Viberg
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Viberg - Horween Whiskey Shell Cordovan Service Boot.
I have to thank Nick Horween for getting these shells over to Viberg for me, but, more importantly, Morgan and Viberg for the hell that I put them through in getting these made. They are a masterpiece and I have nothing but thanks for the whole Viberg operation. The nicest pair of boots on the planet Earth….and they made me two pairs.
I'll add that Viberg probably will never make another custom cordovan boot, but that's my take and not their official release.
These guys are masters with shell, but they fail to see themselves in this light.
"What is the central theme to this everlasting spoof?"
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THIS BOOT WAS A PERFECT STORM OF OCCURENCES WHICH PROBABLY WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN.
I will give you guys one piece of advice: Do Not Contact Horween to get shells for Viberg Boots. It is the easiest way to anger Brett and end up on the Viberg Blacklist. I had contacted Nick about getting shells for a pair of boots that had been ruined by another maker and he took mercy on me. If Viberg wants to make you cordovan boots, they will obtain the cordovan. I liken it to bringing your fish into a sushi restaurant and asking the chef to make you the suchi that you like instead of what's on the menu. Its just a bad idea…all around
I was incredibly lucky to obtain shells as Nick Horween only sells shells to footwear companies and leathermakers with whom he has a longstanding relationship. I tried to get additional shells to make another boot in a more common color (black or #8) and the answer was a very solid and unwavering "No."
As for Viberg, I had ordered this boot almost 18 months ago when their official stance on both custom boots and cordovan boots was different than what it is now. Since ordering the boot, they have firmly stated that they will no longer make custom cordovn boots. I have asked and begged Morgan because of how beautiful and absolutely stunning these two pairs came out and I feel like if he saw me in the street, at this point, he would remove his boot and begin to beat me for extensive begging/grovelling for an identical boot in cordovan #8 (this is joke. Morgan is a great guy!)
I just wanted to share the boot to show how incredible Viberg craftmanship is and to reitterate that, although they hate doing it and refuse to work with cordovan most of the time, I prefer their cordovan boots to the other 12 pairs that I have from ll other makers.
Morgan, If you read this, I love you dearly and Thanks again for the boots.
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why are they so anti-shell?
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why are they so anti-shell?
$$
@Brett:
'I have some horse hide, but I won't use it. It's very hard to work with. I've done it for a few people, flat head with Japanese and then VMC with horween. Both of which is a nightmare to do. The leather is inconsistent in thickness and the finish isn't the best.
Overall it would add like 200$ to the retail. Our cost is around $100 per piece. So it's not really worth it as most people will never understand how much it costs and how difficult it is to work with.
And more importantly right now, shell Cordovan and horse butt leather(which your talking about) is almost impossible to get.
The hide market is in a huge slump for horses.
Horween can't get enough as the Chinese are buying them at a premium.
I've got cordovan on order for someone who placed order in January, and the leather won't be here till November.
Just isn't a sound way to do business and be profitable.
You can buy horse fronts for jackets no problem , but not the butts.
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Interesting..
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Man, I'm really obsessed with the look of shell cordovan, but I'm so unsure of how to keep them looking awesome. My wallet has some weird stuff going on. BTW, those Whisky boots are incredible and Urb, I weirdly love those rough outs. Badass.
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Man, I'm really obsessed with the look of shell cordovan, but I'm so unsure of how to keep them looking awesome…
shell cordovan should be pretty easy to take care off buddy…here's some more helpful info though:
@Planetarium:
Shell cordovan is made from a membrane under the butt of a horse. It's not very large, so you only get about one pair of shoes per horse; it is thusly quite pricey. As a leather it doesn't stretch, is highly abrasion-resistant, and needs little care other than brushing. Wax is occasionally applied locally to a large scratch or gash, but otherwise only about once a year if the boots are well-used. Some people like to use a deer bone to reapply natural animal fats as well.
Shell doesn't crease like ordinary leather; you don't get the microcreases of calf, just a clean bend at each point of stress. Sometimes wax/fat can build up in these creases, but it brushes away easily.
Contact with water can result in some spotting (water + oil, you do the math), but again this brushes away quite easily.
Hope that helps!@Crat:
As Planetarium sait it is highly abrasion resistant. The microcreases that form on calf eventually always will tear. Cordovan doesn't have these microcreses and therefore is much less likely to tear. As far as i know you are unlikely to find a stronger leather to make a pair of shoes from.
The way cordovan reacts to water is very much dependent on the skin itself, some shells 'spot' and others dont. All (Horween) shell is highly water resistant and therefore also not very breathable.
This is a horse's butt. You can see how the structure changes where the 'normal' hide turns to cordovan.
Here's a nice video on Cordovan.
Just for the sake of comparison, here are two shoes in horween leather. One in cordovan and the other in… eeh... something Horween.
The point is the very noticeable difference in the way the 'normal' leather develops the sharp microcreases that eventually lead to tearing whereas the cordovan creases in 'big waves'.
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Thanks for the info Finn,
I'm hungry for some shell cordovan boots…if you are, there might be a group buy thingy going on over on superfuture.com!
brand isn´t fixed yet, but the names are buco, white´s, viberg and some other big ones…
^
