photo by Jamandfix

This is my third pair of bespoke shoes from John Lobb. I call them side-lace, and I had them made with a medallion. I wore them quite often about five years ago, but my preference now leans towards longer noses (see #1), so I've drifted away from them a bit.
I love side-lace styles. I already owned a black, open-laced side-lace shoe from Enzo Bonafé, but I wanted an internally laced version, so I had this made. I doubt you'll find internally laced side-lace shoes in ready-to-wear.

I didn't find the side-lace design unusual, as it's simply a design element. However, a friend once remarked, "The laces are off to the side instead of being in the middle, making them look like flounder." I found that an interesting observation. Open-laced styles don't strike me as flounder-like; with internal lacing, it just looks slightly misplaced.
I adore medallions and tend to add them to everything (laughs). To be honest, I never really liked plain-toes and only started wearing them recently, during this past eight-year period of favoring longer noses. I prefer accents.

While bespoke offers the joy of design, it's hard to dictate the exact shape of the last. I often wish they could make it "even slimmer," but this is a beautiful shoe nonetheless. I've even worn these with blue jeans. Being from John Lobb Paris, they possess a certain French traditional elegance.
(2001 / ¥500,000)

#6 Youthful White Bucks

UNITED ARROWS × Alden / 1993

photo by Jamandfix

A navy double-breasted jacket, gray flannel trousers, and white bucks on the feet. Worn in winter. These white bucks from the United Arrows x Alden collaboration, reminiscent of the movie stars featured in 'Esquire' magazine in the 1940s, were a bestseller.
While it differs from the elegance I feel today, at the time, these shoes offered an elegant, Hollywood-star image of America.

They look youthful, don't they? I've worn these quite a lot. As expected from Alden, they are very comfortable. The soft upper leather makes them easy to wear, and the red (cork) soles are light and flexible. I was still working on the shop floor back then; these were strictly for work.
(1993 / Price in the late ¥40,000s at the time)