Welted shoes are quite rare today and advertised as Royal consumed, aristocrats oriented, red carpet used and wealthy iconic, but fundamentally, it is better because it does endure longer than cemented shoes. Let us look at an example of my shoes, which seemed welted shoes but in fact cemented shoes.
How many knows this brand, FootJoy? One of the four kings in the epic era of American shoemaking. It was famous for its exotic leathers. When Hanover ceased to exist, Bostonian was sold to Clarks and Florsheim loved to make rubbish shoes, FootJoy chose gold shoes and makes a decent living today.
This pair was from its Classics collection. I don’t really know its date and level, but very sure it is recent, not from the epic era of American shoemaking.
Under the logo writes “Handcrafted in USA”. Handmade? Well, Let us see how well the hand work did.
Sole finish is great, no matter the logo layout or the colouring. Close channel is very rarely seen in American welted shoes.
Pattern is quite old fashion, Longwing tassel loafer with Kiltie, the shoes speak loudly they are for super seasoned and experienced gentlemen who can hold them.
Leather is not impressive. The coating is detached from the substrate leather, and creases are not quite fine.
How do you feel about this pair of Handcrafted in USA shoes?
What the hell? Smile with open mouth!
Tear it up with hand, cork is sufficient. This should be a pair of Goodyear welted shoes, why did the outsole detach from welt?
Gemming is untouched and clean, the craftsmanship is all right.
The only question is, where are the stitches? The answer is, this pair is Fake welted shoes but cemented.
The welt is not fake and the joint was well executed.
Outsole did not wear much, but the glue just lost its function. What a pity, especially for the well done welt.
Can we make it a real pair of Goodyear welted shoes? Theoretically yes, however, look at the fudge and width of the welt. It is so fine that machine probably cannot make it. So only handstitching can do it.
Conclusion
I love welted shoes to avoid this embarrassment.