Footwear to go with our jackets

[TartuWolf]

The Willie's engineers came in brown CXL!
Asked for a single midsole but got a double. Although you could argue that the second layer is an outsole. Either way, not what I requested, but this can be considered as miscommunication.
Biggest issue is the instep and the whole shaft. Even though I sent him my calf and ankle measurements, together with several measurements of the instep it still came out unwearable.
I'll try to figure out what are my options from here with Willie.
Beautiful boots though!

 

[Tom71]

The Willie's engineers came in brown CXL!
Asked for a single midsole but got a double. Although you could argue that the second layer is an outsole. Either way, not what I requested, but this can be considered as miscommunication.
Biggest issue is the instep and the whole shaft. Even though I sent him my calf and ankle measurements, together with several measurements of the instep it still came out unwearable.
I'll try to figure out what are my options from here with Willie.
Beautiful boots though!
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Beautiful for sure. Total turnoff when you mail order boots or jackets, and they turn out just wrong. I feel you.

 

[Drzdave58]

The Willie's engineers came in brown CXL!
Asked for a single midsole but got a double. Although you could argue that the second layer is an outsole. Either way, not what I requested, but this can be considered as miscommunication.
Biggest issue is the instep and the whole shaft. Even though I sent him my calf and ankle measurements, together with several measurements of the instep it still came out unwearable.
I'll try to figure out what are my options from here with Willie.
Beautiful boots though!
View attachment 689834

View attachment 689835

View attachment 689836
View attachment 689837

View attachment 689838

Beautiful boots! Did u try experimenting with insoles or heel lifts?

 

[TartuWolf]

Beautiful boots! Did u try experimenting with insoles or heel lifts?

Haven't had any success with improving the fit of engineers using those methods in the past.
Full length insoles make the fit at the toe box worse as they push your toes up and therefore decrease the volume.
Heel lifts don't help as they push your heels up and out of the heel cup that would lock your heel in at least partially helping with heel slip.
Mid foot or arch lifts do help a bit with instep, but I have two massive folds on both sides of the boot if I cinch in and an arch lift can only go so far to mitigate that. Nothing I can do about the enormous shaft where I can put my whole fist in.
But this is a good opportunity to see how's the customer support side of Willie's boots - how does the maker respond when things don't go right and the customer is not satisfied.
If I had only given my foot length and width or if I had specified the instep and shaft myself then this would be a no-starter, but since I gave my 3d measurements (instep, ankle, calf in several places, etc..) as requested then it's their responsibility to make sure these would fit me well in those areas.
At least that's my opinion, but we shall see what Willie thinks.

 

[TartuWolf]

Here's a visual of them next to my other engineer boots.

I measured the shaft and the instep (crudely, but same way across them).
Upper shaft : ~41cm vs ~37cm
Lower shaft right above the buckle/strap: ~37cm vs ~33cm
Under heel near the rand - right below the strap/buckle: ~41-42cm vs ~44-45cm
- Overall 3-4cm larger shaft /instep.

So the vamp/counter (bottom part) is good, but the shaft/instep/upper part is oversized or way too large for me at least.

 

[The Last Cowboy]

Here's a visual of them next to my other engineer boots.

View attachment 689999

I measured the shaft and the instep (crudely, but same way across them).
Upper shaft : ~41cm vs ~37cm
Lower shaft right above the buckle/strap: ~37cm vs ~33cm
Under heel near the rand - right below the strap/buckle: ~41-42cm vs ~44-45cm
- Overall 3-4cm larger shaft /instep.

So the vamp/counter (bottom part) is good, but the shaft/instep/upper part is oversized or way too large for me at least.

So nearly a 12cm difference in circumference of the upper shaft if you measured without flattening the leather. Seems like a large difference. The area diff and shaft volume diff would be even bigger.

 

[TartuWolf]

So nearly a 12cm difference in circumference of the upper shaft if you measured without flattening the leather. Seems like a large difference. The area diff and shaft volume diff would be even bigger.

Well around 3-4cm difference in circumference all throughout. Yes the area difference / shaft volume is very large. I hope we can sort this out because I love the last and how they turned out in general.

 

[The Last Cowboy]

They do look gorgeous!

 

[The Last Cowboy]

Well around 3-4cm difference in circumference all throughout. Yes the area difference / shaft volume is very large. I hope we can sort this out because I love the last and how they turned out in general.

The circumference diff looks bigger than 3-4 cm based on my expert eyeballs. The diameter diff is maybe 3-4 cm?

 

[Tom71]

Here's a visual of them next to my other engineer boots.

View attachment 689999

I measured the shaft and the instep (crudely, but same way across them).
Upper shaft : ~41cm vs ~37cm
Lower shaft right above the buckle/strap: ~37cm vs ~33cm
Under heel near the rand - right below the strap/buckle: ~41-42cm vs ~44-45cm
- Overall 3-4cm larger shaft /instep.

So the vamp/counter (bottom part) is good, but the shaft/instep/upper part is oversized or way too large for me at least.

Impressive comparison. Finger´s crossed for a hassle-free axchange/remake.

Just FYI: I recently ordered a jacket from a local Start-up. The result isn´t 100% to my liking. I can´t really say that anybody "did something wrong", but the result just is not perfect. From the very first second the owners started working with me to get me the jacket I hoped for.
Customer-experience is never stronger than when things don´t go according to plan.

 

[MrProper]

Customer-experience is never stronger than when things don´t go according to plan.

Ultimately, it is management. And good management shows itself in a crisis and not in fair weather.

 

[TartuWolf]

Yeah if they make this right then I'm super pleased despite this mishap and would definitely order from them again. But we'll see how this turns out, no response so far.

 

[Drzdave58]

Yeah if they make this right then I'm super pleased despite this mishap and would definitely order from them again. But we'll see how this turns out, no response so far.

I think Willie will sort it out for you. Thanks for the photo comparisons. It’s obvious to see the shaft has way too much volume. I do like that last as well. Keep us posted on how the situation progresses.

 

[Drzdave58]

Willies boondockers today.