Sons of Henrey is highly praised in shoe aficionados because of its great leather, elegant and conservative lasts and excellent value for the money.
I have purchased a pair of Archie, an austerity brogue oxford, let us find out how good they are.
Unboxing
Navy shoe box give very exquisite feeling, Tom Brone, founder of Sons of Henrey clearly has a good taste.
A sticker on the side of the box states Size, Leather and model code.
Remove the cover, an envelope is waiting.
Inside is the quite detailed information about this pair of shoes. For anyone who is not very familiar with quality dress shoes, if you read this letter for several times, you will definitely have a sense what to check when you purchase your next pair, no matter which brand you choose.
And for Misty Calf, John Lobb may be the first one to introduce it to dress shoes field, and not so many brands are using it. Sons of Henrey sticks to its strength and give this fantastic yet not widely available leather to its followers.
The letter gives a very brief but very comprehensive explanation about Misty Calf, “Similar to Museum calf, but has less contrast.”
The model name is Archie.
A piece of cloth is inside, I think its function should be trying on it wouldn’t cause scratch on the leather sole and also a place to put shoes when you give them a mirror shine.
A second set of round shoelaces.
The logo is stitched on the shoe bag, and the touch is elevated.
Pattern
I always feel angry about the name of this model, austerity brogue means no brogue at all! But if you don’t have something, you should not mention it at the first place. Like Open Laced Oxford, it is simply Derby. I want to know who gave birth to this model name and look into his head, it must be the most eccentric larbyrinth in the world.
The logic is to replace all brogues with non-decorative lines, while the full brogue shapes are kept.
So we still have Wingtip along to the waist
This much cleaner version of Full Brogue suits city wear better comparing the original Full brogue for country.
The last of this pair is Elegant Round.
What is the design aspect for austerity brogue if not other decoration is present, it is the proportion separated by the clean wingtip line. The area size of vamp hugely determines the aesthetics of the shoes. Archive’s is quite small and makes the shoes longer visually, so suitable for men whose height is not very prominent.
Construction
Quite boring close channeled Goodyear construction, the welt has some decoration.
Leather
I think the name of the leather is very good, except less contrast than Museum calf, Misty definitely give a unclear cover just like the leather is clouded by a light fog.
The colour Claret is somehow lighter than Burgundy.
If you are not working in leather or dress shoes industry, you may not be able to tell which one is Museum calf which is Misty calf by the first sight, but once you know there is this option, you definitely want to have it in your collection.
Conclusion
虽然是圆头，但这个款式起到了强烈的拉长效果，不太多尖的节俭布洛克款式，然后更加少见的雾面皮。
A very conservative and blunt round toe with short faced wingtip line makes an elegant and not candide shoes, the sought after yet not owned by many leather, Archie from Sons of Henrey is an interested pair to purvey.