Man of Style

At the start of this year I made a resolution to stop wearing black trousers to work. I began by having two pairs of trousers made: navy blue and grey. The socks have been taken care of. Now I needed to find the right pair of shoes.

Stylish Italian men have made brown shoes look well with navy trousers. Brown shoes and grey trousers go together as well. I looked around for a nice pair of brown lace-ups that had a leather sole and would not break the bank.

Last year I purchased a pair of black Montgomery by Bristol Shoes. I’ve had them for over six months now and I must say I’m impressed with them. I checked out other models of Bristol Shoes and decided to purchase the Travis - a Norwegian split toe derby. The retail price of this model is PHP 2,880 but I got it at 15% discount which brought down the price to PHP 2,448.

A Norwegian is a shoe with a U-shaped design on the vamp. And of course the split toe means that the tip of the shoe is split in half. It’s a derby which means that the laces are tied between two pieces of leather that are attached to the vamp.

I broke them in the next day and they look really good with jeans. I walked a few blocks from my pad to a weekend market on the other side of town. They’re very comfortable and I noticed they added extra padding to the heel. The lining is all-leather and won’t scratch your feet. The leather of the uppers is soft but not too soft. It will crease in some areas and should give the shoes some personality over time.

What’s also good about Bristol Shoes is that they have a sole repair service for PHP 600. They will replace the sole with a new one and your shoes will be as good as new. You can drop them off at their boutique in Market! Market! in Taguig City.

Bristol Shoes is available at all major department stores in the Philippines. They are also available at the Shoe Gallery located in Riverbanks Center, Marikina City.

Originally published on Bespoke Man

I must admit I am late to the party. Last year brogues were all the craze and only now I realize what I was missing. I made a new year’s resolution that I would wear different kinds of shoes and brogues were at the top of my list. I decided to pick up these pair of brogues by Sarar which were on sale as it was the last pair in my size. Sarar is a menswear brand that hails from Turkey and has been in the business for over 66 years now. I knew I couldn’t go wrong by choosing a brand with such a long history and are also known to manufacture different products for bigger name brands.

The leather they used on the uppers is soft and smooth. I like how they darkened the medallion at the tip of the shoe and vamp to give it a time-worn look. The brogueing extends to the back of the shoe so it can be classified as a longwing.

The shoes are pointed which gives it a European flair. It’s a more fashion-forward look that should still remain stylish over the next few years. It has an all-leather sole without any external stitching. I couldn’t tell if it had any stitching underneath but I think it does.

They are generally comfortable to wear all day long even if you do quite a bit of walking around. The shoe is quite smooth inside which is just the way I like it as I frequently wear my casual shoes without socks. It can instantly jazz up any outfit and goes particularly well with dark denim. Overall it is a well-made shoe with very nice details that I look forward to wearing toward the weekend.

Sarar shoes are available at Adora in Greenbelt 5 and Tyler shops all over Manila.