P: So next up, we have shoes from Undandy. They're another brand that is kind of in
this direct-to-consumer type space and they're trying to differentiate
themselves by doing really it's sort of a fully customizable model. You go on to
their website and you can build a shoe from scratch. In my case what I did was, I
was watching a Fred Astaire film from the 1950s called Silk Stockings and in
the first few scenes of that film Astaire is wearing these kind of
chocolate brown suede oxford shoes with a cat toe and I really like the look of
them. So I thought, why not try to kind of construct those for myself? R: Yeah
P: So using their online builder, that's the kind of shoe that I built. R: Yeah. I mean
that's pretty cool and unheard of in its price range. Usually this kind of
made to order program is something you see with more expensive brands. These
shoes are like a $195, so that's under $200, fully customized.
I don't think they stock anything, you just go with their builder
and it's pretty remarkable from that first glance. I chose a shoe, I
designed one that I was inspired by, I think I saw the model on their website,
have an extensive selection and I like the suede with the calf kind of contrast
spectator look but it wasn't like an extreme color difference. So for me, there
was work kind of summery shoes and I went with a kind of unfinished,
uncolored sole leather which is very different than yours. P: Right. Yeah, absolutely.
They have a couple of different last options, a few different
styles. So the one I chose, they call it - the 31 Last. It's sort of more of a, you
know, conservative style with a smaller more rounded toe. R: Yeah, the style is, I mean it
doesn't look like a typical shoe from low-grade Edward Green or Crockett & Jones
and yeah I was pretty disappointed by their last, they
were all either modern. So this was this Undandy 15 last and it's quite
like chiseled in a way it's extreme with a suede, it kind of toned it down.
But I was just surprised that the choices of lasts we're just not very
refined, in my mind like if you look at high-end brands like Alfred Sargent or
Edward Green, Ralph Lauren - they all have like very kind of nice lines. These are
more, I don't know, it looks more like a less expensive shoe which it's pretty
easy to change I think because it doesn't cost any more once you have your
design finalized so was surprised by that.
P: Yeah, I would agree. I think what I would say ultimately is out of the last
options they did have, I chose the one that I thought was the most conservative.
R: Yeah. P: The 31 last as I say, was the roundest.
Their next option, the 48, is a little bit longer, a little bit more angular and
then this here as you've chosen, the 15 last, as you say is it's very long, very
pointy, as you said kind of chiseled almost. R: Yeah, this suede is extremely soft
and supple. I noticed they were like two blemishes in the leather that they
didn't catch which I'm surprised why because if they make this shoe
individually, like you know, it's not like a mass production thing, they should
probably pay a little more attention to it.
P: Yeah, you would think that the attention to detail would be a little bit higher
if the shoes are made almost individually. I didn't really have any
issues with mine, fortunately. I thought the construction was good that the
spacing of the stitching was fairly even, the only thing that I really noticed
about these that I was less than thrilled by, is that I did, one of the
customizable options that they have is to just add rubber to the bottom of the
sole themselves rather than having a cobbler do it . R: Yeah P: But in doing this, the
outside of the sole where the rubber was added, did tend to kind of
shed or flake off a little bit there were
some extra little trimmings that might not have gotten taken off completely and
you can also see around the stitching on the sole here there's still little
pieces of rubber that have also kind of hung on to. R: Got it. So could have cleaned
out a little more. Overall, It's pretty not that big of a deal
P: No, definitely not. R: on longevity. It's more like just cleaning up the shoe.
Yeah, I got the leather sole because I like leather soles and I have to say it's all
extremely soft, it's like blake construction and one of
the few shoes that doesn't have any welt stitch, which looks kind of odd. Some more
kind of clean, streamlined, modern design. I got size 44 in the last and as I say
it's kind of funny because it's a long last, it's modern but there's not too
much room in a toe box. Because it's so soft, it works but the front heel is
very soft, the back is a little stronger but overall because the leather is so
soft, you can already after a few times of wear see those caps which just
doesn't look super flattering, it just looks like a more heavily worn shoe.
I think if there was anything a little stiffer, it would look a little better
and hold up a little more. I mean the soft sole is certainly comfortable,
there's no break-in period but the heel is a little wide for me so being it a
loafer, it kind of slips a little bit but I could not size down to 43 and a half
in those because it would be too tight in my toe box. So, just that the last
design is maybe not ideal but on this kind of last, I wouldn't have thought
this kind of shoe would have looked any good. P: Right, I would agree. I think
the way that I tried to style it more traditionally that's why I went for
the rounder last shape as well. Fit wise, I thought these were actually
pretty good for me but again that's because I can lace them up so they hug
the foot a little bit tighter R: Yeah P: I haven't had any issues, as you say, the
sole is fairly flexible on these as well R: and yours is extremely thin P: Yes, right.
R: It's like, I mean almost thinner than this Scarosso ones.
So that's pretty thin P: Yeah, I think so. They are fairly comfortable to wear as well.
I chose to add which another one of their customizable
options, is that you can have insoles sent along with these. I've put them in,
they are just I think kind of cheaper foam insoles so for the time being
they're going to provide some additional comfort but I would assume that
eventually I'll have to swap those out for the insoles that I put into most of
my other shoes anyway. R: Yeah, I hate insoles so I never wear them and I
wouldn't put them in there. I mean they send them it's nice that you have that
option, right? If you know, you want that you're like that cool, I don't care for them.
Yeah, I think overall for the price, you can find other shoes like Velasca,
where maybe a little better in terms of the workmanship but this shoe is really
great. If you want something very specific that you can find from any other
brand, right? I wouldn't get my black oxfords from Undandy. P: Right
R: But if I wanted something very specific that I couldn't get otherwise and I didn't
want to spend a ton of money on it, I think that's your best option. I think if
they had maybe, better lasts that would be huge and maybe like options for welt
difference, maybe even a goodyear option or maybe a blake-rapid but where you
could see the welt, I think that would be nice.
Maybe the option to get slightly stiffer leathers, I mean, then it would be filler.
P: Yeah, I was ultimately fairly pleased with these, I like the look of them
overall. They came out the way that I wanted them to at least which was the
main thing. I did actually swap out the laces in these for some Fort Belvedere
laces which of course you can find in our shop, to match the stitching color
even more closely than the laces they themselves provided, R: Yeah
P: I think is interesting. R: Which is nice because having that contrast stitching is, I think nice
because it adds that little something to the shoe and having it was matching
shorts it's just kind of rounds it out. P: Yup, so ultimately, I was fairly satisfied
with these. I ranked them as high as a 4 out of 5. But I agree if you want
something that is maybe in a bit of a different last style, that's where
they're kind of limited in their selection right now, so if they were to
versified that a bit more, that could maybe bring some ratings up in the
future. R: Totally. Yeah, I would say, in terms of
the quality, it's more like 3 1/4 or 3 1/2, having
that customizing option gets them up there P: Right R: but ultimately, you know, a
shoe wear I don't like the last, right? And it doesn't fit me 100%,
I'm not gonna wear. P: Yup R: and so even though I can customize it all day long,
I'm just not gonna wear it, and there's lots of other brands
that offer all kinds of different shoes and colors and different things. So
yeah, it's cool that you can offer that at that price point, I think that's really
fantastic but they just have some more way to go and any other workmanship
attention to detail, I can see like here, there's a little bit cutting that hangs
over and it didn't cut it all the way, there's a little bit there. But at the
end of the day, that's not a huge thing. You can just cut it off and stitch that
but it all adds up, right? And kind of, yeah, lots of little paper cuts can also
hurt you. P: Yeah, so I think in this way, maybe what we'd say ultimately with
these is, because there are so many different factors your mileage may vary.