Vintage Edward Green: The Captoe Longwing for Wildsmith

As I mentioned last week, I recently purchased a pair of longwings made by Edward Green for Ralph Lauren's Purple Label (see the post here). I thought it would be interesting to note the differences between that pair of shoes, made on the elegant 888 last, and this vintage pair of Edward Green shoes made some time ago for Wildsmith & Co.

Its unclear from a quick internet search whether Wildsmith & Co. remains a going concern for bespoke shoes. The current address appears to be 13 Princes Arcade, St. James's, London. The address on this pair of shoes is actually 15 Princes Arcade.

In any event, at one time Wildsmith & Co. were well-regarded bespoke shoemakers. The company offered a variety of models/designs and then essentially coordinated the separate portions of the shoe-making process completed by various outworkers. The company's ready-to-wear footwear was made in either the Edward Green or Crockett & Jones factories in Northampton. Apparently those designs were also created by Wildsmith, although Edward Green seems to have also made shoes for Wildsmith based on designs by Peal & Co. and Cleverley (for Poulsen Skone).

The channeled sole of the vintage Edward Green shoe. 

There really is not much of a bevelled waist to speak of. 

In this case, the sole was showing quite a bit of wear, so I had them replaced with JR Rendenbach heels.

This particular pair of shoes appears to be an example of the ready-to-wear footwear provided by Edward Green for the Wildsmith & Co. label. These shoes also differ significantly from the RLPL Brooksville - which was based on the classic longwing design - in that the Wildsmith shoe features a captoe, so the horizontal broguing running the length of the shoe does not extend from the wings at the toe box. In this case, the horizontal broguing begins at the throat of the shoe.

In addition, this pair of shoes, on the more substantive  32 last (now defunct, although still available for Made-To-Order or Special Order Edward Green shoes) offers quite a contrast to the decidedly sleeker 888.

As is often the case when comparing vintage Edward Green shoes with their more recent counterparts, the leather burnishing or patina of the older shoes certainly leaves something to be desired. In this area, especially when looking at the patina on the Brooksville, most notably along the toe box as
well as the back quarters, the Edward Green production process seems to have made significant advancements. Whether this is due to the quality of the leather or more advanced burnishing techniques when compared to what existed 20-30 years ago is unclear.

But one can hardly argue with the results. Despite all of the above, the leather uppers on the Wildsmith shoes are holding up quite well after what is most likely 15-20 years (at least). The color and tone of the leather, which appears to be somewhere between Edward Green's dark oak and chestnut antique, is certainly exquisite and seems to have aged very well, which is generally the norm for a pair of  Edward Green shoes.

Edward Green for Ralph Lauren's Purple Label: The Brooksville

Known in the United States as "English" brogues and in the United Kingdom as "American" brogues, the longwing is a derby style shoe characterized by a pointed toe cap with wings that extend the full length of the shoe and meet at a center seam at the heel.




The extended wings of the longwing brogue . . .



. . .extending to the broguing along the heel seam.

While the style has been around for some time, much of its prominence in the United States is probably due to the popularity of Florsheim's "Kenmoor" model. The original models were stunning examples of American craftsmanship, from the double soles to the "v-cleat" or cat's paw heel.  More recently, the longwing brogue has been enjoying something of a renaissance, primarily because of Alden of New England's collaborations with J. Crew and Brooks Brothers. Although I'm not a fan of that company's rather bulbous lasts, not many would argue that Alden is one of the last domestic shoe-makers still producing the celebrated American longwing "gunboat" - i.e. a clunky, chunky, well-made shoe that is built to last.

While trying to take care of some last minute holiday shopping last month, I dropped into Ralph Lauren's Rhinelander Mansion to peruse the Edward Green and Gaziano and Girling selections. Much to my surprise, one of the Edward Green models on display was the Brooksville, the Northamptonshire company's answer to the longwing.

To my eye, one has to be careful with the longwing - because of the horizontal line of broguing that runs almost the entire length of the shoe from the toe cap to the heel seam, the shoe can appear longer or more elongated it actually is. If the shoe has also been made on an elongated last, such as Crockett & Jones' 337, one can go from sleek to ridiculously long pretty quickly. 

A bit more of the details on Edward Green's Brooksville for Ralph Lauren's Purple Label.

A phallic medallion?

The patina at the toe box is sublime.

One rarely sees the brown sole waist treatment - its usually black - although it works perfectly here.

A detailed picture of the channeled sole.

A full picture of the sole, which shows off the contours of Edward Green's 888 last.

On this model, Edward Green's 888 last works perfectly - the sleek elegance of the longwing is evident in all its splendor here. So much so that I have to admit, when I first saw these shoes on the display shelf, the last configuration and leather patina led me to believe that these were a pair of shoes made by Tony Gaziano and Dean Girling. But the tell-tale signs of Edward Green craftsmanship are all to evident: from the burnished calf to the chestnut antique color, which of course only succeed in augmenting the brilliance of the Brooksville.