Wesco Mister Lou Brown Horsehide : one month review

[Bootsndenim_France]

One month ago, I received my pair of Mr Lou Engineer boots ordered on IronHeart Uk. 27 wears later and around 40km walked with them, time has come to make a quick review on these engineer boots and give my feeling about them.

As I read several reviews before my purchase, I followed several advises about sizing saying that I should take half a size bigger than my usual redwing size. That's what I did and took them in 9D (when I usually wear 8,5 redwings). My personal advise would be actually to take your usual size in redwing (same length) but increase the width (if D in RW, take E in Wesco). They are clearly narrower than red wings, I had to put woodforms and extend the waist to get the good space for my feet.

The first 15 wears were really not comfortable, and I felt like walking with wooden boots. At that point I decided to remove the wesco insole (useless in my opinion as they are super thin and do not provide any cushioning at all) and replaced them with redwing insole with a small cushioning layer. Big difference and they started to be ok (not comfy but ok). Now, after one month of daily wear, they are not broken in yet and still far from the comfort I have in Redwing 2990, however it's slowly getting better day after day and I am confident.

The horshide leather is super stiff and hard to break in (I knew it, not a surprise) but now starts to be ok.

They really look great, especially with the brass buckles and the leather is really beautiful, you can guess it will age very well and have a nice fade thanks to its teacore nature.

The grip is very good in various conditions, ride my motorbike several times with them under the rain, walk in muddy forest and even walked on frozen pedestrians without falling.

One of the good point on these boots is their narrow leg shaft that allows to wear them quite easily with slim jeans (like my Iron Heart IH-777s in 21oz or mig big John tough 23oz).

I will continue to break them in and will make another review in several weeks/months to update you about their evolution.

you can follow my bootsndenim adventures on my instagram account : bootsndenim

 

[Bfd70]

Thanks for the comprehensive write up. Very similar to my experience in Wesco. Beautiful boots that you need to work to break in.

 

[Chris7273]

Thank you for sharing.
These are amazing boots, built to last. Wesco build quality is amazing and Iron Heart UK is a top shop : they know their products and their after sale service is perfect.

 

[Edward]

Gorgeous boots. Wesco seem to have maintained a very good balance between the overall price and high end quality. I'm perfectly happy for now with my Chippewas and Red Wings, but in the next few years I'm keen to pick up a pair or two of Wesco. The main thing holding me back for now is wanting to be able to get a chance to try on a pair and get a feel for their sizing. Obviously at that sort of money I'd like the to fit 'right' (like my Chips RWs do), rather than having to put in an insole as I did with my Grinders. The Grinders aren't bad boots, but my tolerance for a pair of boots that cost me £80 new are a it more flexible than Wesco type money. Not that I blame the companies as such, just that with a pull-on boot you really need to make sure that you buy a model where the last used is best-suited to the individual foot. Much trickier with an engineer than a laced boot.

I love the colour of these, really rich-looking. The Wesco MP toe is also attractive to me; my current boots are all a more 50sish, bump toe profile, whereas these have more of an earlier look to my eye. Very nice indeed. The ability to spec out a boot in terms of colour, leather and buckles with Wesco appeals to me too - I'm a fan of the look of a slightly longer ankle-strap than stock. There's also the temptation to add a second buckle at the top, just for a point of difference with my other boots, though I never actually wear 'em over my trousers these days (that was strictly in my drainpipes era, and I'm far too corpulent to get away with those now!).

 

[born113]

I will continue to break them in and will make another review in several weeks/months to update you about their evolution.

I will be glad to continue the story

 

[Bootsndenim_France]

End of the story :

I have now reached around 100 wears and just decided to sell them because they are definitely too large for me ! Just ordered the same model half a size below (8,5 D) in natural essex leather (bought them on Iron heart website), they will be delivered next week.

My Brown Horse hide Mr Lou are available on ebay : https://www.ebay.fr/itm/234355669483

Here are the pictures of their actual status

 

[born113]

End of the story

Thx!

If it's convenient, write your foot length in the sock please.
And what shoe sizes do you prefer in the mass market? For example Nike, Boss, Arcteryx, Asolo etc.

 

[Bootsndenim_France]

foot length in sock : 27 cm
Nike size : 9
Red wing (iron rangers) : 8D

 

[jglf]

End of the story :

I have now reached around 100 wears and just decided to sell them because they are definitely too large for me ! Just ordered the same model half a size below (8,5 D) in natural essex leather (bought them on Iron heart website), they will be delivered next week.

My Brown Horse hide Mr Lou are available on ebay : https://www.ebay.fr/itm/234355669483

Here are the pictures of their actual status

Why didn’t you go up in width? The new boots are going to be even more narrow going down a 1/2 size.