Stitched Footwear

EasyMoc did not have an easy birth. Their genesis was through a brand known as the New England Outwear Company, which later rebranded as Maine Mountain Moccasin. To say the reputation of these companies was not great would be an understatement. NEOC famously took numerous preorders, then rebranded as MMM and basically told everyone who had a placed an order over the past 6 months their orders were not coming. Then tried to keep their money anyway. As you can probably imagine, MMM didn’t last long after that.

Oak Street Bootmakers is a brand that is, of course, known for their boots. It’s right in the name. And, despite not being in the name, they are also consistently listed as one of the “big three” in the Maine handsewn world. However, while they have been making those for as long as they’ve been around, they’ve also been making more substantial, goodyear welted shoes. That includes this – one of the first they launched – the Oak Street Bootmakers Wingtip.

With so much ate being thrown towards the loafer, it’s a testament to just how good they can look that tassel loafers are still as popular as they are. Just about every respected shoe brand makes a tassel loafer. From Edward Green to Sperry, there is a tassel loafer made for every price point. In spite of the push back, the tassel loafer has never disappeared from use.

Today, Grant Stone is most associated with their boots. That's always struck me as a bit unfortunate. With my own passion for tassel loafers, I thought there might be value in doing a bit of a deeper dive into this shoe. To see – are the Tassel Loafers getting the short end of the stick? Or, should the brand shift it’s focus entirely to their boot line?

Edward Green is one of the most respected names in men’s footwear for a reason. Their no-compromise approach has always meant that they design a shoe first, and then put a price on it. If that price makes mere mortals cry, then so be it. Or, at least, that is what their marketing says.

Cheaney aims to fill the same role held by Allen Edmonds at the peak of #menswear. Can Cheaney offer that perfect blend of value, quality, and design that AE had back then? Let’s find out by looking at the Cheaney Harry.

Walk into any Alden store, and assuming you have the money to spend, it’s easy to walk out with almost anything in Color 8 or Black shell. You can find the leisure hand sewn in stock all the time. That being said, not everyone wants a pair of eggplant or black loafers. If that sounds like you, and you want to stick with the Alden brand, you need to get into the wild world of rare shells. Among the rarest is this, the Color 4 Leisure Hand Sewn.

When does a footwear company go from start up to established brand? Oak Street Bootmakers has only been around since 2010. I bet there are people reading this page who have socks older than this brand. However, when taking a look at the market, there are now countless brands trying to do to Oak Street Bootmakers what they did to Alden and Allen Edmonds. Truman, Grant Stone, Parkhurst, and more all followed the path set forward by Oak Street Bootmakers. I thought it might be worth going back to the genesis of Oak Street Bootmakers, one of their first models – the Trench Boot.

I know what you’re saying – a Clarks Desert Boot review? What is this, 2015? However, I think that joke might ring a little bit too close to home over at the folks at Clark’s. After becoming the defacto choice for a guy looking to dress well during the rapid increase in #menswear (it’s still the symbol for r/malefashionadvice), the popularity of the silhouette has dropped significantly.

For such a young company, Grant Stone has made quite a name for themselves. In fact, if you’re into nicer footwear, you almost certainly own a pair of shoes that are older than the company. Founded in 2016, Grant Stone went from making a small number of models – mostly focused on loafers and bluchers – to offering 12 different make ups in countless leathers. Their most famous might just be this, the Grant Stone Edward.