full-time on bootmaking. So how did he get started? What challenges did he face at the beginning? What's absolutely scared the hell out of him along the way? Why do his boots have such sexy butts? HOW IN THE WORLD DO PEOPLE EVEN MAKE BOOTS THEMSELVES?? And what's next for NF? Nathan gets WAY in depth (and wonderfully nerdy) about all of it, and is incredibly generous with the level of specific detail he offers. If you've ever considered making boots or shoes, or are just interested in the process that goes into it, you definitely don't want to miss this one. *This episode was sponsored by* *Standard & Strange, which is now stocking excellent Japanese footwear brand* Rolling Dub Trio—which is a very good thing Join the Stitchdown Discord today, unless you hate boots of course** Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	15 Jun 2022	Summer Shoes! Surely Incomplete But Still Damn Useful Recommendations on Loafers, Handsewns, Boot-Shoes, and More	01:15:50
Summer shoes! Those are just...boots, right? Apparently not! In a Shoecast episode for which we applied 120 SPF sunscreen (to our shoes), Ticho and Ben first figure out what a summer shoe really means, and then get down into dishing out recommendations on loafers, handsewn moccasins of all kinds, unlined bluchers et al, boot-shoes (obviously), Birkenstocks, and, um...sandals? Yes, sandals—at which point it's revealed just how horrified of his own toes Ticho is. We also break down the lifestyle choice that is socklessness in frightening detail—including tips and tricks on what to do and not to do if you want to keep your feet in once piece. Which is always a good idea, in any season. Summer's just heating up, so give it a listen below! *This episode was sponsored by* *Standard & Strange, where it's always leather jacket season, even in 97 degree heat (but also they sell sick tiger shirts) Theme Music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a* Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	28 Jun 2022	Cobbler and Bootmaker Tess Gobeil on How Doing Things Differently Has Propelled Her Repair Business (and Also Tim Horton's)	01:28:31
Former Dayton bootmaker Tess Gobeil is the co-founder of Awl Together Leather, a custom leatherwork and shoe repair shop in Vancouver, Canada that just so happens to be on our shortlist of Stitchdown-recommended cobblers. She's also just an absolute hoot—we're pretty sure this episode sets the Shoecast "hey look at us, we're just sitting here cackling about shoe stuff" record by a country mile. Tess is also a woman—who runs Awl Together with her non-binary business partner Ariss—in a field that's overwhelmingly male-dominated. We get good and deep into how she's successfully navigated that landscape, along with her toughest/most enjoyable/most loathed/craziest/weirdest repair jobs, dogs eating boots, the boot cookies she gives to dogs who eat boots, Tim Horton's coffee, Montreal bagels, and plenty, plenty more. *This episode was sponsored by* *Grant Stone, one of the best values in Goodyear welted footwear, period* Join the Stitchdown Discord today, unless you hate boots of course** Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	06 Jul 2022	What's Brewing at the New Division Road Virginia? We Went Down There to Find Out.	00:51:20
Just about one year ago, footwear/menswear super-retailer Division Road packed up the Seattle storefront that has served as its home for the better part of a decade, to move its operations to 45 acres in Scottsville, Virginia—a true rural area about 20 disturbingly scenic minutes outside Charlottesville. The promised plans for the relocation have been big—a true footwear and menswear destination that turns traditional retail completely on its head—but also not totally transparent. So Ticho and I had to find out just what the hell DR head man Jason Pecarich had in store, and headed down to the new DR CVA headquarters and property—aka The Fields—about a month ago. Guess what: it's good. Real good. DR's been chronicling its move and new evolution in a video series that is absolutely worth checking out. But to get an even fresher sense of things, may we also recommend listening to without a doubt the most idyllic Shoecast we've ever recorded. Sitting on a screened-in porch with the birds chirping away on the 45 acre farm, we sat down with Jason to discuss his vision for the new Division Road when it officially opens August 25, 2022; how The Fields are developing and what features will come online when; the ripping brand-driven event schedule he's got planned; the risks a move like this presents; and plenty, plenty more. *This episode was sponsored by* *Grant Stone, one of the best values in Goodyear welted footwear, period* Join the Stitchdown Discord today, unless you hate boots of course Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.** https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	19 Jul 2022	Yuketen Visionary Yuki Matsuda on Vintage Inspiration, Shoe Saunas, Beaver Fur, and More	01:03:15
Yuki Matsuda is an absolute gem of a man. If there's someone more relentlessly excited to design and make and just talk shoes after more than three decades in the biz than Yuketen's founder, I haven't met them (but would definitely like to; DM me plz). It's no stretch to say that Yuketen is eternally in contention for the Most Interesting Footwear Brand Going Award. Over the decades, Yuki has explored a remarkable range of styles (from monkey boots, to mules, to his Goodyear welted "Land Jordan" sneakers), materials (printed Italian suede...that beaver fur!), and constructions. But the core of the brand is its relentlessly distinctive true moccasin construction handsewn boots and shoes, including Yuki's personal all-time favorite Maine Guide DB boot. After literal years of trying, we finally pinned Yuki down to chat about the strokes of luck that got Yuketen started over 30 years ago, his singular design approach and the massive vintage-freak influence that plays into it, and how he seeks out the manufacturing partners who care about shoes the same way he does—with an insane amount of passion that often cuts directly against any sort of traditional business sensibility. Bless them all. Oh also we obviously cover his vintage Datsun and get overly excited about backpacks that used to be made in Montana in the 90s. Yuki!! *This episode was sponsored by* *Division Road, whose new Virginia boot-heaven compound on 45 acres of farmland officially opens August 25th* Join the Stitchdown Discord today, unless you hate boots of course Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.** https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	03 Aug 2022	Black Boots: Boring or Essential? Ben & Ticho’s Biggest Boot Regrets. Plus: How YOU Can Help Cobblers.	01:05:03
You know, when you have a history of publicly claiming to not be a black-boot lover and then you have a podcast co-host who can even more publicly prove that you are a black-boot lover…well, you need to make a Shoecast out of it we suppose. On yet another Shoebag episode, Ticho and Ben tear open the digital sack of reader questions to explore the deeper meaning of black boots, the best process to break in a new pair, how to get the optimum roll situation on your shell cordovan and horsebutt boots, when does footwear truly become art, Ben's obsession with the chonk majesty of Viberg’s 110 last, and a hugely important question: what to do with welted leather footwear that there isn’t a resale market for. And then, naturally, we revel in the wonders of South Carolina style BBQ, homemade popcorn, and peanut butter-covered peanut butter bites. *This episode was sponsored by* *Division Road, whose new Virginia boot-heaven compound on 45 acres of farmland officially opens August 25th Theme song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a* Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	10 Aug 2022	How to Win the Stitchdown Patina Thunderdome	00:55:37
SHOOOOOOOOERADIO! That's right, everyone's favorite drive-time terrestrial radio show about boots and shoes is BACK to tell you exactly how to win over $30k in prizes including a TRIP TO JAPAN in the second annual Stitchdown Patina Thunderdome—just for wearing things on your feet for six months. To get to the answer, our host field questions from totally random callers (all of whom somehow manage to be Patina Thunderdome judges? Amazing.), and gets deep into both the Work and Open categories of the Thunderdome. What's the best overall approach? What about style of boot? Leather? Care? It's all laid out in beautiful, bombastic detail. So listen up and get ready to DOME!! *This episode was sponsored by* *Division Road, whose new Virginia boot-heaven compound on 45 acres of farmland officially opens August 25th Theme song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a* Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	06 Sep 2022	Dress Shoes Deep Dive! What Makes a Fantastic Dress Shoe? Plus Recs at All Price Points.	01:14:51
Occasionally we discuss boots on this podcast, but that doesn't mean we don't love and appreciate a great dress shoe as well. In the FINAL episode of Season 6, Ben grills Ticho—the actual dress shoe-knowing person on this podcast—about what elements add up into the perfect dress shoe, important styles to understand, and recommendations for brands both iconic and under the radar in basically every price category. Why did we wear suits and dress shoes to tape a podcast hat nobody can see, in our basements? That's unclear. But man did it feel good. *This episode was sponsored by* *Standard & Strange, because nobody should wear dress shoes every day* Join the Stitchdown Discord today, unless you hate shoes of course Theme song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.** https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	15 Nov 2022	Talking Craft, Inspiration, and Crickets With Brooklyn's Own Bespoke Shoemaker Francis Waplinger	01:16:18
After being trained in the shoemaking arts by some of the all-time greats—including Italian master Roberto Ugolini and US shoemaking gravitational center Marcell Mrsan—Francis Waplinger found himself making shoes in a barn. Nobody said bespoke shoemaking was supposed to be easy. Juggling multiple jobs on the east end of Long Island while sharing that barn workspace with his artist wife, Francis persisted: honing his craft, creating a range of samples, and eventually landing that crucial first bespoke order. About half a decade later, Francis has settled into a Brooklyn studio to cater to a growing list of clients for his uniquely styled, Americana nostalgia-/art deco-inspired bespoke dress shoes (and, he promises, more boots soon!). So what's it like to be a bespoke shoemaker? From the training, to the craft and toil, to figuring out how to manage the business side of a single-person operation? Francis is here to let it rip on all of that and more. Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	22 Nov 2022	Easy Moc's Greg Cordeiro on Re-Growing the Maine Handsewn Moccasin Tradition—and Big Shoe Biz vs Niche	01:15:33
Greg Cordeiro is our kind of shoe nerd. And the dude has been around. After getting his start as an intern at Puma before shifting over to design work for Timberland, Cole Haan, Teva, and Ralph Lauren, Greg backed away from the mega-brand to co-found one of the seminal underground (now sadly defunct) footwear brands of the aughts: New England Outwear Company. After that he plunged back into a behemoth with a senior design gig at the behemoth that is Clark's, and then Huckberry, before spending the last three years regaining total freedom with his design pen and building out his own factory in the US handsewn capital of Lewiston, Maine to create EasyMoc, a rising brand that combines time-honored handsewn moccasin construction techniques with creativity, a periodic dash of Japanese fashion, and a deep dedication to comfort. So what's it like to work at a gigantic shoe brand vs your own small workshop? How much of a revival is the once-massive Maine shoemaking industry really seeing? We cover all of that and more, including the deepest, most detailed dive into footwear design we've ever had the pleasure of exploring on this Shoecast. Warning! This one's a full nerd-out. And we're damn happy about it. *This episode was oh so thoughtfully sponsored by* *Grant Stone* *Theme song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera* Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	29 Nov 2022	How Jack Millington Started England's First New Tannery in a Century on His Parent's Goat Farm	00:46:21
For anyone who’s ever thought of quitting their job to make leather and boots, here’s the secret: just first make sure your parents own a goat farm in the British countryside. Six years ago, Jack Millington was the lucky guy in that position, and he up and started what we’re pretty sure is England’s first new tannery over a century. Today, his brainchild Billy Tannery vegetable-tans micro-small batches of deer, pig, and of course goat leather, from which they create a growing range of small leathergoods…and some very choice footwear. On the latest Shoecast episode, we speak with Jack about where his tanning epiphany came from, how he quickly corralled the knowledge necessary to set up a micro-tannery on the farm, and of course what kind of footwear Billy is making with goat and deerskin they’re producing. But the highlight for us is Jack’s deep dive into veg-tanning: he lays out exactly how the process works, step by step, and sheds a ton of light on all of the intricacies and pitfalls that arise, especially on a boutique scale. Also if you don’t know what a “pure-finder” is, well you’re about to find out. Give it a listen below! Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	06 Dec 2022	Unsung House's Grant Gustafson is Doing Some of the Coolest Repair, Customization, and Bootmaking in the Game	01:11:05
Unsung House is a wonderfully rare shoe repair shop. After a half decade learning the trade in a more “standard” cobbler setting, brothers Grant and Isaac Gustafson opened Unsung in a literal old house in Nashville, to focus on impeccable higher-end shoe—and especially boot—repair, restoration, and ground-up creation. Ben and Ticho sat down with Grant to dig into the beautiful details of Unsung’s work, from how they work a re-last job, to the dark arts of pattern grading, to their 9000-year-old sander that’s the size of a 727, and almost certainly louder. We also go deep on Unsung’s nascent house-made boot line, specifically with Ticho’s wonderful engineer boots that feature an overdye created from walnuts Grant harvested on his own property—only because he hasn’t found enough wasp cocoons to do it that way. What’s the purpose of a craftsperson in an Amazon world? We spent plenty of time trying to figure that the hell out—and Grant has as good an outlook as we’ve ever heard. *This episode was sponsored by* *Division Road—sign up for their bulletin to get all the latest White's, Tricker's, Crockett & Jones, Wesco, and Alden releases Theme song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a* Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	12 Dec 2022	Nick Horween and Phil Kalas Forcibly Take Over the Shoecast, And Turn the Whole Thing Right Around on Us	01:19:20
We've had both Nick Horween (the one from Horween Leather) and Phil Kalas (formerly of Horween, now making some of the best wallets, belts, and more over at Ashland Leather) on the Shoecast before. WELL APPARENTLY THAT WASN'T ENOUGH FOR THEM. Clearly over-emboldened by recently starting their own show, the Full Grain Podcast, Phil and Nick swung into a recent Shoecast recording session, said "we're the hosts now," and proceeded to interview Ben and Ticho. Which actually led to some very fun conversations about how we got started with this whole caring way too much about shoes and boots thing, community building, Patina Thunderdomes, Chicago hot dogs (obviously), and plenty more. Luckily Phil and Nick are very caring and wonderful captors, so, thank you fellas for doing it right. *This episode was sponsored by* *Division Road—sign up for their bulletin to get all the latest White’s, Tricker’s, Crockett & Jones, Wesco, and Alden releases Theme song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a* Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	20 Dec 2022	Shoebag!! Where's the Line on Copying Designs? Are Wedge Soles the Devil or God Himself? And More!	01:00:56
What's clickin'?? That's right Ben and Ticho are back with another SHOOOEBAG episode, in which we answer all of your listener questions, including: What are the best options for non-PNW footwear with arch support? Why do certain deranged people not recognize the extreme artistic beauty of the wedge sole? What are some of the best ways to enjoy the pairs you have, instead of just worrying about the next one? IS CHONK DEAD?!? And the big dog: where exactly does the line sit on brands copying other brands' patterns and silhouettes? Come with us if you want to Shoebag! *This episode was sponsored by* *Standard & Strange, which has more Japanese boots than possibly even Japan*** Theme song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	10 Jan 2023	It's Ticho vs. Almost Vintage Jake in The Stitchdown Bootbate 2: Electric Boot-Galoo	00:52:45
It's been over two years since our own Ticho took on Mr. Style, aka @almostvintagestyle, aka " Jake," in the inaugural Stitchdown Bootbate, an extremely formal and rigid debate...about boots. Since then, both competitors have been cooped up in their lairs, conditioning their boots, shining their heels, wearing clothing from a place known as Japan, and mostly, preparing for the second round. Well here it is, people. Here it is! The Stitchdown Bootbate 2: Electric Boot-Galoo is yet another epic clash between these two boot titans, covering the big, important topics in only the way they can. What is first on their list of lasts? Dainite: dapper or deadly?? Country of origin: how much does it matter in 2023?!? And oh so much more. Yet another battle of boot logic and knowledge for the ages awaits you! *This episode was sponsored by* *Standard & Strange, and about this there is no debate: the Oakland, NYC, and Sante Fe retailer is home to some of the great boots in the world. Theme song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a* Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	17 Jan 2023	The Shoe & Boot World's 2022 In Review—and Some Predictions for What's Coming in 2023	01:02:30
We’re not sure there’s ever been a “normal” year in the quality footwear world, but 2022 certainly wasn’t about to start being one. Smart brands reasoned out strategies that allowed them to shift from labor and supply chain scrambles to sustainable long-term solutions. The sudden rise of the Chinese brand dovetailed with the worldwide emergence of the intentionally micro (and damn talented) bookmaker. A storied brand changed ownership hands—hopefully in a manner that lets its craft and traditions persist for decades to come. And everyone caught a serious case of loafer fever, a very positive outcome indeed. Ben and Ticho look back at a darned interesting 2022—and lob out impossibly bold predictions (LOAFER DOME?!?!) for the year ahead in 2023. *This episode was sponsored by* *Standard & Strange, who we predict will carry the most impressive range of Japanese footwear in the entire US Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a* Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	24 Jan 2023	Rose Anvil Talks About More Than Just Alden Indy Boots (We Swear)	01:23:49
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's footwear 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* Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	07 Mar 2023	Red Wing's Mike Larson on How the Heritage Line Was Developed, 100+ Year Old Shoemaking Machines, and More	01:05:50
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 Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	14 Mar 2023	White's Boots President Eric Kinney on the Bootmaker Shortage, Stitchdown vs Handwelt, How the MP Came to Be, and More	01:01:41
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 Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	24 Mar 2023	Grant Stone's Wyatt Gilmore on GYW Shoe Addiction, Japanese Old Man Style, and NOT Grant Stone	01:12:55
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 Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a* Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	27 Mar 2023	Cobbler Lorena Agolli on Apprenticing Under a Bespoke Master, Her Red Wing Habit, and the Nice Way to Tell Customers Their Shoes Suck	01:03:23
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 Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a* Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	03 Apr 2023	Taft's Kory Stevens on How to Accidentally Start a Hugely Successful Shoe Brand	01:18:34
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. __________________________________________________________________________________________ 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 Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	11 Apr 2023	Nicks' CEO Shuyler Mowe on Explosive Growth, Developing New Leathers, and Spokane's Uniquely Competitive Bootmaking Scene	00:57:46
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 Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a* Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	19 Apr 2023	DEEP Behind the Patina Thunderdome Scenes With All the 2022-23 Judges	01:01:14
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 Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a* Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	03 May 2023	Shoebag! Horsebutt: Over- or Underrated? Crucial Overdye Explorations. And What's the Deal With Gaston's Boots??	01:05:35
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 Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	09 May 2023	Cowboy Bootmaking Legend Lisa Sorrell on Myths, Lore, and Why Craft Has Never Been More Important	01:23:08
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 Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	18 Jul 2023	DEEP Inside Russell Moccasin—How The 125-Year-Old Brand Builds Some of the World's Most Unique Boots	01:15:43
Just about one year ago, Luke Kolbie and his business partner Joe Julian took over ownership of 125-year-old Russell Moccasin: the Berlin, Wisconsin bookmaker that has outfitted presidents, kings, outdoorsmen of all stripes, and some very smart/stylish Japanese people. Certain changes were made right out of the gate—which always stirs up more than a bit of fear for devotees of a brand with such legacy. Luckily nothing at all has changed with Russell’s approach to craftsmanship, including their vaunted multi-layer moccasin construction, which Luke and Ben break down in RIDICULOUS levels of detail. So how’s that first year been like for Luke & team? What’s changed at Russell, and what’s stayed blessedly the same? And where are the sights set in terms of pushing Russell into a more general boot-lover’s market? Trust me, we get into it all, in way more depth than may be healthy. *This episode was sponsored by* *Standard & Strange* *Theme song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera* Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	25 Jul 2023	Graham Ebner is the Next Big Thing in Bespoke Cowboy Boots	01:06:58
When Graham Ebner says he makes “really nice, really expensive” cowboy boots, it’s somehow barely a brag. In just five short years the Austin, Texas native (“to be clear, I grew up FIRMLY in the suburbs”) has established an impressive foothold for himself in the pantheon of rising bespoke cowboy makers. After training under the legendary Lee Miller at Texas Traditions (early job: refooting boots eaten by presumably lovable dogs), Graham struck out on his own to flex his unique combination of artistry, inlay/overlay work, and technical skill. In my chat with Graham we get deep into how he works with customers through the lens of his just-finished Big Bend Boots, the “close the shop down tools” he could never be without, the language and purpose of toe bugs/flowers, and the incredible resource for learning bootmaking that is the internet—and the extra special sauce that comes from being part of a bookmaking lineage that stretches back to the all-time-great originators of the craft. SEE MORE OF GRAHAM'S WORK https://www.grahamebner.com/ https://www.instagram.com/grahamebnerboots/?hl=en MENTIONED Cowboy Bootmaking Legend Lisa Sorrell on Myths, Lore, and Why Craft Has Never Been More Important https://www.stitchdown.com/stitchdown-shoecast/cowboy-bootmaking-legend-lisa-sorrell/ YOUTUBE VERSION OF THIS EPISODE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHtCJrjdh9g COME TO STITCHDOWN BOOT CAMP—OCTOBER 6th & 7th 2023 IN NYC https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ THIS EPISODE WAS SPONSORED BY GRANT STONE Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	03 Aug 2023	Springline's Michael James Breaks Down The Mystical Art of Lastmaking	00:39:39
Michael James is known as “Northampton’s Last Man”—and after nearly 40 years in the game, the director of Springline lastmakers most certainly lives up to the cheeky moniker. In a rangy chat with Michael, we cover how Springline creates some of the world’s finest production and bespoke lasts (plus shoe trees), the inherent talents required to be a top lastmaker, the fundamentals inherent in any great shoe last (it’s all about the heel!), why all the Northampton lasts are right-footed, and that time he designed a last based on a drawing on a pub bathroom wall. Watch the YouTube version of this interview ____________________________________________________ This episode was sponsored by Nicks Boots Theme Music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	09 Aug 2023	Shoebag!! Next Big Makers? How Should Handsewns Fit?? Is the Thunderdome Too Commercial??? And More!	01:03:08
Ben and Ticho are back to tear open the Shoebag once more to answer probing listener questions such as: how should handsewns fit when they're NEW? What's the best approach to trying out new makers on the scene—and who should you keep eyes open for short-term? What are you doing wrong with (get this)... shoe bags?? Are we nearing a great-boots bubble? And is it Warren Buffett's fault??? Also: wildly divergent opinions on chukka boots! And Ticho teaches you how to "pop a door". This was a fun one. ---------------------------- This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange Theme Music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	15 Aug 2023	The Shoe Service Institute of America's Justin Bennett on the Shoe Supply Game, Cobbling's Future, and More	00:43:28
Since 1904, the Shoe Service Institute of America has operated as an essential champion for the shoe repair industry. This week, Ben sat down with SSIA board member Justin Bennett (day job: Chicago-based shoe store/repair shop supplier Justin Blair & Co) to catch up on what happened at the recent 116th annual SSIA Convention, including the organization's Grand Silver Cup awards lavished upon North America's top cobblers. The chat with Justin also covers the growth of shoe-repair YouTube and TikTok, SSIA’s most interesting and successful marketing efforts past and present, the gap between what repair customers want and need today vs back when, the interesting ways he’s seen the market crater and bounce back since 2020, the viability of a trade school for shoe repair, and plenty more. ______________________________________________________________________________________ This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange Theme song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	06 Sep 2023	Kustom Kraft's Dennis Kieback on Starting a Handmade Bootmaking Business, Funky German Leathers, and Getting in the "Flow State"	00:36:02
When Dennis Kieback made his first pair of Kustom Kraft boots, he’d barely even seen a pair of Red Wings before. But the bookmaking bug had bitten him hard—and the Kiel, Germany craftsman was infected. Now 25+ pairs into his bootmaking career, Dennis sits down with Ben to chat how tricky it is to get a business started (“who wants boots from someone who hasn’t made any boots before??”), how he learned the craft thanks to internet resources and esteemed tutors including Lars Jensen of Østmo Boots and Nathan Florsheim aka NF Bootmaker, his evolving last lineup, sourcing truly unique local German leathers, the “flow state” he can get into, how he turns mistakes into magic, and of course, dogs destroying uppers by randomly deciding to operate sewing machines. Dennis was just an absolute joy to chat with, being very game to fight through a language barrier to share his incredibly positive, inspiring outlook towards his mysterious and demanding craft. *This episode was sponsored by* *Nicks Boots* *Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera* Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	13 Sep 2023	Crown Northampton's Chris Woodford on The Rise and Fall (& Hopeful Rise Again) of Northamptonshire Shoemaking	01:15:54
Chris Woodford is a bit of a madman. And he’s pretty much thrilled about that. The fifth-generation shoemaker founded Crown Northampton—maker of some of the world’s best-made sneakers—as a reaction to watching his father’s business unravel, along with so much else of the iconic Northampton, England shoemaking trade. After watching factory after factory shutter while growing up, Chris knew he needed to create a different kind of business. Early wholesale success in Japan provided the buoy for Chris to design a sneaker made with only the finest possible materials available—including J&FJ Baker oak bark leather, and Horween’s renowned shell cordovan—sell made-to-order models direct, and see if it caught. (Oh it caught.) Now, Chris is on the verge of launching E. Woodford, an extremely high-end, full-custom handwelt line powered by Chris’s own bespoke shoemaking knowledge, and his desire to create “careers, not jobs” for shoemakers in Northampton. In a fascinating, engaging chat, Chris talks us through the Woodford family shoemaking history that stretches back to 1908, how wars have always powered the Northampton shoe trade (and what happens when they end), why he’s obsessed with using only the best materials and preserving nearly vanished techniques, and why creating an environment in which shoemakers can learn and grow and be excited about their work every single day is the key to Northampton’s future success. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ This episode was sponsored by Grant Stone Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	19 Sep 2023	Rose Anvil's FINAL Take on Alden Indys, Plus Behind The Scenes of the RA Operation	01:12:41
We're back with Weston Kay, the one and only Rose Anvil from the new streaming video platform called "YouTube", to discuss the shame he feels for the criminal act of cutting a pair of 100+ year old WWI boots in half, how he outfitted his Rose Anvil Builds workshop with some incredible old cobbling equipment, why it's much harder than it should be for him to simply tell people he loves a pair of boots, and alllllllll the things people misunderstand about him and the Rose Anvil channel. And, of course, if any of his feelings have changed about Alden Indy boots, which I unabashedly love. Things get pretty real!!! ________________________________________________________________________________________________ This episode was sponsored by Grant Stone Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	02 Oct 2023	Fifth-Generation Tanner Ed Gallun on Milwaukee's Leathermaking History, What Separates Great Leather from the Rest, and More	00:50:29
Ed Gallun was born into tanning—and even though the American tanning industry isn't what it once was for much of the life of the tannery his great-great-great grandfather started in 1858 in Milwaukee, he simply can't get away from it. That's a very good thing. Ed relaunched Gallun Leathers in 2022, focusing on tanning incredibly interesting, dare we say gutsy calf leather, as well as more outside-the-box offerings like wild boar, deerskin, and more. In a lively chat with Ed for the final episode of Shoecast season 9, we get a fantastic look at Milwaukee's impressive tanning history and how the landscape shifted over the decades, how the original iteration of Gallun grew from a small shop to a 700,000 sqft titan, what Ed learned studying "space age" tanning technology in Europe, the wildest leather he's working on right now, and how science, selection, and a bit of magic births fantastic leather. This episode was sponsored by Nicks Boots Theme song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	24 Oct 2023	Grenson's Tim Little on UK vs Outsourced Manufacturing, Triple Welts & "Throwing Away the Pompous Bit"	00:53:01
“Let’s just change it up a bit” is how Tim Little describes his approach to shoe design for Grenson. It might as well be Tim's ongoing mantra. After years in advertising—including handling the Adidas footwear account—Tim decided it was time to change it up a bit and make some welted footwear. Tim Little Shoes was born, with Tim working with various Northampton factories to create different types of quirky-but-classic styles that found a small but obsessive core audience. That work led Tim to change it up a bit again and take on the role of creative director for Grenson in 2005, before taking the whole damn thing over in 2010. Under Tim's watch, founded-in-1866 Grenson has been reignited in a way that, well, changes it up a bit from your typical historic Northampton shoemaker—combining classic English shoemaking techniques with a more fashion-forward approach that isn't afraid to break rules while knowing what the core of a great shoe always needs to be. In our Shoecast chat, Tim gets into how the iconic Grenson triple welt arose, how and why Grenson splits is manufacturing between its Northampton factory and India-based production (and the importance of maintaining the former), why so many GYW brands feel the need to make sneakers these days, how Grenson has brought a younger customer into Goodyear welted shoes, and plenty more. Oh also I attempt to spell veldtschoen, live on air. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ This episode was sponsored by Grant Stone — they've got you covered on just about every size and width you could ever want in dozens of styles Theme Music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	31 Oct 2023	Boot Camp!!! Ben & Ticho Recap Our Inaugural Fine Leather Footwear Gathering	00:53:04
So, Ticho forced Ben to talk about Boot Camp, the fine leather footwear gathering / world's fair of boots and shoes and leather / celebration of shoemaking / big ol' party that Stitchdown just put on a few weeks back in Industry City, Brooklyn. The two get into plenty of aggressive reminiscing—about the community connections forged and strengthened, the amazing footwear and makers in attendance, and even a Boot Camp miracle or two—before spending the entire second half going over attendee feedback in an effort to make Boot Camp 2024 the best it can possibly be. If you made it to Boot Camp, we dare say you may enjoy taking a trip down boot-memory lane. If you didn't—well, living vicariously can be a pretty great way to live. And this episode should certainly help you make a call on if coming to Brooklyn for Boot Camp '24 is something that makes sense for you. Boot Camp Recap Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9j-yAXKIRc ________________________________________________________________________________________________ *This episode was sponsored by the imminent* *Nicks Boots* *Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera* Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	08 Nov 2023	Sarah Guerin aka Saboteuse Knows More About Massachusetts Shoemaking History Than Anyone Alive	01:19:17
To call Sarah Madeline Tierney Guerin an incredibly skilled cowboy boot maker would be accurate—and also highly incomplete. Sarah is also an artist, a historian, an educator, a storyteller, a preservationist, someone who just thinks about things differently than most of the rest of us, and quite possibly the person who knows the most of anyone in the world about the deep history of Massachusetts shoemaking. Sarah's nom de boot "Saboteuse" (the female version of saboteur, in French) isn't just an extremely cool word. It's a mindset she applies to both her bootmaking work and larger focus of bringing attention to the failures of the larger worldwide systems of modern mass production. In a rangy chat, Ben and Sarah discuss her genesis as an architect-turned-shoemaker, why she operates out of a replica of the Massachusetts shoemaking sheds known as "Ten Footers" and the fascinating history behind them and the 19th and early 20th century US shoemaking epicenter of Lynn and surrounding towns, how we can trace larger histories simply by looking at and understanding objects (in this case, believe it or not, boots), and making maybe her greatest work to date while watching Little League games. See much more of Sarah's work: https://www.saboteuse.com/ _______________________________________________________________________________________________ This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	21 Nov 2023	Cutting it Up With Cobbling Legend Steve Doudaklian of Bedo's Leatherworks	01:17:30
Ten years ago, Steve Doudaklian looked at a camera, said “good morning shoe repair family”, fixed up some shoes, and put a grainy video on YouTube as a service to cobblers around the world. A decade later, Steve’s videos still don’t look all that different from his first—but now they’re often watched by millions, and stand as perhaps the measuring stick of high-end shoe repair and restoration worldwide. In as lively as Shoecast episode as they get, Ben chatted with Steve about the three generations of shoemakers that preceded him; growing up in a legit war zone in Lebanon before emigrating to Falls Church, Virginia; how the shop his dad started—Bedo’s Leatherworks—has grown and shrank and otherwise shifted over time; and forming the Shoe Repair International group which now includes over 1500 cobblers around the globe. We also get into Steve's favorite shoes to repair, Alden Indys (of course), how YouTube changed Steve’s business and cobbling in general, what a craftsman sees that the customer might not, and—with intentionally zero succession plan, meaning one of America’s iconic shoe repair businesses will end with him—how long he’s planning on keeping it up. Oh and why all cobblers should wear a shirt and tie on Saturdays. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ This episode was sponsored by Grant Stone Theme song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	28 Nov 2023	Shoebag!! Craziest Break-In Stories, Plus Ticho & Ben's Only Five Forever Pairs: Revisited!	01:00:03
Long, long ago, Ben & Ticho did a Shoecast episode in which they had to (just for pretend, don't worry) get rid of all their shoes and boots—FOREVER—and only keep five pairs that just made sense for their lives. A lot has changed since then! So we went back to revisit our picks, and the results are...interesting! Also on this Shoebag episode: why taking pictures of your boots is so damn fun, what’s really happening behind the scenes in tanning, crazy break-in tales, why we both would suck at making shoes, Michael Cera x Maryam, and why a quest for total knowledge when it comes to great footwear honestly kinda takes the fun out of the whole thing. Oh and cake, for some reason. Lots and lots of cake. Fudgie the Whale, represent. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ This episode was sponsored by Nicks Boots—check out their new high-end Brandle line today Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	05 Dec 2023	Curtis From Alden Madison on How to Size Into Any Last, and That One Time He Saw Harrison Ford	01:16:07
Alden Madison is one of the essential New York City shoe stores, stocking and selling more Alden shoes and boots than likely anywhere else in the world. This week, Ben and Ticho sit down with shop co-owner Curtis Bosch to talk about how he got sucked in by the good-shoe tractor beam in the first place, how their makeup program has taken off in wild ways over the last three years, CRUCIAL Alden sizing advice (including for customers who can't come into the shop!), how to make your friendly neighborhood shoe salesperson wildly happy, Indy Boots (surprise!!) and the man who wore them best. https://aldenmadison.com/ Here's the sizing site Curtis mentions in the episode: https://dslaw.github.io/goodyearwelt-sizes/sizes.html Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	09 Jan 2024	Ken Diamond on the Rare Satisfaction of Making Boots by Hand	00:50:26
Back in the 2010s, Ken Diamond had a booming moccasin business in Vancouver—celebrities wore his shoes, which also secured a hallowed spot on the shelves of Istetan, the Tokyo department store that's home to likely the world's great shoe selection. But at the brand's peak, a bit burned out and seeking something fresh, Ken bailed on it all. Today, 150km and two ferries from Vancouver on Canada's remote Sunshine Coast, Ken is hand-making stitchdown construction boots, one pair at a time. This episode, Ben chats with Ken about what that moccasin roller coaster ride was like, how he started making boots (with a construction that's just so incredibly different from the moccasins), the meaning and impact of "copying" designs, what perfection means in footwear and if it's even attainable, and what satisfaction truly means to him. Oh and LOST. That too. WE HAVE TO GO BACK, KEN!!! https://www.instagram.com/kendiamondboots/ ________________________________________________________________________________________ This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	19 Jan 2024	Sagara's Bagus Satrio on the Indonesian Bootmaking Explosion	00:46:45
Sagara head man Bagus Satrio is one of my favorite people in the whole bootmaking game. I absolutely love the work he and his team do—his Cordmasters need to be at or near the top of ANYONE’S best monkey boots ranking—and he’s just a hugely interesting and wonderful man. Sagara’s almost 15 years deep doing exceptional work, and about a half decade into massively deserved international prominence. Which is great! But not always the easiest. So Bagus and I going to talk about that ride, what Sagara makes now and has coming up, wonderful dogs named after shoes…the whole deal. Been trying to make this one happen for over a year! Language barrier and weather—it rained hard when we taped, you might hear it a bit—be damned. https://sagarabootmaker.com/ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ This episode was sponsored by Grant Stone Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	13 Feb 2024	The (Mostly) Complete History of Boots with Bata Shoe Museum Director Elizabeth Semmelhack	01:25:09
In one of our favorite—and certainly the most sprawling—Shoecast episodes to date, Ben chats with Elizabeth Semmelhack, director and curator of the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, Canada. Which I believe is safe to say—thanks to more than 15,000 shoes, boots, and related artifacts covering 4,500 years of human history—is the world’s preeminent dedicated shoe archive and museum. We follow Bata's mission of telling the history of humanity through shoes, starting with how and where shoes even emerged, then covering everything from King Tut's gold sandals, to how high heels were originally designed for THE MOST RUGGED OF MEN, to why sizing is such a mess from a historical perspective, and how the world's most momentous wars have been won and lost because of...boots. Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	20 Feb 2024	Goods & Services' Rory Fortune on Handwelting Sneakers, and the Shell Cordovan BIRKENCHONKS	00:54:10
The sneaker and welted footwear worlds are (very slowly) colliding, and Rory Fortune is smack in the middle of the two In 2019, Rory and his wife Lauren set up shop in LA's design district to open Goods & Services, a half cobbler shop / half sneaker customization pacesetter. Custom resoles—often accomplished via the tricky process of converting cemented footwear to a welted, continually resoleable state—were immediately a core staple, while fully custom-designed footwear of various kinds worked its way in over the years as well. Goods & Services' work is consistently creative, impressively executed, and honestly just...really kinda dope. In this episode, Ben chatted with Rory about how he cut his cobbling teeth, how Goods & Services' vision and mission have evolved in the last half-decade, why sneaker tastes and trends are shifting around so fast these days, his collection of wonderfully old shoemaking machinery, and why a world with even a few welted sneakers is a significantly better place. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	28 Feb 2024	Tony & Tobias of Wyatt & Dad Cobblers on Building a Shoe Repair Mini-Empire	01:03:26
Back in 1989, Tony Wyatt and his brother Lance launched Wyatt & Dad Cobbler Company (and even trained their retired-preacher dad to do shoe repair work, so no it's not just a clever name). Thirty five years later, the operation has seen endless swings in the cobbling industry, weathering them as well as any operation out there. The goal was always to build a chain that could deliver essential shoe repair services to communities in North Carolina big and small, and that's exactly what happened—with expansion and contraction following the whims of customers. Today, Wyatt & Dad has two shops...plus, obviously, a cabin in the middle of nowhere, where Tobias Crislip does incredibly high-end repair, restoration, and customization work that's mailed in from all over the globe. On the latest Shoecast episode, I chatted with Tony and Tobias about how it all started for each of them and how they've smartly identified shifting opportunities over the decades, old TV commercials and billboards...about cobblers...why every cobbler is seemingly required to have a thriving YouTube channel, where the trade is going and how to keep it alive and humming in a very real way in 2024 and beyond, and plenty more. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	06 Mar 2024	Actor Adam Goldberg on His Lifelong Quest to Remake James Dean's Boots	01:12:56
Adam Goldberg has quite legitimately always been one of my favorite actors—and from Dazed & Confused, to the Fargo TV show, to A Beautiful Mind, he has always been EXCELLENTLY attired, right down to his boots. But he doesn't just play a person who cares about boots on TV and in movies! Adam is a very real-deal obsessive who's neck deep in Clinch, Zerrow's, and quite possibly too much more. In an episode that will surely open the floodgates to most-to-all of Hollywood coming on the Shoecast to confess their footwear compulsions, Adam and Ben discuss boots he wore in different roles—usually self-selected!—sings a lovely rendition of "Working My Way Back to Ropers", tells the twist-and-turn-filled tale of his decades-long quest to get James Dean's boots reproduced, and announces the "only"(ha!) pair of boots he wants, all while we attempt to figure out what the hell is wrong with us for loving this stuff so much. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ This episode was sponsored by Nicks Boots—who turns 60 this year! Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	13 Mar 2024	Bespoke Shoemaker Sebastian Tarek on West-End Outwork and Judging the World's Greatest Shoemaking Competition	00:56:52
When London (by way of Australia) bespoke shoemaker Sebastian Tarek began making shoes in high school, his grandmother let him in on a little secret: he had been preceded in his journey by 18 generations of family cordwainers. After years of schooling—including at the famed Cordwainers College in Hackney, London—he eventually ended up settling into a role as a bottom-maker for some of Savile Row's most prestigious bespoke firms, both in an in-house capacity and also as an piece-work outworker. Today, Sebastian continues his outwork...work...while also creating his own bespoke shoes and boots for clients, as well as select ready-to-wear collections for retailers in Japan and elsewhere. While the outwork keeps his skills sharp and focused, Sebastian's personal shoemaking style is a raw, anti-elegant ("I don't want the act of shoemaking to be the attempt to replicate and perfect something a machine can do") exploration of UK-based materials, all sprung from a love of old worn denim, centuries-old Japanese farmhouses, and possible overuse of the word "singularity". To top it all off, Sebastian's about as delightfully affable and humble as people get, and there are few people more enjoyable to talk shoes and shoemaking with. So I did that! ______________________________________________________________________________________________ This episode was sponsored by Grant Stone Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	03 Apr 2024	Shoe Care Essentials, How Many Boots is Too Many, Brands We Want Back...It's The Shoebag!!	01:24:38
Before he bolts for a very important trip to the bread store, Ticho is back in the leather-smelly homestead for perhaps our most comprehensive Shoebag episode ever, in which we discuss what shoe care products are essential and which you don't really need, brands we'd love to see restored to their former glory, what to wear with Red Wings (vague hint: anything!), how many midsoles is just too many midsoles, what we'll look back at in 10 years and make fun of ourselves for, and plenty more! ________________________________________________________________________________________________ This episode was sponsored by Grant Stone Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	11 Apr 2024	Fritz Sr. and Jr. of Seidel Tanning on the Art, Science, and Challenges of Making Leather	01:03:46
This time Ben sits down with two, count ‘em TWO Fritz Seidels: Fritz Jr. and Fritz Sr., who every day are continuing on the tradition of the four-generation, 79-year-old Siedel Tanning Corp in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In addition to getting the lowdown on some longtime Seidel favorite leathers and overlooked gems, we get into Seidel’s history and fluid approach to tanning and meeting shifting market demands, what in the hell all that machinery in a tannery is doing all day long, why making heavyweight boot leathers is so damn tough—and of course, cows getting diaper rash. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ This episode was sponsored by Nicks Boots Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	16 Apr 2024	Exploring What "Handmade" Truly Means With Leatherworker and Bootmaker Bob Henderson	01:09:20
For the penultimate episode of the 11th season of the Stitchdown Shoecast, I’m quite excited indeed to be chatting with the just ridiculously talented man they call Bob Henderson. Bob is the operations manager at Popov Leather, the bustling leathergoods workshop over yonder in British Columbia, Canada—and over the last few years has been sucked up by the indomitable tractor beam known as bootmaking, operating as Bob Henderson Handmade Boots. In a nice and rangy chat, Bob and I get into how Popov came to be and has managed to become a major player in the ever-more-crowded wallets, belts, and other small leathergoods space, what handmade really means in a world where the term is easily abused, his descent into bootmaking madness, old Toyota trucks (finally) and how they inspire his boot designs, why he wishes he could live at Disneyland forever, and plenty more—this one’s about bootmaking, and business-building, and why we care about what we care about. Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	03 May 2024	Chisos Founder Will Roman on How Cowboy Boots Will Save Us All	00:45:26
For the closeout episode of Shoecast season 11, Ben sits down with Will Roman, founder of Chisos Boots, a young and growing brand out of Austin, Texas that offers one of the best values in a legitimately well made, well designed cowboy boot. They cover how Chisos in some ways started with a lemonade stand, how Will ended up in León Mexico and fell in love with a small father-son workshop that makes Chisos to this day, where Chisos veers from cowboy bootmaking tradition and where it's extremely firmly rooted in it, his take on cowboy boot gatekeeping, and the grander promise he sees in the iconic American piece of footwear. This episode was sponsored by Grant Stone Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	02 Jul 2024	Custom Shoemaker Amara Hark-Weber on Why She Makes a Different Pair Every Single Time	01:07:43
Amara Hark-Weber surely must be one of the most delightful people in this world—which anyone could likely tell just from looking at the remarkably unique and creative boots and shoes the Twin Cities, Minnesota-based custom maker creates. This episode, Amara fought through a cold to discuss why she makes EVERY pair different from the previous, the incredible teachers who helped her learn the craft in very different ways, why she owns approximately 100,000 awls, not sleeping the night before a customer picks up their pair, her work spreading the gospel of great shoemaking in museum and academic settings, and slashing boots (which is exactly what it sounds like). Amara's site: https://www.harkweberstudio.com/ Josh's written interview with Amara: https://www.stitchdown.com/the-stitchdown-conversation/amara-hark-weber/ Amara's Voices of Contemporary Shoemakers article: https://www.craftcouncil.org/post/voices-contemporary-shoemakers Hand Made in America: Contemporary Custom Footwear: https://cdmc.wisc.edu/hand-made-in-america-contemporary-custom-footwear/ Between Dreams and Reality: Bespoke Footwear: https://penland.org/gallery/2024_horn_bespoke-footwear/ Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	09 Jul 2024	Behind The Scenes of Footwear Development With White's Boots President Eric Kinney & Jason from Division Road	00:52:39
In long-overdue returns to the Shoecast, White’s Boots President Eric Kinney and Division Road’s Jason Pecarich sat down to pull back the curtain on what it’s really like to develop new footwear products, getting into every twist and turn on past collaborative makeups as well as some forthcoming never-before-seen construction + style combos. We also hit on White’s lead times improving, very promising new boot-shoes, and what to expect at the White’s residency at Division Road this September 20th-21st. Also: what in the heck are “lifestyle” boots anyway, and do we need a new word for them?? Give it a listen through LINK IN BIO! Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	18 Jul 2024	Tokyo Boot Scene—Japan's Incredible Footwear City	01:29:24
Phil Kalas of the Full Grain Podcast takes over the Shoecast this week to interview Ben about his recent trip to boots-and-shoes mecca Tokyo—expect a deep-dive into city's astounding footwear scene, why and how it exists, plus a preview of five upcoming feature videos that'll be coming out before too long. Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	30 Jul 2024	Flora Knight on Guthrie, Oklahoma's Cowboy Bootmaking Lineage and That Time She Tried to Tan Her Own Leather	01:02:52
She was born in Canada and grew up in New Zealand, but few people could possibly seem more at home making bespoke cowboy boots in Guthrie, Oklahoma than Flora Knight. Learning the craft from two of the historic western city's best teachers imaginable—bootmaking legends Lisa Sorrell and Ray Dorwart—certainly didn't hurt things. Neither did her other obsession: old-time American fiddle-playing. But Flora has most definitely carved out her own path to become a supremely talented bootmaker in her own right. On this episode of the Shoecast, Ben chatted with Flora about the most brutal days in the workshop being some of her best learning experiences, why you can't force artistry in bootmaking, and how to draw out a customer's personal vision, all while considering how the music and boots she creates reflect a pre-industrial society that might just have been a little bit better. https://www.instagram.com/floraknightbootmaker/ This episode was sponsored by Nicks Boots Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	06 Aug 2024	Shoebag!!! Best Boots to Travel With, Shoe Books, Wood Soles, and P'Zones	01:16:03
Ben and Ticho once again dip into the Shoebag to answer listener questions—and tap in some special experts along the way—including: how to size boots to match orthotic inserts? What are some of the best brands for Women’s GYW shoes? Our thoughts on revolutionary new sole materials? Initial footwear “hard pass” that you eventually learned to love? How to start working as a bootmaker? And obviously, because it's highly shoe related, what are the best road trip snacks? __________ *This episode was sponsored by* *Nicks Boots* *Theme song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera* Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	14 Aug 2024	Caswell's Kevin Wilson on How to Start a One-Man Boot Brand—and Bringing Back US Manufacturing	00:58:35
“The only way I learned was making many mistakes and losing a shit ton of money in the process” is how Kevin Wilson neatly sums up the never-simple process of getting Caswell Boot Company off the ground. In the past five years since saying "I'm going to start a boot company!", Kevin's stared down a failed Kickstarter attempt, his original US-based factory shutting down, patterns gone missing, rising costs in every possible area, and all the general fickleness that comes standard with manufacturing high-quality footwear. But Kevin has found a truly powerful audience while building a brand that does things a bit differently, especially in terms of custom options, a hugely impressive leather array, and manufacturing in four different countries—including, soon, the US again. We break down Caswell's different lines and how he manages to cohere them together, the bevy of mistakes he made along the way, an entirely new brand he's been plotting for a bit, and what inspired him a half-decade ago to say “a regular person can do this.” Caswell's website: https://www.caswellbootco.com/ *This episode was sponsored by* *Nicks Boots* *Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera* Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	04 Sep 2024	Jess Wootten on Making Boots in an Australian Gold Rush Town, and Blake Rapid Misconceptions	00:51:41
This episode's chat is with Jess Wootten of…Wootten! The Ballarat, Australia boots and shoes and leathergoods maker that is doing some very interesting work. We covered how Jess somewhat tripped into a family tradition of bootmaking, ran down what Wootten's making in Ballarat and how, some common misconceptions about the Blake/Rapid (aka McKay welted) construction that Wootten often deploys, what it's like to grow a boutique bootmaking operation (not easy!), why Australians are possibly overly obsessed with Chelsea boots, and plenty more. Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	10 Sep 2024	Molly Monahan, The Motorcycle Mechanic Turned Garlic Farmer Turned Small-Town Cobbler	00:51:15
When you grow up in a shoe repair shop directly next door to your actual house, it's hard to not catch the cobbling bug. But oh did Molly Monahan try to resist. After learning how to repair motorcycles and doing some farming for a bit, Molly one day told her mother "we're opening the shop back up!" and immediately put mom back to work making leathergoods, before realizing she herself barely knew how to repair a damned thing. Over a decade (and four kids, who themselves are growing up in a cobbler shop!) later, Molly and Sally run the reborn Saleigh Mountain Co., the epitome of a folksy, small-town, repair-everything shop in Hermann, Missouri. I chatted with Molly about the crucial importance of local shops in a world where high-end customization operations are thriving, the boots that have carried her through it all, and perhaps most importantly, piddling. Man is there a lot of piddling in this episode. Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	02 Oct 2024	Brian The Bootmaker May Actually Be Mister Rogers	01:20:40
To be honest I didn’t think I’d ever get Brian the Bootmaker on this show—he doesn’t do many interviews at all, and for whatever reason I was, quite frankly, kind of afraid to ask him. Which in hindsight is insane because he’s about as sweet and genuine and fantastic to talk to as people come. Working out of the central Los Angeles workshop he first wandered into in high school while looking for thread to customize some sneakers, Brian IS Role Club, hand-making some of the world’s most distinctive and in-demand custom boots alongside his beloved teacher Nacho for going on a decade and a half. One of the earliest stories I posted on Stitchdown.com was about a YouTube video of Brian resoling an Alden Indy Boot with a Vibram mini ripple sole. Some said it was sacrilege! But all of Brian’s videos, and work, reflect him so well. He’s an innovator despite relying on techniques hundreds of years old, a calm in the content storm, a still young man who loves nothing more than really old boots. And one of the most thoughtful people I’ve ever chatted with. Also he just might be Mister Rogers. Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	19 Nov 2024	Brett Viberg is Back on the Shoecast, and He's Bringing Loafers	01:27:37
15 years ago Viberg was pretty firmly Canada’s most hardcore logging and industrial boot company. Since Brett Viberg took over the reins of the nearly 100-year-old brand from his father Glen, Viberg has in many ways completely changed the high-end, recraftable boot market—most notably with its Service Boot, which became a legitimate game-shifting icon, and inspiration to many. In our last chat in 2021, Viberg was in the midst of directional shift again, although you could only catch traces of what that would mean in the years to come. Now, two and a half years later, Brett’s vision is starting to present itself in a product line that’s in some ways the classic Viberg of the last decade, and in others something totally different. And so I poked and prodded Brett on what’s been happening out in public and behind the scenes, as we also traced back his personal Viberg timeline to understand how in the hell a Canadian logging boot company is somehow now creating some of the most well-made production dress shoes in the entire world. Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	26 Nov 2024	Vintage King Brian Davis of Wooden Sleepers on Why Everything We Buy Sucks These Days	01:28:58
Often, vintage clothing and footwear's defining quality IS quality. As in, its actual construction and materials, how well it was made, way back when. In most cases, it wouldn’t even be here today if it wasn’t. The footwear world we explore on this podcast is absolutely the exception, and a beautiful one, to the core rule of the 21st century: most stuff we buy and use and wear today is, well, kinda shit. It’s made to break down, or just break. It’s SUPPOSED to go into the trash, so you just get get more. Vintage is a reminder that things weren’t always that way. Exploring why most clothes and footwear used to be great, when most simply aren’t now, is just one of the reasons I was so excited to chat with Brian Davis, who’s been finding and selling some of the absolute best vintage menswear and boots for over 15 years. Brian’s store Wooden Sleepers, located in Tuckahoe New York about a 40 minute train ride from Manhattan, is a time capsule of American military, outdoors, Ivy, and workwear, all of it still kicking hard. Brian’s got a whole bunch of thoughts on why, and why that changed—as well as a fantastic outlook on the current vintage landscape, shoe tribalism, materials that age beautifully, and his absolutely wonderful local cobbler, Frank. https://wooden-sleepers.com/ Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	04 Dec 2024	Aki Choklat on Building a Shoemaking College Program From Scratch	00:44:03
In the US, there are schools for everything—of course you can study business, or to become a doctor. But also if you want to be an electrician, or an airplane mechanic—someone can teach you that. And then you’ve got UConn, which has offered an apparently quite intense puppetmaking major, every year since 1964. So why not for shoemaking? Examples do exist, but they are far too scant—you can head to Atlanta to learn shoemaking from Marcel Mrsan, but that’s far from the only work he’s doing every day. Brooklyn Shoe Space, Cobbler Bushwick, and the Chicago School of Shoemaking are all fantastic and lighting shoemaking sparks every day, although they currently cater more to hobbyists. DW Frommer’s school in Montana was a cowboy bookmaking bastion, but it closed when he passed last year. So what about a multi-year, school that teaches shoe design AND making? I just visited one. The College for Creative Studies in Detroit, the impressive design school which has grown a full degree program that heavily involves shoemaking. I spent two days at CCS this past summer to meet with its program chair Aki Choklat, along with bespoke shoemaking toolmaker and faculty member Tom Carbone, plus a whole bunch of very invested students who really knew their way around a sole stitcher. What Aki and Tom are building at CCS is impressive, and dare I say quite needed, in a landscape where it’s easier to pick up shoemaking than ever before—as long as you do it online, by yourself—but far too hard in the United States to find quality hands-on teaching. And so we talked about that, how the CCS program came about and has grown, what the hell AI is going to do to the shoe industry, and plenty more. https://www.ccsdetroit.edu/ https://www.instagram.com/akichoklat/?hl=en https://www.akichoklat.com/ Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	11 Dec 2024	Holly Henry on the Cowboy Bootmaking Community's Sustaining Power (Also: Saddles)	01:05:48
I will tell anyone who dares listen that handmade bootmaking—and perhaps specifically, cowboy bootmaking—is the highest form of leatherwork as functional art. And then I started paying attention a bit more to saddlemaking and was like damn ok maybe they’re tied. Parker, Colorado-based custom bootmaker Holly Henry knows a ton about both. Holly grew up riding horses outside Houston, Texas, and was, quite remarkably, a professional photographer by her early teens. While studying photography in college, she took a shoemaking course—which changed everything. After some skill-informing detours through millinery (that’s hat-making!), tailoring, and, yes, intensive saddle repair, Holly began training to make cowboy boots, moved to Colorado, and struck out on her own as an independent bootmaker. Which is exactly where we pick her up, on the Shoecast. Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	17 Dec 2024	Shoecast BONUS Episode Preview: Shop Talk With Brett Viberg & Shuyler Mowe of Nicks Boots	00:45:17
It's our first-ever BONUS Shoecast episode—in a brand new format called Shop Talk. The idea is simple: -1 moderator (Ben from Stitchdown) -2 guests—this time, Brett Viberg of Viberg Boot, and Shuyler Mowe of Nicks Boots. -3 questions apiece—which can be about absolutely anything, and the other guest MUST answer meaningfully. And boy did it end up being hugely revealing, and insightful, and just damned interesting. And fun! This first bonus Shoecast episode is free to listen to for everyone! But after that, all bonus Shoecast episodes will be available for our wonderful Stitchdown Premium subscribers only. If you want to look more into how to support the show with a membership, and get access to even more Shoecast, stop by Stitchdown.com and check out the Shoecast tab for more info. Hope to see you in the Discord! And right here for bonus episodes, coming very soon. Hope you enjoy this first ever Shop Talk episode, with Brett and Shuyler. Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	07 Jan 2025	How to Make Your Leather Footwear Last Literally (Possibly) Forever, With Pure Polish's Andy Vaughn	01:11:47
The idea that well-made, resoable footwear can last almost literally forever is one of its core allures—but it’s a promise that simply won’t come true if it’s not cared for properly. Especially the leather. But what’s the best way to do that? And for different types of leather? Well you’ll know a ton more after my fantastic chat with Andy Vaughn, owner of Pure Polish, the Oregon-based company whose emphasis on 100% natural, non-toxic leather care products is fulfilled thanks to the kind of experience and knowledge that comes with obviously researching and making the stuff—but also personally restoring over 100 pairs of vintage shoes—all of which we got out of Andy over the course of a fantastic episode. Get ready for the most fun you’ll ever have learning about Bentonite clay, along with where things can go VERY wrong, Andy’s Universal Care Truth Trinity, why brushing is so essential and if the fancy ones are worth it, and plenty more. Time to keep it clean, keep it conditioned, and keep it protected, with Andy Vaughn, of Pure Polish. Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	28 Jan 2025	Skateboard Legend Jamie Thomas Goes Inside a 300° Oven To Explain How Skate Shoes are Made	01:12:45
Jamie Thomas is one of the most revered skateboarders of all time—and also a footwear designer and serial skate shoe brand founder. The release of his latest brand Warsaw seemed as good an excuse as any to have Jamie take me through the history of skate shoes and the sponsorships that arose around them, how and where they're made (and with what materials, constructions, and performance considerations), and how the landscape of one of the world's most influential types of footwear has shifted over the decades. Here’s my chat with Jamie Thomas, on the Shoecast. Jamie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamiethomas/ Warsaw: https://warsawltd.com/ Jamie Thomas' 1997 Leap of Faith jump: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqqPCqyAfl4 Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	04 Feb 2025	What Opie Way's Justin James Lost in Hurricane Helene—and What He Found	01:17:56
In 2019, Justin James started Opie Way, a recraftable sneaker brand made right in Asheville North Carolina, USA, using incredibly high quality materials—something that basically didn’t exist previously. Then suddenly, Justin's factory and brand didn't exist. In 2024, Hurricane Helene brought six feet of rampaging water tore through the Opie Way factory. Machinery, records, inventory, supplies—destroyed in a literal flash. What’s it like to lose everything? How do you build back in the face of cataclysmic challenges? When true disaster strikes is there, somehow, a positive, just waiting to be uncovered? Check out Opie Way's site: https://opieway.com/ And here's the Pearl Boot Company website, Justin's newest footwear venture we discuss quite a bit: https://pearlboot.com/ Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	13 Feb 2025	All the Shoes & Boots Derek Guy Loves—and a Few He Really Doesn't—From Bespoke to Workboots	01:29:31
Derek’s an OG forum junkie turned menswear writer for Put This On, mass publications like The New York Times, and his own always-excellent blog Die Workwear!. In the last few years, Derek has become, to many, Menswear Guy on Twitter, where his sharp cultural insights on style and complete lack of brevity break every rule of the platform in such a wonderfully potent manner (…and sometimes get him screamed at online, believe it or not). I’ve been a huge fan of Derek’s for years, so getting some time with him to just talk about the shoes and boots we dig, from bespoke to workboots, was—putting it quite lightly—an honor. Links to every brand/style we discuss can be found here: https://www.stitchdown.com/stitchdown-shoecast/derek-guy-recommends-shoes-boots/ Put This On https://putthison.com/author/derek/ Die Workwear https://dieworkwear.com/ Derek's Twitter: https://x.com/dieworkwear Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	10 Apr 2025	How Tariffs Are Already Impacting the Footwear Industry, with FDRA CEO Matt Priest	00:46:58
Matt Priest, President and CEO of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, came on the Shoecast the morning after 104% tariffs on Chinese goods into the US hit in a rapidly-moving-target trade war with the United States and just about every other country. What ARE tariffs? How might tariffs and general uncertainty impact massive shoe brands? Smaller ones? Made-in-USA footwear? Retail prices? What's kinds of supply chain breakdowns have already happened and what might be next? How does the lobbying work that FDRA does function and benefit the footwear industry? And why is everyone suddenly really, really mad at Matt? Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	29 May 2020	Indonesian Bootmakers Bonanza	00:51:46
While it may take a true boot geek to realize it, Indonesian bootmakers create some of the best values in handwelted footwear—and at their best, they are truly beautiful sights to behold. But how do you navigate Indonesia's dozens of bootmakers? Who to go with? How to order? What are they charging? Ben from @stitchdown and @tichoblancoshoes go deep on Indonesian boot culture and how it arose, plus the makers you should be considering. And like in every episode, your questions about shoes and boots, leather, care, and more are all answered with disturbing accuracy, in the Shoe Bag. Indonesian Shoe and Bootmakers mentioned in this episode: Onderhoud Handmade Benzein Shoes Sagara Bootmaker Txture Shoe & Bootmaker Winson Shoemaker Junkard Co. Boots Prof Barnets Santalum Renav Goods Company Kabayz Company Imperium Hidalgo Boots Monroe Heritage Panama Heritage Tahura Boots Company Hidalgo Boots Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	09 Jun 2020	Made-To-Order Boots & Shoes	00:47:03
Exploring the world of made-to-order—or MTO—shoes and boots. How do you figure out what to make? Where do you start? Ticho and Ben break down their approaches and philosophies on MTO, plus which makers you should consider doing MTO with, and how much they cost. Then as always, it's on to the Shoe Bag, in which we answer listener questions ranging from how to care for roughout boots, to the most versatile overall shoe for everyday wear. Shoe/Bootmakers and Shops Mentioned in this Episode: Viberg Boot White's Boots Wesco Boots Nick's Boots Frank's Boots Drew's Boots JK Boots Mark Albert Boots Onderhoud Handmade Crockett & Jones Sagara Carmina Vass Truman Thorogood Grant Stone Unmarked Division Road Baker's Boots & Clothing Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	17 Jun 2020	Underrated Shoe & Bootmakers	00:45:03
Certain great shoe and boot brands are discussed endlessly. And others, well, not nearly enough. This week on the Shoecast, Ticho and Ben get deep into four brands we think deserve a ton more play out there in the conversation—ZEB Shoes, TLB Mallorca, Parkhurst, and J.M. Weston—and get into their histories, unique offerings, value, how to size, and of course, how to get them. Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	23 Jun 2020	What's the Greatest Alden Shoe or Boot of All Time?	00:37:21
Alden is the last great American dress shoe maker—and their boots might just be even better. Ticho and Ben take on an impossible task: debating the best Alden model of them all. 16 enter, but only one will win. Get ready for a knock-down, drag-out battle. This episode was sponsored by Grant Stone—we wholeheartedly suggest you check out their lineup right here. Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	01 Jul 2020	The Best Alden Model Ever...Decided!	00:52:45
Last episode Ben and Ticho took 16 of Alden's best shoes and boots, debated fiercely, and narrowed them down to 8, tournament-style. This time, those 8 become 1—the greatest Alden model of all time. Listen in for the debate, even if it's just to let us know where we were right and wrong. This episode was sponsored by Grant Stone—we wholeheartedly suggest you check out their lineup right here. Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	07 Jul 2020	Shoebag!! What's the Best-Value Pricepoint? How To Build Up Patina? And More!	00:47:00
It's time for the Shoebag, in which Ticho and Ben answer ANYTHING listeners want to know about. This week we talk about how to ensure you get the best possible patina on your boots, the importance of branding for shoe companies, which price point represents the best value, and plenty more—including why Tichoblanco is even called Tichoblanco. It's a fun one. This episode was sponsored by Grant Stone—we wholeheartedly suggest you check out their lineup right here. Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	15 Jul 2020	The Rise and Fall and Rise Again of the US Handsewn Industry	00:44:10
Handsewns—boat shoes, camp mocs, ranger mocs, guide boots, penny loafers, and other shoes and boots made with handsewn moccasin construction—are some of the most comfortable, and indeed truly handmade footwear that exists. This week on the Shoecast, and Ticho and Ben from Stitchdown get into how they're made, and how the US industry—based largely in Maine—arose and turned into a powerhouse, then entered a troubling period of decline before being reborn in a legitimately wonderful new fashion over the last couple decades. This is the first of two handsewn episodes; this one is more focused on construction and industry history, while in the next episode we'll get deeper into the USA-made brands we love, their histories, the unique models they make, and plenty more. This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange, where you don't NEED an engineering degree to buy their engineer boots...but it helps. Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	21 Jul 2020	The Handsewn Makers You Need to Know: Quoddy, Rancourt, Russell, Maine Mountain, and Yuketen	01:00:49
In the last episode of the Shoecast, Ticho and Ben did a birds-eye view of the US handsewn moccasin construction footwear scene: how the shoes are made, and the rise and fall and rise again of the industry behind it, largely in Maine. It's a deeply interesting and often inspiring ride, and you can check it out right here. This week, we go deeper on five brands crafting a truly amazing range of handsewns: Rancourt, Quoddy, Russell Moccasin, Maine Mountain Moccasin, and the most innovative and boundary-pushing of them all, Yuketen. We cover each brand's specific history, and of course, what they make. Also we say some things about Chicago-style hot dogs that will surely get us in trouble with the good people of the Windy City. This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange, where you don't NEED an engineering degree to buy their engineer boots...but it helps. Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	30 Jul 2020	All Things Østmo With Bootmaking Virtuoso Lars Jensen	00:59:52
This week, the Shoecast is actually the Larscast, as Ben from @Stitchdown and @tichoblancoshoes spend a whole bunch of time chatting with Lars Jensen, the one-man Norwegian wondermaker who creates—and indeed IS—Østmo boots. Things you should know: 1) Lars is the best. 2) We talk about a lot of boots stuff, including his inspiration, his process for making a pair, and his favorite tool (a gift from none other than @rizkyafnan of @onderhoudhandmade). 3) He reveals the two things in this world that you can give him in exchange for skipping the lottery to get a pair of Østmo boots. 4) According to Lars we’ve apparently all been pronouncing @vibergboot wrong. 5) Lars is the best. All in all it’s a really, really fun episode, and it was honestly a damned honor to have Lars on. This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange, where you don't NEED an engineering degree to buy their engineer boots...but it helps. Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	05 Aug 2020	If You Had to Choose Only Five Shoes or Boots, For The Rest of Your Life…What Would They Be??	01:01:20
If you were forced to choose only five pairs of boots and shoes for the rest of our life, and had to give away everything else...what would those five be? Because we are masochists, Ticho and I decided to subject ourselves to this horrific—but enlightening!—thought experiment on the most recent Shoecast episode. It was NOT easy. We lost sleep. And we were both sickened by how similarly we thought about building a tight collection. But we did it. And if you feel like driving yourself insane, In strongly recommend you try it too. If you're on Instagram, post them and tag #myonlyfivepairs, @tichoblancoshoes, and @stitchdown— we'll be reposting plenty. This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange, where you don't NEED an engineering degree to buy their engineer boots...but it helps. Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	11 Aug 2020	How To Build a Fantastic Shoe Collection Without Going Broke	00:49:03
Quality shoes & boots—they cost some money! But it's completely possible to construct a well-rounded collection on the (relative!) cheap...you just have to approach it correctly. Ben from @stitchdown and Ticho both have managed to pull it off, and this week they share their 5-point system for how to think about long-term value, collection fluidity, the best ways to get things on the cheap, cash management, selling and trading shoes, and how to build a sustainable master plan that will keep your feet very happy for years to come. This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange, where you don't NEED an engineering degree to buy their engineer boots...but it helps. Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	18 Aug 2020	Ticho's Foolproof System for Getting Insane Deals on Used Shoes	00:58:54
@tichoblancoshoes is many things: esteemed shoe collector, Harrison Ford appreciator, a man who knows his way around a pizza. He is also a scoundrel—but his very scoundrelness can help you get the secondhand shoes you want, at the exact price you want, if you follow Ticho's Outstanding Negotiating System, aka T.O.N.S. Ben from @stitchdown and Ticho also take you through everything else you need to know about buying used shoes: where to look, how to search, what to look for, and most importantly, where you can go very right, and VERY, very wrong. This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange, where you don't NEED an engineering degree to buy their engineer boots...but it helps. Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	26 Oct 2020	Almost Vintage Style's Jake vs Ticho: The Stitchdown Bootbate	00:59:37
After a rollicking first season, the Stitchdown Shoecast is BACK for number two. And to make the return even more special, this first episode presents the first-ever Stitchdown Bootbate, an extremely formal and rigid debate...about boots!...pitting Shoecast co-host @tichoblancoshoes vs the formidable wide-leg-trousered opponent Jake, aka @almostvintagestyle. Let me tell you, over the course of the bootbate, these two get INTO it. Does the US or Japan make better boots? Horween vs. Shinki? Which kind of pants should be worn with engineer boots? CXL: very good, good, or less than good? How important is finishing on boots? All of these topics and more are viciously debated, and one winner will emerge—chosen by you. I can say quite honestly that this episode is not to be missed. *This episode was sponsored by the excellent Viberg retailer Withered Fig—we wholeheartedly suggest you check out their boots and impressive collection of clothing* Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	02 Nov 2020	Standard & Strange's Neil on Engineers, Naming Makeups, and Getting Detained in Japanese Jail	01:01:51
Neil Berrett, co-founder of the excellent Oakland booterdashery Standard & Strange, is many things. A Viberg and Wesco makeup wizard. A dutiful procurer of Japanese fashion (including John Lofgren boots). A kind-hearted soul who legitimately cares about the people who work for him and the community around him. And perhaps most importantly, someone who spent his time detained in a Japanese police station bribing cops with whiskey and attempting to get his hands on a really cool cop hat. In the latest Shoecast episode, Neil tells that (honestly 1000% fantastic) tale, talks about how S&S comes up with All-Name Team boots like the Axe Breaker and why nobody should be afraid of the wonders of engineer boots, and gets real on what retail life is like in a pandemic. *This episode was sponsored by the excellent Viberg retailer Withered Fig—we wholeheartedly suggest you check out their boots and impressive collection of clothing* Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	09 Nov 2020	SHOEBAG! How to Score Alden Rare Shell Cordovan, and Plenty More Shoe Questions Answered	00:52:41
"How do I get my hands on some Alden rare shell cordovan boots or shoes?" It's one of the questions we get asked the most. So Ben from @stitchdown and @tichoblancoshoes decided to crack it open, along with plenty of other listener questions you can learn a ton from. What are the best ways to store your footwear if you don't have a ton of space? Why does roughout leather never need to be conditioned? Who's making the best suede out there? What's the next big trend in boots??? We answer all those and more—give it a listen. This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange, where you don't NEED an engineering degree to buy their engineer boots...but it helps. Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	16 Nov 2020	Is Shell Cordovan Overrated or What??	01:08:01
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?!? @tichoblancoshoes and Ben from Stitchdown.com are here to engage in the most probing possible discourse to figure it out. They 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! This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange, where you don't NEED an engineering degree to buy their engineer boots...but it helps. Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	24 Nov 2020	Mark (Albert) Barbera on How to Start a Boot Company, and the Future of US-Made Footwear	00:59:27
Mark Barbera of Mark Albert Boots had a dream: make some Chelsea boots. Next thing he knew, he had an entire boot company, operating out of his hometown of Somerset, the little known maple syrup (and maple butter wings) capital of Pennsylvania. Fast forward a few years and Mark has expanded his line to include a made-in-Italy range to honor his master cobbler grandfather, and has plenty more big plans in the works. We get into the advice he would give to someone starting a boot company, the challenges the US footwear industry faces and where he sees it going, which other bootmakers he feels are working it these days, and of course, those wings. This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange, where you don't NEED an engineering degree to buy their engineer boots...but it helps. Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	02 Dec 2020	How to Find the Best Possible Shoe & Boot Values	00:41:47
WHAT ARE THE BEST VALUE SHOES I CAN BUY? It's the thing everyone wants to know. And while there are some sure-thing answers when it comes to pure bang-for-the-buck, finding the best value footwear, for you, and perhaps more importantly, extracting the maximum value from your shoes and boots, is a little more complicated. This episode, Ben from @Stitchdown and @tichoblancoshoes get (as they tend to) dangerously deep on what value means, and lay out some crucial principles to understand and consider before you make your next pickup. Obviously, we also decide once and for all what the worst Skittles flavor is. This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange, where you don't NEED an engineering degree to buy their engineer boots...but it helps. Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	08 Dec 2020	How Our Shoe Journeys Got Us Where We Are Today	01:05:53
Ahhhh, the Shoe Journey. The voyage from understanding essentially nothing about great shoes and boots to...GETTING IT. It's a path that winds in all directions, and no journey is the same for any two people. But there are almost always similarities! Flashpoints and big mistakes and everything else that shapes a shoe lover into what they are today—an evolution which, if you're doing it right, continues essentially forever. And damn is it fun. This episode, Ben from Stitchdown and @tichoblancoshoes track things all the way back to the beginning of their own shoe journeys, which involved trips to Sears, possibly fraudulent Nikes, Sparks Energyboozedrinks, and way too much Fun Dip, before beginning to see the shoe-filled light. This episode was sponsored by Mark Albert Boots, whose new Italian-made Chelseas are just hitting the streets right now. Check out the whole line! Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	15 Dec 2020	Alden's Brett Klein on Fading Shell Cordovan, Creating Masterful Makeups, and His All-Time Favorite Boot	00:57:45
Alden's Brett Klein is one of the true mensches of the footwear world. A huge part of his job is to help retailers—and humble shoe podcasters who devise Stitchup boots—dream up and refine the incredible makeups that define Peak Alden for so many of us. He's also one of the shell cordovan-fading kings of this world, having put in the time (in the sun) to beautifully alter his color 8 shell boots, and documenting the whole thing along the way with the instagram hashtag #thefadedboot. This week, @tichoblancoshoes and Ben from Stitchdown talk to Brett about how to get those exceptional fades—and if fading black shell cordovan works—as well as some of the archive gems he's seen in the Alden factory, and how he's seen the American shoemaking industry sadly ravaged by private equity and other forces. And of course what he's got in his own closet, and the Alden boot he'd keep if he could only choose one forever. Oh and one more big one: IS RARE SHELL CORDOVAN ACTUALLY RARE OR NOT??? Brett's got all the answers. This episode was sponsored by Grant Stone, one of the best overall values in fine footwear you can find anywhere. Check them out! Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	29 Dec 2020	Brett Viberg on Where Viberg is Headed as a Brand, the New Widths, and the Worst Boot He Ever Made	01:06:21
It's Brett Viberg time! Few people have exerted as much influence over the quality footwear industry over the past decade as Brett has while he's reshaped Viberg Boot from an industrial boot manufacturer to arguably the most important lifestyle boot brand in the entire scene. This episode Ben and Brett talk about Viberg's future—what is it advancing towards as a product, and as a brand, and why?—as well as the new widths the Canadian manufacturer rolled out in the past few weeks, how he evolves boot patterns and lasts, his favorite and least favorite boots he's ever made, whether or not there will be a sample sale in 2021, and plenty, plenty more. Definitely an episode not to be missed. This episode was sponsored by Grant Stone, one of the best overall values in fine footwear you can find anywhere. Check them out! Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	05 Jan 2021	The Most Important Shoe & Boot Happenings of 2020	00:49:55
2020: Interesting year! I feel like a few things happened. PLENTY also happened in the shoe world. Far more certainly than one could’ve anticipated given the circumstances. This episode, Ben from Stitchdown.com and @tichoblancoshoes run them all down and give a bit of perspective on where 2021 might take us (like, possibly wearing a ton of engineer boots, maybe?!?). This episode was sponsored by Nicks Handmade Boots: one of the most capable, indestructible boots available anywhere—and damn stylish too! Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	12 Jan 2021	Carl Murawski On Who SHOULD Wear Work Boots, and the Paradox of Buying Lots of Boots That All Last Forever	01:01:16
Carl Murawski is a man of many facets—and many boots. Sure, he's the world's largest YouTube star (and definitely go check out his excellent channel right here), and a man with a genuinely impressive perspective on so much of the fashion world. But he's also a licensed electrician who puts his footwear through more than 99% of people—and has some fantastic boot stories to tell from every step of his career. We also get into some really important boot-thinky stuff: Carl's deeply thoughtful outlook on the blue collar gatekeeping around workboots, how he views buying boots and clothing that are built to last forever...and then having a ton of them that don't get worn enough, and of course, the three pairs he couldn't live without. And be sure to check out Carl's YouTube page (after listening of course)! This episode was sponsored by Nicks Handmade Boots: one of the most capable, indestructible boots available anywhere—and damn stylish too! Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	19 Jan 2021	The Incredible Untold Boot Histories of White's, Wesco, Nicks, and Viberg	01:07:35
The Pacific Northwest is home to the last remaining epicenter of quality bootmaking in the US (and Canada)—and the stories of how the makers White's Boots, Wesco, Nicks Handmade Boots, and Viberg came to be, and how they persisted, are quite honestly nothing short of phenomenal. And you may know plenty about them! But Ticho and Ben from Stitchdown dug deeper than could possibly be considered sane into the archives of those four stalwart brands to uncover the stories that haven't been told before. We've got a man who made the very boots he walked in for SEVEN MONTHS to evade capture during WWII. We've got 100-year-old catalogs with the most colorful boot-language you've ever heard. We've got Arnold Schwarzenegger. This is an illuminating history lesson worth giving, and an inspiring ride worth taking. Buckle on up. This episode was sponsored by Nicks Handmade Boots: one of the most capable, indestructible boots available anywhere—and damn stylish too! Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/
	12 Mar 2021	Ealdwine's Matt Gray and Jim Pietryka on How To Open an Alden Shop, Selling Vibergs, and The Matt Gray Pose	01:00:03
Matt Gray came out of nowhere to become an instant Alden legend, and one of the Instagram kings of rare shell cordovan. Now Matt and partner Jim Pietryka—who has almost a decade of experience in the shoe biz and an insane vintage shoe collection—are about to celebrate the second anniversary of their Raleigh, NC shop Ealdwine. In the first episode of Shoecast Season 3, Ben from Stitchdown.com and Ticho cover a ton with Matt & Jim, from how they cook up some of the best, most distinctive Alden makeups in the entire game, to Jim's oldest vintage shoes (from the 40s!), to what shell cordovan would look like with Matt's face printed on it (and how we might be able to make it actually happen. Oh and they let the cat out of the boot-bag on a very exciting brand they'll be stocking soon.... This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange, where you don't NEED an engineering degree to buy their engineer boots...but it helps. Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/ Check out our site! https://www.stitchdown.com/ 2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon. https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

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