Imperfectly Perfect

I wore these boots hard almost daily for 6 months. I work long hours in a hospital setting, rounding on hospitalized patients on multilevel floors and I rarely use the elevator. These boots have witnessed human suffering, grief, triumph and everything in between. It has witnessed my own highs and lows as well. We also played harder. On day offs, I wear them at home as I do my destress with my hobbies involving sewing, gardening and home restorations. I brought them traveling as well: A tour of parts Europe while on a Danube river cruise. It has traversed on cobblestones alleys and streets in Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Cesky Krumlov, Passau, Regensburg and even parts of London, most especially the Windsor castle. It has traveled to the Philippines as well where it has visited the shoe capital of the country (Marikina), the presidential palace, and some world war 2 historical places as well. While in the US, it has experienced a snowy hike up Mount Charleston in Nevada, walked the beaches of LA and of course it has been all over Las Vegas where it calls its home.

The leather is surprisingly tough and resilient. I was hoping for the teacore to come out soon but it has been very shy. It’s frustrating at times. The leather seems to just “self heal”. It would be dry and starting to show patina and the next day its back to black and waxy again without me doing anything. The “teacore” effect never really showed up. Instead, the areas where the black started to fade, it turned out more of a burgundy effect, especially in the early morning hours. The leather’s creasing is asymmetrical. The left boot already came out somewhat creased at the beginning and continued to do so. I got these boots on Last Call sale. It was imperfect when I got it, but it turned out to be perfect for me.

Sizing is perfect. Half size down from my Brannock size. Wearabilty is great as well. The Eugene sole is very durable, but not as shock absorbent. You can feel everything! You step on your leather laces and you feel it right away.

Very durable. 6 months of heavy wear and not a single stitch that has frayed. All panels from Soles to uppers are still in place, no loose areas, no delaminating. Quality control might be suspect here: i can confirm the tongue has different leathers ( the right is very supple but the left is very rubbery). The creasing and is very different as well. It wasn’t a factory second but it was last call sale. So im guessing it was not the sharpest of the batch.

Very tough and durable. But you can feel everything!!! Not very shock absorbent at all. I did bring it to snowy/icy/rainy areas and I did not experience any slipping. The design is good. It has a nice clean silhouette that is perfect for the work I do

Durable with clean looks. Not very comfy. Will probably not get another eugene sole boot.

Overall I had a great time with the boots. The leather color evolution was amazing although it was not what I expected. The color change was less dramatic than I expected, so in this regard, It was disappointing. But I loved the time I spent with these boots and the memories attached to it.