Foster & Son is a famous bespoke shoe store in West End of London, England. We may think that there are a lot of bespoke shoe stores today, but when we really go to see this shoe capital in Britain, we find that there are not many. John Lobb St James, George Cleverley, and then Foster & Son. New & Lingwood, a men’s clothing store, used to be a force to be reckoned with, even now it still provides bespoke services, but it is basically outsourced. James Taylor & Son, who has a certain connection with China, is also a serious bespoke shoe store, but only paid attention to orthopedic. Those that disappeared earlier, such as Poulsen Skone & Co merged into Peal & Co and then were hidden by the Booker brothers. The latest brand (non-individual shoemaker) is naturally Gaziano & Girling. But unlike the previous ones, Gaziano & Girling’s main business is Ready To Wear.
Foster & Son and another brand, Henry Maxwell, are now one. The history of Henry Maxwell has yet to be discovered by me. The original division of labor between the two families was that Foster & Son made boots and Henry Maxwell made shoes. But now, it may just be that the trademarks are different.
Foster & Son had been offering Ready To Wear shoes for a long time, and the date and reason of their introduction are hard to find, because there has never been a large-scale publicity and large-scale sales. The earliest OEM was Edward Green, then Crockett & Jones for a long time.
However, in 2018, the Japanese consortium and Foster & Son reached an agreement to invest in a new factory in Northampton, turning the shoe business from OEM to self-production. With new equipment and sophisticated technology, products directly head-on Edward Green. As a well-known bespoke shoemaker, it is absolutely possible to have the funds and prospects to make advanced Ready To Wear shoes. Therefore, the emergence of this news has made everyone look forward to Foster & Son’s own products.
I sent an email to Foster & Son, hoping to bring these shoes to China. Then I was given the contact information of a Japanese company. Later, the Japanese company thought that my shoe store was not large enough and had no entity, and rejected my application.
Later, I didn’t see which buyer’s shop in China did this business, or even which one in Japan sold it. I only know that Skoaktiebolaget, the most famous Swedish dress shoes online shop in the world, did shop some goods.
Subsequently, when the COVID-19 epidemic came, the demand for dress shoes fell sharply, and the factory could not keep running, which made almost dress shoe brand miserable. But what is shocking is that Foster & Son’s shoe factory directly announced its closure, without any behavior of retaining or looking for a buyer.
Suddenly, the inhosue-made Foster & Son shoes, which have been produced for more than two years, have become limited edition!
At that time, I saw that there was a pair of UK5 black cap toe Oxford on Skoaktiebolaget, but it was never discounted. As a result, it disappeared. Now, I can only regret.
My friend did not wait, and he grabbed dozens! So I have the opportunity to borrow two of them and show to all lovely readers.
Unboxing
British racing green shoe box, right in the center, with a small logo, uses a badge instead of the fox hunting pattern of Foster & Son.
The sizes are both UK9.5 and black. Style names are Sandringham with last 05 and Elmsworth with last 66. The width is both E, the standard width.
The same colour pad cloth (I have explained the function of this many times, that is, when polishing shoes, it will be more convenient to put shoes on the table, but the soles are definitely not so clean, so use a piece of cloth to pad them. ), the colour inside the shoe box is also one of the brand colors of Foster & Son, golden yellow.
Same colour shoelaces, gilded logo, very beautiful and very luxurious.
The drawstring of shoelaces is an absolute highlight! Super beautiful texture of gold, and then very thick. Foster & Son inhosue-made shoes are definitely top-notch.
If I am super picky, the material of the shoe box is still a little soft and thin. Now there are so many online purchases that it is easy to be damaged during transportation. At this point, Meermin and Grant Stone’s environmentally-friendly recycled yellow cardboard boxes are commendable, and Carlos Santos’ black boxes are very functional.
Last
In the past, I always looked at the vamp first, but I think more and more that the last shape is the core to really decide whether I like and buy a pair of shoes. In the future, I will look at the soul of this leather shoe first.
Sandringham, last 05
Let’s take a look at the official description of this last.
05
The classic “smart round” Foster last, following the flowing lines of our archive which distills decades of London’s West-End style.
Although the cap portion is not my cup of tea, including the perforation is too dense, the last shape is full of British flavor. After appreciating so many shoes, especially the lasts of British bespoke shoes, I found that John Lobb 7000 and 8000 last are not British at all.
Elmsworth, last 66
66
The iconic Fosters “soft chisel” toe which echoes the beautiful lines created by our master last-maker Terry Moore.
If 05 represents the most standard taste of bespoke shoes in the West End of London, 66 is the label of Foster & Son. The square chisel tastes different from George Cleverley, as the latter is sharper and overbearing, while Foster & Son’s is elegant and carefree.
The shape of the heel is very curved in Ready To Wear shoes, especially in British shoes. I like this last shape with better wrapping.
Pattern
Sandringham
A pair of very complicated Half Brogue cap toe Oxford. The most eye-catching element is that the cap area is particularly large and the perforations are particularly full. Old school.
Elmsworth
This pair of double Monk actually has no design point, and then it attracts all eyes to the golden buckles, which is really beautiful!
Leather
I have never been able to judge the leather quality of new shoes, but in these two pairs, Sandringham has obvious traces of trying on the uppers, which is just a good time to have a look.
Two feelings, one is the fineness of leather, which is very top-notch, and the other is that it seems that there is a thin layer of coating.
I am not sure whether this is the effect of wax.
Sole
It is said that the sole is oak vegetable tanned leather from British leather factory J.F.Baker. Compared with ordinary chestnut vegetable tanned leather, the wear resistance of this leather is greatly improved, and it also has a certain waterproof effect. I hit it with my hand, and it was really hard and thick (the density of leather is high, not the thickness of the sole). The overall color is uniform, the primary color effect is consistent with the traditional bespoke low-key style. The degree of napped waist is extremely high.
The following is Elmsworth, the whole is the same, the difference is that the fox hunting pattern of Foster & Son is marked on the waist of the shoe.
I think it is very good to add logo to the sole, or I am obsessed with brand building. Then it also shows that the brand and production have not been fixed.
Heel lasting
The undisputed top level in factory-made shoes, but also retains a lot of customized flavor. What is the taste of bespoke? I can’t seem to find the language to describe it here.
Construction
Since it is a high-end Goodyear shoe, it is impossible not to look at the execution of the welt. Whether the shoes are advanced or not is a whole performance. It is not a single item that is the ultimate, but the height is determined by the short board. In a pair of shoes that are obviously high-end, let’s look at the welt, hoping that it can raise the upper limit.
Foster & Son’s welt is very distinctive, which has its unique high-end place, but also has the place of “cutting corners”
First of all, we look at the edge of the forefoot, and we can see that the stitches are hidden and the “teeth” are very fine. Along the edge there are also very fine chamfers.
但是随着沿条往腰部走，逐渐能够看到线出来了，藏不住了。我觉得这一方面和线距离鞋面的波动，另一方面，沿条上开槽的位置，似乎就是前掌靠外而越往腰部，开槽越往里，我不太确定这个是操作不当，还是刻意为之。总之在两双鞋上都看到了相同的特征。
到了鞋腰这个地方，就没有所谓的藏线这回事了，压齿也没有了。而这个情况，我的那双Poulsen Skone的鞋子也是相同的处理。我的确明白机器制的腰部要藏线，是非常不容易的，但压上齿应该还是可以做到的。目前的操作，最大的问题在于前面太精致，而彰显腰部特别粗糙了。
在外侧的腰部，可以看到缝线特别靠近鞋面，压齿也很规整，整体效果就很不错。
鞋头这个地方，如果不是压齿要细密一点，我直接就盲猜这是Edward Green。Edward Green在我眼里的特征，就是沿条在鞋头部位会打磨地非常靠近鞋面。
鞋面车线
肉眼可见的缝线非常细密。虽然我一直知道鞋面的做工主要看这个，但是除了在玩儿的偏工装的鞋子上看到很稀疏的外，其他的都没有给我特别深刻的印象。Foster & Son就是这方面抓住了我，高质量。
Details
There is a configuration that some brands have mentioned, but most consumers don’t notice it, or feel that it doesn’t seem to make much sense, which is the so-called one-piece lining. As the name implies, it is the same as the one-piece Oxford style, except that the lining is a complete piece of leather with only a seam at the heel.
To be honest, I don’t quite understand the use value of this. One-piece Oxford shows different aesthetic experiences, while one-piece lining is entirely of technological value.
The heel pad is relatively long, which I also saw on Gaziano & Girling. It seems that I have not encountered the problem of bringing the front end up when I take off my shoes. Why not bring it? I have some questions.
The information of shoes is not written on the side lining, but on the tongue. The top two lines are Made in England, the third line is the style name, Elmsworth, and the bottom is the size/width/last type.
Yes, the information is complete enough.
This is an advanced gadget that only a few brands have on Ready To Wear shoes. Leather stacked heels, which is good already, but there is a vertical stripe indentation at the front of the heel, and suddenly the exquisiteness soars. This element is something that other economists have never thought of doing.
Summary
Sigh that such a good product has disappeared since then, and regret why I am so poor and didn’t possess her in her best days!