“Sir Winston” is my interpretation of Sir Winston Churchill as a hand welted shoe.

This post is a summary of the finished shoes – in the construction post, I describe how they were made.

It’s clearly a formal shoe, intended to be suitable for a venerable statesman.

The uppers are decorated with some restrained broguing on the toe caps. All the upper leather is Weinheimer boxcalf – with a german connection that felt appropriate.

The sock liners were chosen in a ‘colorado claro’ color, representing cuban tobacco. The choice of leather for these cigar-colored sock liners, fell on G.O.A.T.

As part of the ‘showmanship’ of Sir Winston, these shoes are ornamented with a closed outsole stitch and sharp fiddleback waists, made with vintage Rendenbach outsole leather from the closed factory.

The outsole seam is over-emphasized in the detail work, which I think gives it a rather ‘military’ feel, speaking to Sir Winston’s heritage.

The last shape features a distinct chisel toe. (The lasts are, of course, British.)

View of a seat (I put the top lifts on correctly this time):

Outsole edges:

This Weinheimer boxcalf leather is very playful in the light, even though it’s pitch black. One could easily be forgiven for thinking that the image below is of another pair of shoes entirely. It is however, indeed, the same black pair – just photographed under some broad-leaved trees in shadowed daylight. There’s no photo trickery going on – the green color of the leaves is just reflected naturally in the black shoes.

This image makes me want to re-make this shoe design, but with dark green museum calf for upper leather…

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I’ll soon be celebrating the completion of these shoes by lighting up their cuban cigar namesake. There’s a cuban cigar vitola by the same name of “Sir Winston”. It’s hand rolled in the H. Upmann factory in Havana. The size of Sir Winston (the cigar) is by definition a “Churchills” (factory name: Julieta No. 2), meaning that it’s 7″ long by a 47 ring gauge (ca 178 x 18,65 mm).

But, I digress. You tell me: do these shoes look like something Winston Churchill would wear?

On a final note, you may have already realized, but for the sake of full disclosure: I’m inclined to like Sir Winston Churchill… He certainly remains an intensely controversial figure for many, and I am by no means saying that everything that the man ever did was purely good. Surely, it wasn’t. As is the case for all humans, there is darkness to unfold also in the depths of his character. At the end of the day, for the part he’s played in history, he has my reverence.

Specs:

Uppers: Weinheimer boxcalf in black
Lining: 2 oz veg tanned baby calf in black
Insoles & shank cover: J&FJ Baker buffed insole shoulder, 7-9 iron
Outsoles: Vintage J. Rendenbach from the closed factory
Top lifts: Vintage J. Rendenbach (also no longer available)
Toe/heel stiffeners: 5 oz from Tärnsjö Garveri
Welt: natural welting leather from Leather & Grindery
Shank: Plastic