Hey all!

So after a long time saving and an even longer time reading reviews and trying to make up my mind, I purchased my first pair of engineers! I went with Addict due to the really good reviews and hearing from many sources that they have a lower instep compared to other brands. I measure an 11.5D Brannock and I have a low-mid instep height. After some back and forth with Addict regarding sizing, I was advised to go half a size down from Brannock. I also wear an 11D in Iron Rangers and I have an 11.5D in Chisos (which are too big without their supplied insoles).

Addict recently re-stocked a bunch of their engineers and I was specifically seeking a pair in a teacore horsebutt leather with a soft toe; their narrow last engineer fit all these requirements.

It took a about 6 days to ship from Japan to Australia, the boots cost $1,180AUD and I had to pay $300AUD in duties which included GST. I was tossing up between these and the John Lofgren Railmaster Shinki Horsebutt which were only an extra $200AUD but the wait time is at least March 2027 and I wanted them now.. Perhaps I'll grab a pair of those later in the year although I think I'd rather a brown pair for my second. Anyway I'm getting carried away.

Anyway here are some photos. They were very comfy out of the box and quite snug, the leather lining made them much easier than expected to slip on. I've worn them one day so far landscaping and paving so I'm hoping after a week they should break in quite nicely, although they are incredibly comfy already. I was a little cautious about the instep strap not being stitched to the shaft (something I intend on getting a cobbler to fix) but so far I've had it snug and it seems pretty strong. The pull-loop was also very helpful. I have heard these develop a patina really fast so hopefully I'll have some photos of the teacore coming through soon.

Addict were easy and great to deal with and I'm very happy I went with these for my first pair. I would thoroughly recommend these and they still have a few available on their website from the latest drop too.

Cheers!

PS: Apologies for the poor photo quality, my camera is slowly dying

Will take some fresh photos of my Addict Engineers and upload, the teacore after a month and a half of wear is pretty full on, theyre looking wonderful.
In regards to their sizing, I wear an 11D in Iron Rangers, measure an 11.5D brannock on both feet and I have quite a low instep.

After talking to Addict and sending my measurements they advised I buy an 11D in their narrow last engineer which I did. After breaking in, I then added their thin leather insole that comes with the boots and I would say the fit is almost perfect. There is still a little extra length in the boot and the vamp and instep area are comfortably snug but not tight on me. I'm very confident I could have gone down a full size to 10.5D and not used their insole after break-in and the fit would be perfect; the caveat being that I do like my boots to be snug. Heel slip post break-in is basically non-existant.

I plan on buying a second pair in their brown horsebutt in 10.5D but I will be visiting Japan in january so I'm hoping to try them on in-store and grab a pair there.

Edit: Added photos. I also got my cobbler to add additional stitching to the straps. Now that I have been wearing these hard, I don't actually think it is necessary but being my first pair of engineer boots and knowing I was not going to be gentle with them I decided to be overly cautious and get extra reinforcement added.

Update with photos, after a few days of wear post soak + machine wash. They are still incredibly stiff but starting to crease and form well. So far just work around the property and nothing too serious. I can;t wait to start breaking these in properly.
What does everyone think of the fit? I tend to have a large butt from riding compared to my long slim legs but I think the high rise is perfect for me even though its a little loose around the crotch and hips. I was concerned with other IH cuts having lower rises as my previous experience with other brands with rises less than 11.5" has made them very difficult to wear and work in.

Hello!

Recently I made my first Iron Heart purchase, the IHSH-227-IND Wabash 12oz shirt. Needless to say I think the shirt is amazing and the quality unreal, but that's not the point of this post.

I (nervously) mailed the shirt to the UK from here in Australia to have the snaps upgraded to the heavy pearl option; I thought the white snaps would look better with the Wabash fabric and eventual fades. The service from IH Uk was amazing, the guys were great and the process was simple and much quicker than expected so thank you all!

Attached is a photo for everyone to see the difference, I think it definitely looks better! Apologies for the poor lighting, I only have warm lights in my home. Give me a few months to get some fades on this beauty and I'll post an update!

Cheers

Awesome, thanks guys! Washed inside and out and theyre drying flat now. I'll leave them overnight tonight and see how they go tomorrow after work, keen

Edit: update after drying overnight.

I measured the jeans this afternoon after work and tried them on, they were still a little damp. I spent a few hours walking around in them and they are definitely more snug and forming very well already.

The waist is now around 84ish-cm's or 33" which is almost a full 1.5" shrink and the inseam is measuring at 89cm/35" which is a full 2" shrink. Inseam is perfect with a single cuff for me now; nowhere nearly as much stacking as before just enough for my liking. The waist is perfect and the hip area isn't as puffy/wide on me now either.

I'll post some new photos in better lighting after a few more days of wear. I already get the feeling that these will become one of, if not my best, fitting jeans. I'll have to take some comparison photos with my Oni Asphalts and Momo GTB's later down the line.

Thanks for the tips and help everyone!

Hello!

New member here; a lifelong 13mwz guy who jumped down the rabbit hole of high quality selvedge denim a few years ago. I recently made my very first Iron Heart purchase and love the quality and the range. I can't to add more pieces to my wardrobe and start the fading journey. Currently only own the IHSH-227-IND 12oz Wabash but I'm eager to add a pair of 888's to the mix, preferably the 25oz when they come back in stock! The wabash 12oz is unreal and I love it.

Currently have the Oni Asphalt, TCB Baggy 50's, and the Momotaro #400's in my rotation/daily wear. I've previously owned and tried Oni's secret denim and quite a few samurai and SDA jeans but sold them all as the cuts were not right for me sadly. I'm eager to learn from everyone here on the forum and eventually hopefully contribute some fade progress.

Cheers

@dan79 I use shoe trees for my oxfords and formal shoes, and boot trees for the boots that I want to hold their shape such as my cowboy boots and my redwings/service boots.

For my engineers I do not use boot trees as they have a soft toe and I want the horsebutt to roll and a boot tree would significantly increase the time for this to happen and also make the rolls less prominent.

Trees can also help if you're in humid environments (like me in Australia) for shoes/boots that you either wear very often or that just get damp from wear/sweat/water etc. Obviously this only goes for cedar or similar wooden trees; cedar is preferable for its ability to reduce odours.

In my opinion, for people that don't spend the time looking after their shoes/boots with regular cleaning and the occasional oil/condition/polish etc shoe trees are a very easy way to extend the life of your boots. If you're good at doing regular maintenance to your shoes then trees are honestly just good for odour and shape retention.

Edit: Added photos. My redwings and chisos boots here are both about 2yrs old with very regular wear and have always had boot trees and a lot of care put into maintaining them. My Addict Engineers are now about 1.5months old with lots of regular hard wear and no shoe trees and only minimal brushing for maintenance in order to test and increase potential patina. They are just starting to form rolls now and if I had been using shoe trees I doubt they would be rolling so soon.

@caithangkhanh The teacore really is stunning in person, the photos don't do it justice. I wasn't too sure how I'd like the teacore as I've never had a pair before but I'm enjoying the process and the depth of colour and patina so far. I think I'll have to add a pure black pair in the future...

@crispy-heron I did quite a bit of research before deciding on Addict. I reached out to them with my foot measurements (taken via franks youtube guide) as well as the size of my other boots and we had a back and forth about fit and size recommendations. Their customer service and help in this regard was fantastic. From what I was told, without talking to them/sending your measurements in, the general advice is to take half a size down from brannock on the Engineers UNLESS you have an above average instep in which case you can go TTS and use their insert later in time. Regarding the service boots I do not know if the same advice applies.

@northsouthdenimguy I have also heard and was told that their zip boots do fit differently and going TTS is recommended, but there are always exceptions, and from experience I would advise just reaching out as they were super helpful. I would agree, at least in regards to my engineers, that overall foot volume and instep is going to be a greater determining factor in fit than brannock. Are the Zip boots horsehide?

I have definitely noticed stretch in the horsebutt engineers during the first 6 weeks; I'm pushing around 10 weeks of almost daily wear now. I wear very thin wool socks and have a very low instep, thus I'm very confident I could avoid the supplied insert and go another half size down from brannock for a firm and very snug fit (which I personally like) although I imagine the break-in would be quite painful. My current pair was very easy and only had minor discomfort for the first week, I believe that to be because both myself and person from Addict I was talking to were playing it on the safe side with sizing.

@worn2fade Great video, thanks for the update!

The 25oz arrived this afternoon. Initial impressions are very great, the texture is unreal. They aren't as firm as I expected, probably on par with the IH UHR but the texture is beautiful. Definitely a pain to button up, the gold buttons aren't as tacky in person. I normally wear a 32" and i sized up to a 33 in these and it was definitely the smart move. I would not be able to button up a 32 haha
I'll get some wear in over the weekend but I think I'll hang these while I break in my UHR as I've not yet hit 50 wears on those.

I'll keep my eyes on Iron Shop, they have good rates on shipping to Aus. Although I really don't need another pair...

@popvulture I have two of tees in white/natural, one henley in natural, and i just bought another tee in the dark kuri/brown. I initially wanted the black/kuromame but in person it was more like charcoal dark grey and not black enough for my taste. The dark kuri has an insane depth of colour. No fading on that one yet as I'm only a few wears in.

I have had the natural's for about 6months now and there has been no change. They quickly became my favourite tee's. The texture and drape is unreal and the fit is perfect for me. I haven't touched my wonderlooper or bronson tees since buying these and have no desire to wear any other t-shirt tbh.

@northsouthdenimguy interesting, I'd be curious to see if they give over time like the engineers seem to be doing.
@AdamC Awesome news, thanks!

@caithangkhanh The teacore really is stunning in person, the photos don't do it justice. I wasn't too sure how I'd like the teacore as I've never had a pair before but I'm enjoying the process and the depth of colour and patina so far. I think I'll have to add a pure black pair in the future...

@crispy-heron I did quite a bit of research before deciding on Addict. I reached out to them with my foot measurements (taken via franks youtube guide) as well as the size of my other boots and we had a back and forth about fit and size recommendations. Their customer service and help in this regard was fantastic. From what I was told, without talking to them/sending your measurements in, the general advice is to take half a size down from brannock on the Engineers UNLESS you have an above average instep in which case you can go TTS and use their insert later in time. Regarding the service boots I do not know if the same advice applies.

@northsouthdenimguy I have also heard and was told that their zip boots do fit differently and going TTS is recommended, but there are always exceptions, and from experience I would advise just reaching out as they were super helpful. I would agree, at least in regards to my engineers, that overall foot volume and instep is going to be a greater determining factor in fit than brannock. Are the Zip boots horsehide?

I have definitely noticed stretch in the horsebutt engineers during the first 6 weeks; I'm pushing around 10 weeks of almost daily wear now. I wear very thin wool socks and have a very low instep, thus I'm very confident I could avoid the supplied insert and go another half size down from brannock for a firm and very snug fit (which I personally like) although I imagine the break-in would be quite painful. My current pair was very easy and only had minor discomfort for the first week, I believe that to be because both myself and person from Addict I was talking to were playing it on the safe side with sizing.

Will take some fresh photos of my Addict Engineers and upload, the teacore after a month and a half of wear is pretty full on, theyre looking wonderful.
In regards to their sizing, I wear an 11D in Iron Rangers, measure an 11.5D brannock on both feet and I have quite a low instep.

After talking to Addict and sending my measurements they advised I buy an 11D in their narrow last engineer which I did. After breaking in, I then added their thin leather insole that comes with the boots and I would say the fit is almost perfect. There is still a little extra length in the boot and the vamp and instep area are comfortably snug but not tight on me. I'm very confident I could have gone down a full size to 10.5D and not used their insole after break-in and the fit would be perfect; the caveat being that I do like my boots to be snug. Heel slip post break-in is basically non-existant.

I plan on buying a second pair in their brown horsebutt in 10.5D but I will be visiting Japan in january so I'm hoping to try them on in-store and grab a pair there.

Edit: Added photos. I also got my cobbler to add additional stitching to the straps. Now that I have been wearing these hard, I don't actually think it is necessary but being my first pair of engineer boots and knowing I was not going to be gentle with them I decided to be overly cautious and get extra reinforcement added.

@cyclops Similar hand feel although the samurai has a much rougher surface texture and fuzz to it

@cyclops mine have only stretched out by about half an inch, i bought the 33 and and probably should have gone a 34
I'm only about 10 wears in but I'm on the fence atm if I should keep them. The denim itself is unreal, honestly only beaten by the UHR imo.

@Daniel-San Beautiful leather!
Do all the Clinch engineers have the lasting line down the centre?

@dan79 I use shoe trees for my oxfords and formal shoes, and boot trees for the boots that I want to hold their shape such as my cowboy boots and my redwings/service boots.

For my engineers I do not use boot trees as they have a soft toe and I want the horsebutt to roll and a boot tree would significantly increase the time for this to happen and also make the rolls less prominent.

Trees can also help if you're in humid environments (like me in Australia) for shoes/boots that you either wear very often or that just get damp from wear/sweat/water etc. Obviously this only goes for cedar or similar wooden trees; cedar is preferable for its ability to reduce odours.

In my opinion, for people that don't spend the time looking after their shoes/boots with regular cleaning and the occasional oil/condition/polish etc shoe trees are a very easy way to extend the life of your boots. If you're good at doing regular maintenance to your shoes then trees are honestly just good for odour and shape retention.

Edit: Added photos. My redwings and chisos boots here are both about 2yrs old with very regular wear and have always had boot trees and a lot of care put into maintaining them. My Addict Engineers are now about 1.5months old with lots of regular hard wear and no shoe trees and only minimal brushing for maintenance in order to test and increase potential patina. They are just starting to form rolls now and if I had been using shoe trees I doubt they would be rolling so soon.

Sometimes brands will have a high rise but a short fly which means you can't really wear them as high-rise/high on the body because the fit become awful.

@rasta The texture and the colour look amazing! I couldn't afford to grab a pair of these with other recent purchases, so I'm keen to see how others fade them over time.

@americanathreads I would recommend just wearing them. I also bought a one-washed pair and have about 5 days of yard work wear so far and they're breaking in nicely.
Did you go TTS?