Hungary was the main base for shoes for the entire Soviet army during the former Soviet Union era. At that time, equipment in this area was very lacking, so all work was manual. In Hungary, there are many skilled shoemakers, and many of them have passed down this skill.
Today, when European and American shoe lovers talk about Hungarian shoes, there are two aspects, 1) high handmade percentage, high quality, and 2) there is a dragon in the far east. The second point is the arrogance and ignorance of the West, they feel that Eastern Europe loves Exotic, this word, if used on leather, then generally refers to crocodile skin, ostrich skin, lizard skin and so on. Put on the country, it has to be said, weird and mysterious.
Hungary is currently famous for two shoemakers, Vass and Rosznyai.
Vass shoes are not cheap, the entry level is 800 USD, and the high-end model is around 1000 USD.
Look through my shoes to see if it’s worth the price.
Last
Budapester is the most iconic and regional last in this area, not only this country, it is more blunt than English round toe, and fits best with this model who shares the same name, Budapester.
The profile view tells the toe box is prominent and still harmonious.
Pattern
The characteristics of model Budapester is plain toe with squared ear flap. this straight line below eyelets makes the shoes more formal.
Construction
This is the main selling point of this brand.
The stitches are hard pressed into the welt, which means the force is quite big during pulling tight, and the density is not high.
On the sole, we can see the channel is closed in the “middle” rather than side which is by default for English shoemakers.
Leather
Coating detaches from leather substrate; it is a pity.
Summary
I believe the leather quality of this pair does not support its price well, but the last and model are so good.