Keikari.com

‘I am 35 years old and I own Davidsons Skomakeri in Uppsala, Sweden. We sell goodyear-welted shoes from Crockett&Jones, Gaziano&Girling and John Brommels. We also sell high-quality shoe care products, belts, socks and other accessories befitting a high-end shoe shop. Furthermore, we offer high-end shoe repairs, using the best materials available, and specialise in repairing goodyear-welted shoes and bally curling. I grew up working with my father in his shoe repair shop and learning the trade from him. I have a girlfriend whom I live together with, but no children yet. Her interest in high-quality shoes is , unforturnately, quite limited. My father was, of course, proud when I chose the shoe repair occupation.

My interest in shoes came gradually since I started my shoe repair shop. The more shoes I repaired, the more I learned about the quality, and soon my interest in goodyear-welted shoes was a passion. The big difference between fashion shoes and classic shoes is quality. It is difficult to find fashion shoes with a high enough quality, and the only production technique worth selling in my shop is the welted one. The welted shoes are bound by certain restrictions in how much you can alternate the model, which makes the shoes classic in their appearance. Ergo, the only shoes I’m interested in are the classics.

When you’ve picked apart thousands of welted shoes and repaired them, you get a very good knowledge about shoe quality. Compaired to a normal shoe salesman, who only see the shoes when they are brand new, I get to see, and pick them apart when they are 6 months, 1 year, 5 years, 10 years old and so forth. I also see what kind of wear and tear they have been put through, and from this I have gotten a pretty good idea of how shoes will age and wear over the years.

My own wardrobe is very varied. For the moment I prefer jeans and a polo (t-shirt with a collar). In general, I like colours and I am a manic colour matcher. I want to match the shoes with the belt, and the socks with the polo or sweater, the tie and handkerchief with socks and cufflinks. My webshop offers one of the best shoe care assortments in the world with plenty of information about shoe care to go with it. My shoe stock increases constantly and during spring 2013 I will offer more than ever. Regarding clothes, my passion is extremely limited and my knowledge also. I can not judge quality in any other way than to go on the price tag and brand, which I know is really stupid. But I prefer to buy shirts from the famous makers, like Oscar Jacobson and Sandström, and polos from Ralph Lauren and Hackett. Hackett is one of my favourite brands, but I really have no idea about the quality. I like how their clothes look.

My shop has grown very slowly to what it is today. Since I knew the trade from my father, I started my first shop just to have something to do. After a while I fell in love with the trade, and the entrepreneurial side of it. I started very small with just shoe repairs and key cutting, in a small shop in Uppsala. Slowly my interest in welted shoes grew, and I started to sell Crockett&Jones in 2003. Back then, I only had 25 pairs in stock, all in different models and sizes, and all shoes sold had to be ordered. Since then, the sales has constantly increased and today I’m in a bigger shop on a much better location with ca. 70 models in stock. In the beginning I didn’t even have a goal for the company, but after a few years a goal started forming. That goal has been reached, and now I’m working on a new goal to set.

Since the webshop is quite new and my concept is quite unique, it is still very difficult to even guess where a possible limit might be. So for now I’m just working on keeping a high quality service and exploring new possibilities. New goals have to wait until I can get a better feel for the existing possibilities. My concept has been very well received by everybody, but keep in mind that the market is extremely small for my type of service. I try to stay in front of everybody else in the same business, with a Webshop, social forums, such as YouTube, Facebook and my newly started blog. This, of course, is considered to be very modern and consequently positively received by the clientele.

Besides my work and passion for shoes, I am a divemaster for a local diveshop, so diving is naturally another passion of mine. I also like to hunt and fish and snowboard. I wish more men knew how to properly care for their shoes, and above all, how shoes are supposed to be used. Few people – at least in Sweden – wear their shoes properly. They never let their shoes dry, they don’t use shoe horns or shoe trees, and they wear summer shoes in winter and winter shoes in summer.

For newbies in the world of high quality shoes I have one thing to say above all others. DO NOT BUY SHOES ONLINE, unless you are very familiar with the brand, last, size and fitting. On my webshop, where I sell welted shoes, I clearly state that you need a professional measuring and analysis of your feet before buying shoes. Different feet fit different lasts and models. Also, high quality shoes come in half numbers and different widths, and have the capacity to last for up to 20-30 years, which makes the fitting that much more important. Furthermore, newbies tend to have limited funds and therefore tend to drift towards the cheaper brands. But know that the craft involved in making welted shoes is the same and the production price the same, no matter the brand.

Therefore the cheaper the shoe, the cheaper the materials they use, and you can often see a link between price and quality. But not in direct correlation. Shoes for 250€ are rarely half as good as a pair for 500€. To get the most value for money, I would keep to the high-end brands like Crockett&Jones, Edward Green, John Lobb Paris, Gaziano&Girling and their likes. I have yet to see a more priceworthy brand than Crockett&Jones, though. And to kill all comments on the post about me saying that just because I sell Crockett&Jones. The fact is: I dont say it because I sell them. I sell them because I think they are the best.’

http://www.davidsonsskomakeri.com/

Pictures: Marcus Davidson

Today’s tip shows the DIY reader how to protect sole stitches from wear. Most Goodyear-welted pairs have a groove cut to the sole, with the goal of protecting sole stitches from wear. Higher-end factories employ full channelled soles that leave a thin sole flap on top of the stitches. The Spanish maker Enrile has a novel method for protecting these stitches further: a thin rubber piece is inset and glued into the groove. I have no shoes from the maker, though their touch seems promising.

Picture: © Enrile

’38, Shop Owner, I received a Bachelor Of Science in Theatre Management at Ithaca College. I managed Broadway theatres for 12 years – two years overlapping with Fine And Dandy. I left Broadway 2 1/2 years ago to work on Fine And Dandy full time. My partner Enrique runs the store with me, so he shares my sartorial obsession. Fine And Dandy is my baby. Both my parents and my sister always supported my interest in men’s style. I mean, who wouldn’t want their child/brother to dress well? I was always that weird kid in high school, who wore a tie to class. I often credit my grandfather for his influence on my style. He was always dressed well and he was a farmer. For as long as I can remember I’ve enjoyed things of the past. History, antiques, old buildings. I was always drawn to old photos and how men dressed in the early 1900’s.

Mr Fox (right) with co-owner Enrique Crame III in front of Fine and Dandy’s New York store

It was so fascinating to me. Guys of all walks of life dressed well. That stuck with me and inspired me as an adult, to dress well. [My knowledge], it’s a real collective: I have a fairly extensive library I’ve collected over the years. I’m constantly ripping inspiration out of magazines. And of course the internet. I believe the surge of interest in men’s style in the last few years has been due to the thousands of style web sites, blogs, online shops. But a lot of it is just living in New York City. Just walking down the street I’m surrounded by well dressed men. I identify both my style and our products as “New School Dandy”. An appreciation and nod to the classical, but with a modern interpretation. A dandy in today’s world.

My partner also works for Massimo Dutti and the Spanish brand is a major part of my wardrobe. I’m also a fan of Hackett London, Morris, and Brooklyn Tailor. It’s also been interesting to watch J Crew, Club Monaco, Suit Supply. We provide great variety at an affordable price. We sell lots of items that you might not find elsewhere, like sock garters, shirt garters, and spats.

My partner Enrique and I fantasized about having our own shop for years, but the price of real estate is very expensive in New York City. 5 years ago we were seeing an explosion of interest in menswear onlin,e and we had the idea to open up shop online. We launched in October, 2008 and the response was incredible from the very beginning. In December 2010, we had our first popup shop and it was amazing to interact with our customers face to face. We continued to do more popup shops and then eventually began to look for a permanent retail space. We found our current location in the fall and opened this past November. We couldn’t be happier with the response.

“I have this little idea, but since I want to make it seem more important, I’m going to call it a theory. Tradition in taste is now in the public domain because the faster we thrust into the future, the greater the tendency to sentimentalize the past. And so the true classics will continue to hold an important place in our hearts.”

~ G. Bruce Boyer