The shoes and boots from the long established English shoemakers RE Tricker are on quite a different quality level from most other English shoe makers. Both the quality of the materials used and the shear craftsmanship is unparalleled. These are items of footwear which are designed to last a very long time. I got married in a pair of Trickers Mayfair monk shoes from their 1829 collection some 20+ years ago and the leather remains in fabulous condition.
For their leather soled shoes Trickers will use what are known in the trade as oak bark leather soles. This sole leather is steeped in a combination of oak bark and acorns for some two years whilst the natural tannins in the vegetation gets absorbed into the leather. The resultant leather becomes rock hard and consequently phenomenally durable. Tests by the shoe industry have shown that such soles wear three times longer than regular leather soles. Quite a saving when one considers that a re-sole these days is over £50.
There are of course many different qualities of leather and a great deal depends upon how the leather is tanned, what layers of the leather are used and what part of the hide is used for a particular purpose. A really good thick leather lining within Trickers shoes means that it is a very long time before foot abrasion wears through the lining. This is terribly important since once the lining has a hole in it perspiration from one’s feet will start to attack the outer leather. Your feet alone lose half a litre of perspiration a day on average.
At Bradshaw and Lloyd we offer the entire range of Trickers shoes from both their Country and 1829 collections. If you have any queries over these shoes and boots do contact me at richard@bradshawandlloyd.com.
