More brogue roughouts please!

I have pretty much lived in these the past six months: from the office, to dog walks, trips to the playground, the beach, and travel. They were even there to witness a move back to the Netherlands after sixteen years living in the UK.

It’s quite a mouthful, this “C.F. stead Ridge Waxed Reverse Suede”, but essentially it’s a roughout, and it has aged wonderfully. The nap has gone nice and fuzzy all over, with a few points of contact where it’s been worn down (eg inside heels because of my desk chair). Colour change has been subtle, elegant even, mostly due to the wax wearing off and a few spots of flexing that have become noticeably lighter. Care routine has mainly been to give it a good brush with a suede brush every couple of weeks, and the occasional bit of clear wax on the sides of the soles. Break in was minimal, it definitely wasn’t the tough kind of break in that you expect from something like waxed flesh. Breathability has been great, and it’s very interesting going back to a chromexcel boot after wearing this one for a few days: chromexcel feels almost uncomfortably toasty by comparison.

So, size and fit are always an issue because of my stupid combination of big & narrow feet (Brannock 13A). Where narrow lasts aren’t available (and when are they ever?), I typically size down more than I probably should in order to get my heel locked in tight. As a result, it’s a little snug in the toe box but thanks to the softness of the suede it hasn’t pinched or caused any discomfort. Arch support is lacking a bit, also compared to other Tricker’s boots/shoes on different lasts. Could be that their calf leathers give the arch support a bit more firmness than this roughout does. To balance, I’ve been wearing orthotic half-sized inserts to give a bit more arch support which has helped a great deal. In all, it’s a comfortable last in combination with this roughout, but in an ideal world I’d size these up by half a size and take it on a narrower width.

Beautiful design and construction. I really like the idea of a classical English bootmaker having some fun with an American longwing pattern. You hardly ever see full brogue on roughout patterns and I think it works so well: on both the Stow or Bourton you’ll see Trickers gets quite emphatic with the size of their brogueing but here the nap of the suede makes it blend in a bit more for a more subtle look. Slightly disappointingly, the tongue on this is not gusseted at all, which meant that there has been a bit of annoying slipping and sliding of the tongue. No idea why they made this choice, because all of my other Tricker’s shoes and boots have (semi-)gusseted tongues.

Love a Dainite, what more is there to say? I put my heel down hard when I walk, so the boots are in need of new toplifts, but other than that the soles are in great shape, give lots of traction with a nice and slim-looking side-view. A chonky commando sole would look off in this case, I think. Dainites were a good choice!

If they’re still out there, I can definitely recommend them! I got these from the Tricker’s factory shop, so they may have been a limited run. Coming from the factory shop, there was a big discount on them as well of course, so they were quite a bit more affordable than your regular Tricker’s pricing.