Men's Style

I’m a big fan of Grenson shoes. I own three pairs and I think that they’re the best shoes that you can buy in England in terms of looks and beauty. (I’ve written before about resoling a pair of my Grensons in this post)

There are better known English shoes such as Churches and Crockett & Jones, but Grenson are designed for aesthetics. Check out the site here.

Look at these Grensons that I own:

Beautiful aren’t they.

The pros

1. We’ve said it above: they’re beautiful. People do look at them and compliment you on them. You also catch yourself looking at these yourself when wearing them.
2. They are classic English shoes from Northampton – in other words they have pedigree.
3. They aren’t as expensive as other fine English shoes. They retail in the £200s, whilst Churches and Crocketts are in the £300s.

The cons

1. They definitely aren’t as robust as I’d hope. I’ve had the heels fall off the back of a pair before. The heel was only attached by a bit of adhesive and a few very short tacks (nails). This is not good for shoes that cost so much.
2. The shiny finish scratches quite easily. Most models of Grensons ship with a high polish, which unfortunately can catch scuffs and nicks if you’re not careful.
3. They aren’t that comfortable. I have quite wide feet and the aesthetic of these shoes is quite slim. The soles on the leather soled shoes are also quite thin (for the aesthetic again) and you can definitely feel the bumps underfoot when walking.
4. They are expensive. More expensive than Loake and Barker.

Overall

I love Grenson and I will continue to be a customer. They are expensive and they aren’t robust but for me their supreme looks trump all these considerations. My next pair will be ones with a robust sole. I like the look of these boots (Fred with commando sole):

Or these:

Let me know your experiences of Grenson in the comments below. What shoe brands do you love?

I’ve got three pairs of Grenson shoes. One pair got completely ruined on my first date with my now wife.

I was wearing a blue blazer, red trousers and these brown, half-brogues and the date was going swimmingly. We were in Soho, London, when suddenly there was torrential rain. The narrow streets of Soho were flooded and in our walk to Tottenham Court Road Underground Station, my shoes got literally soaked. They were underwater.

I was careful when drying them not to let them near heat sources like radiators because that could crack the leather (something I learned from schoolboy football).

Nevertheless, they were totally buggered.

I’ve had them in my wardrobe ever since then, with the intention to get them restored.

Last month, I took them to my local Timpsons. Timpsons is a shop for shoe repairs, leatherwork and watch repairs.

Here’s what they looked like beforehand.

Totally buggered right?

Timpsons quoted me GBP 70 for a leather resole which included a cream treatment of the uppers or I could opt for the full resole which would give me all of the above but also a new heel. This would be GBP 90.

GBP 90???? At this point, you might be thinking, ‘Why don’t you just buy a new pair of shoes?’

GBP 90 could buy some decent shoes, couldn’t they? Or even if not, that GBP 90 could be put towards the cost of a new pair of shoes?

In my head, I knew that the cost of a new similar pair of Grensons is around GBP 200.

I also love the shape of these half-brogues. They look slimline in all the right places and the view from above is very satisfying.

The thinking around quality English shoes (shoes made by certain brands: Cheaney, Crockett and Jones, Churches, Loakes, Grensons etc) is that, as long as there isn’t too much damage to them, they will be able to be restored i.e. resoled and refurbished.

I bit the bullet and went for the full resole and refurbishment at GBP 90.

Here’s the result:

What do I think?

If I’m honest, I don’t love them anymore.

I was disappointed with the level of shine. They’ve definitely lost their lustre.

Brand new, these shoes have a high-shine finish. Now, they don’t.

This isn’t Timpson’s fault.

It was mine for letting them get ruined in the first place.

Would I resole again?

Absolutely for minor damage like the leather sole getting a hole in them. You’d still have a great shoe and it would be wrong to throw them out for such minor damage. You’d also save GBP 100 on not buying a new pair of shoes immediately.

But for the level of damage my shoes had, I wouldn’t do it again because I’m not happy with the results. Timpsons did the best they could but they have lost their magic.