My Shoe Collection – Chetwynd from Church’s

Church’s is a pathetic brand in the classic dress shoe community because it is so despised for its unreasonable price and pitiful bookbinder leather under the Prada Group. As a shoe brand in England with wonderful heritage, Church’s now has many shoes made in Italy and with Blake Construction we can find it how funny.

Church’s may be arguable the most received English shoe brand in the US, because it entered the US market in the 1920s, and opened a mono brand boutique on Madison Avenue. Americans love English things and Church’s certainly is a great one choice. Even today you browse StyleForum, many people claim they keep Church’s shoes after 20 even 30 years service. That is a true compliment.

Then enter Prada in the 1990s.

Church’s became the king of Bookbinder, in another word, king of plastic.

And its price kept rising and rising till all shoe aficionados abandoned this brand.

To be fair, there are several classic models offered by Church’s, such as Chetwynd, Diplomat and Consul.

Let us check my pair of Chetwynd.

Last

Last 173 is so blunt that country shoes or wingtip can harmonize it to balance, however Church’s says otherwise and puts many formal oxford on this last. They are very stubborn and proud I have to admit.

Pattern

Short Wing Full Brogue Oxford. As a longtime best seller, Chetwynd must have something great.

There are too many elements or brogued lines everywhere however they are in harmony.

Leather

Smooth leather used on Church’s Custom Grade are very fine, and Nevada Calf was one of the most popular choices. Nevada is just a marketing word to cloud the source of information. My personal experience is that it is from tannery Haas with great quality and Edward Green is also a major customer.

The colour is called Ebony, it is a very dark burgundy in my eyes.

Construction

As the most famous and biggest volume English shoemaker, the welt is below medium level as no fudge and stitch density is not impressive, the only good thing is the stitches seem very sturdy.

The joint of welt is long and obvious.

Size and Fit

Size system of Church’s is unique for it’s two digital and all others one. Like this one, 60 means UK6, and the width is F. F is its standard width and Church’s is half size smaller than many English brands, so we can say Church’s 60 F equals John Lobb 5.5 E.

Conclusion

Because this pair is the classic model and made with wonderful Nevada calf from French tannery Haas, it is a good one, as long as the price is not so high.