In depth Archives - Page 2 of 5

In-depth – What is “vegan leather”?

2021-07-09

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So-called “vegan leather” is quickly gaining traction as a popular alternative to regular animal hides. What one needs to be aware of though is that vegan leather in most cases is a synthetic material made of plastic that doesn’t breath well, isn’t biodegradable at all, and can be much more harmful to the environment than traditional animal leather. Learn all about vegan alternatives to leather and other types of artificial leathers in this article, and how it compares to natural animal leather.

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In-depth

In-depth – What affect how shoes are stretched?

2021-05-02

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Jesper Ingevaldsson

The fact that leather shoes stretch is something that most people learn when they are children. In what way and how much they stretch, however, is another matter, and not something for which there is a fixed formula. There are lots of different aspects that affect how much or how little a shoe stretches, here I go through some of them.

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Guide

Guide – Nubuck, suede and roughout leather explained

2021-01-06

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Jesper Ingevaldsson

There’s a lot of mixed and contradictory information found online about the various kinds of napped leathers – nubuck, split suede, full reverse suede and roughout. Here I go through all of these leathers and sort out what each of these actually are, the differences and the pros and cons of them all.

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In-depth – Leather quality vs leather properties

2020-12-04

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Jesper Ingevaldsson

To judge leather quality is a science of its own, and many times people confuse leather quality with specific properties of various types of leather. Here’s an ambition to pin out what the differences are between the two terms, to help give you and idea of when you have shoes with lesser quality leather and when you have shoes that just has a property that you mistake for bad quality.

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Shoegazing Bespoke Awards

2020-11-15

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Jesper Ingevaldsson

For the first, and perhaps the last time, I’m hereby presenting the highly prestigious Shoegazing Bespoke Awards, where me, myself and I have decided which bespoke shoemakers I think deserves to be awarded in four different categories: Creativity, Finishing, Patterns and Highest Minimum Level.

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In-depth – Why to avoid sanding leather

2020-09-20

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Jesper Ingevaldsson

Today it’s increasingly common with sanding down leather, mainly to remove cracks, but sometimes also only to smoothen out creases or to remove dye before doing patina. However, when removing the top layer of the grain surface, the leather becomes more sensitive, which one need to be aware of. Here’s pictures and a film to prove the case, and a bunch of leather knowledge as a bonus.

Reflection – Don’t be fooled by the “no middlemen” marketing

2020-07-12

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Jesper Ingevaldsson

An increasing amount of new brands are introduced which all market themselves as offering shoes comparable to much higher-priced shoes, since they “cut out the middlemen”. This, is more or less just false advertising. These brands themselves are the middleman, and the difference in actual margins compared to the traditional quality shoe brands are small – if any. Here’s why.

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In-depth – The downside of shell cordovan

2020-06-05

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Jesper Ingevaldsson

Shell cordovan is a loved material by many, with its special characteristics and durability. However, there’s a few downsides of cordovan that some might not know about, which can be good to be aware of if you are an aspiring cordovan shoe buyer.

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In-depth

In-depth – How pattern affect fit

2019-09-08

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Jesper Ingevaldsson

It is easy to think that all shoe models made on one and the same last will always fit the same. It doesn’t necessarily have to be true, since the model’s pattern can affect how the shoes fit on the foot.

In-depth – Why shoes can be copied

2019-08-24

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Jesper Ingevaldsson

Every manufacturer of quality shoes has their versions of the classic models – plain cap toe oxford, semi brogues, adelaides, and so on – but also when someone launches a slightly different design you will soon see more or less copies of these from other manufacturers. Here is the explanation for why it is this way.