Astorflex Dowelflex - Service Boot or Ankle Boot?

Here's an interesting proposition.

Is a service boot, by common modern definition, American?

If you look at the Astorflex Dowelflex boot, you can see quite clearly that it is in a “service boot” pattern. But this boot is made in Italy, with a soft crêpe sole. So is it in fact, a service boot?

This pair of "Service Boots" is made by the Italian company, Astorflex, and called the Dowelflex Boot. Astorflex calls all of their models, a name that ends with “Flex”. So for example, I have reviewed the Chelsea boot called the Bitflex, which you can see here.

Before we go on, this pair was provided to me by Huckberry for review, but I’m not obliged to say anything other than how I truly feel about these boots. You should know though, that I’m quite a fan of the brand Astorflex as I’ve found them comfortable and casually stylish in the past.

This Dowelflex boot uses a service boot pattern, which is commonly associated with American heritage-style boots. It is quite different to Astorflex's other 6-inch boot, called the Bootflex boot. I have also previously reviewed that boot, here. I can now see that the Bootflex is in fact, a southern European work boot style used by farmers and shepherds in Portugal, Spain, Italy and central Europe. This Dowelflex boot, on the other hand, is modelled after what I have been used to calling a service boot pattern.

Here’s the interesting thing.

Are service boots American? European makers don’t call similar boots “service boots” and if they call them anything other than a Derby boot, they probably call them Ankle Boots. And if, as an American, you want to blow your mind, jump outside your borders and Google images of the Tricker’s Logger Boot to see what the Brits think a Logger Boot looks like!

See my review of the Dowleflex - click on link below:

This Dowelflex Boot has a 5-inch shaft, similar to the USMC Boondocker style, and is constructed with three basic panels - the vamp piece, and 2 quarter pieces. The lined and ungusseted tongue is sewn to the vamp piece; at the back, there is a single piece backstay up the middle. It has an inner heel counter stitched into place with a piece of suede on the inside of the boot. The toe box is a round, plain-toe box, and the whole set of uppers is sat on top of a natural crepe rubber sole using the stitchdown method of construction, which I’ll get into when I talk about construction methods.

Aesthetically, it's a very simple-looking boot, and because of its simplicity is very attractive as an everyday, casual boot. In this dark chestnut nubuck leather that is slightly oiled, the mid-brown colour moves around as you walk and flex the uppers. As such, it's a casual boot for casual, relaxed or social occasions.

I think the most appropriate outfits to go with this boot would be casual and relaxed - chino pants, or jeans, with a T-shirt, polo shirt, or linen or cotton button-up shirt. For example, a pair of light wash jeans, and an Oxford cloth button-down shirt, with or without a jacket would give you the appropriate, relaxed vibes.

Or you could pair the boots with a pair of khaki chinos, and a blue button-down shirt with a dark blue blazer, and that would be suitable for a casual Friday in a professional office.

You can also of course wear the boots with a pair of dark or mid-wash jeans, and a simple T-shirt to go to a summer barbecue or an afternoon at the pub.

This is such a traditional-looking boot and so casual with it, that I'm pretty sure it would go with almost any outfit as long as you get your colours right. Stick to basic neutral colours like brown, blue, black, grey, white, and olive green.

ASTORFLEX

Let me give you a brief history of the brand.

Astorflex is an Italian company founded by the Travenzoli family in the 1890s in a small town with many small, family-run boot and shoe-making workshops run out of homes and backyards. The company grew through the years, especially after the First World War, into an industrialised factory setup and continued making traditional stitch-down shoes from the same town.

Today, the family ownership is into its sixth generation, and the current owners have embraced an eco-conscious mission to their bootmaking, ensuring that they use veg-tanned leathers to avoid the chrome salt spillage, as well as natural rubber for their soles, water-based dyes and non-solvent glues. They’ve had a partnership with Huckberry for about 10 years now, and also make loafers, Chelsea boots and chukkas, all called something-"flex".

When I’ve reviewed Astorflex boots before - like the Brownflex Chukka - people have commented that as an Italian maker, it’s not very refined. Interestingly, people from some countries seem to travel a lot more than people from others and often it’s people who have not travelled that expect Italian footwear to be all sophisticated Gucci products - what they see on their TV screens at home. In fact, Italy has a centuries-old tradition of making footwear for workers and peasants that has continued to develop into very functional, economical shoes and boots for relaxed kick-around casual wear and light work wear.

CONSTRUCTION

Now let's take a look at the construction. 

At the bottom is a very soft crêpe rubber outsole. It's slightly over 1 cm thick and the very low block heel is also made of crepe rubber, and glued onto the outsole. This type of crepe sole is made of natural rubber.

When I was a child, I spent some time in Malaysia, living near a rubber plantation and I used to watch the liquid rubber being poured into curing trays, mixed with acid, and then rolled through rollers producing sheets of this crêpe rubber for storage and transport. This type of outsole is probably most famously used in Clarks desert boots. It's extremely soft and shock absorbing, however, can wear quite quickly, and definitely picks up all sorts of dirt, sand, gravel, and anything else you would care to mention. Within a couple of weeks of walking around outdoors, this will look like a big black mess. If you don't mind that, it's a very practical outsole for a casual boot, because of its grip, and comfort. But being a bit unsightly, it's not good for dressy occasions.

Above the crepe rubber outsole is what looks like a leather midsole. It could be made of leatherboard, however, the profile edge that you can see looks to me like leather. It's a little less than half a centimetre thick and feels quite firm, without the grainy bits you often see on the edges of leatherboard. 

There isn't a shank inserted in the boot, and as a result, it's actually very flexible and in fact, not very stable if you flex it from side to side. The heel is very low - it’s only about 25 millimetres tall and the height difference between your heel and the ball of your foot is only a drop of about 10 millimetres. As a result, the weight of your feet do not exert a great deal of pressure into that gap between the heel and the ball of the foot.

The inside of the boot is also very flat, and so for someone like me with slightly collapsed arches, while it is a very comfortable boot to lounge around in, it would probably begin to feel painful under the arches if I stood around for too long in it. I have had to insert a heel lift in order to make sure that I have enough of a height difference between my heel and my forefoot in order to feel comfortable.

I think I can categorically say that, while this is a comfortable casual lounge-about boot, it is not a boot for standing around in all day, and definitely not a work boot, or even a boot to go for a long walk in.

Moving on up while staying inside the boot, there is no cork filling because there is no cavity caused by a welt. This is a stitch-down boot and so does not use a welt around the outside of the boot. There is, however, a thin leather comfort insole made from a soft calfskin that is lightly padded with memory foam for comfort.

As I said, this boot uses the stitchdown method of construction, in order to fix the uppers to the sole. In this method of construction, the uppers are lasted around the last and then flared out, and the flared-out edge is sewn directly onto the midsole. It is a 360° stitch-down construction, meaning that the stitching of the uppers to the midsole goes all the way around the boot.

The stitching is nothing to write home about.

While structurally sound, it's not particularly good-looking. However, you have to remember the price as well as the rough, casual uses that you might put this boot into. Otherwise, the stitching on the upper is okay. The quarters are attached to the vamp with a double-row stitch while mostly everything else is single-row stitched.

The toe box is totally unstructured and is soft and pliable, which is one of the comfort factors when you put the boot on. The heel counter is also soft and presumably is either a Thermoplastic, like Celastic, or a thin leatherboard. It is an internal heel counter, and on the inside, it is covered by a piece of suede to give your heel some grip against slippage. The edges of the collar and the lace facings are covered by a rolled edge of leather. This is unexpected for a boot at this price point.

I have already said that the tongue is ungussetted. However, it is the only piece of the uppers that is lined. As this lining thickens the tongue, I find that it doesn’t slip over, which many of the tongues in other ungusseted-tongue boots tend to do.

The rest of the boot - vamp and shaft - are unlined. I'm not sure this is necessarily a bad thing. Because it does not feel uncomfortable and does seem to breathe better.

There are eight antiqued brass eyelets and they are backed with inset washers so they should not mark the leather in the tongue. The laces provided are a pair of flat, woven cotton laces, and I think, suit the look of the boot.

The uppers leather is Nubuck.

Nubuck leather is a corrected, full-grain leather. The most famous type of nubuck leather is the yellow nubuck leather used by the classic Timberland boots. In this case, it's about 2.2 mm thick, which is about average for nubuck.

When I said that nubuck leather is corrected, I meant that they sand or buff the grain side of the leather ever so slightly so as to create a slightly nappy feel to the surface. This creates a surface that is more resistant to scratching than smooth-grain leather. In this case, it is a bovine nubuck that is rotated in a drum in water and then naturally dried, and from the feel of it, I believe also lightly oiled. This will help to create a certain water resistance and what it also does is create a subtle patterning and show a difference in colouration as the oils move around inside the ladder. In many ways, this is the ultimate pull-up leather.

I find this quite an attractive leather because of the way the oils move around. Within a few weeks, it was starting to show wear and patina. However, what I don't like about it is the way the creases form very quickly on the vamp and in one area on the right boot, at the very top of the vamp, some creases are beginning to look like loose grain. Once again though, I have to remind myself of this as a low-price, casual kick-around boot.

LEATHERCARE

Caring for Nubuck is simple. I think regular brushing is a must. With this texture, I find that it picks up a lot of dust, and you always know that because when you rub or stroke the boots with bare hands, your hands come up feeling a little powdery.

The second tip is to apply some type of waterproofing spray before your first wear. Anything you can use to waterproof suede should be ok for Nubuck, and the one I use is Tarrago’s Nanospray protector. It will soak the leather as soon as you spray it on and darken it, but don’t panic because it will dry back to the original colour in an hour or so. If the nubuck gets marked, you can use a suede eraser to “rub off” the marks, and then if it spots, give the whole boot a light rub over with the eraser. Immediately after this, and also from time to time, give the boots a brush with a stiff bristled suede brush to “clean up” the light nap.

I never saddle soap my nubuck leathers no matter how dirty they are - I think the waxes in the saddle soap can penetrate the corrected surface and make the nap flatten down and look too shiny. Otherwise, it’s a tough leather - again, look at an old pair of Timberland yellow boots. They take punishment.

SIZING, FIT AND COMFORT

As for sizing, fit and comfort, I’ve already spoken about the comfort. At first step, it’s pretty comfortable and the shock absorption is definitely good, but to be honest, after a long day, your feet might ache because of the flat nature of the sole and the lack of arch support. They feel similar to bedroom slippers - your feet feel good, but you probably wouldn’t walk around outside all day.

The unlined uppers though, allow your feet to breathe, and they’re soft and supple despite being over 2 millimetres thick so your feet will like them.

In terms of sizing, the Huckberry website equates a US 8 with a European 41.

Now this is tricky.

First off, my true size measured on a US Brannock device is 8 and a half, and I usually wear US heritage boots a half size down in US 8. My European sizing can be all over the place but I measure between a European 41 and 41.5. However, if you place your trust in the Huckberry conversion, then I’d say to you to order in the size you usually wear in US heritage boots. So for me, what Huckberry calls an 8 is the right size.

It’s reasonably snug in the heel, waist and ball of the foot - without pinching - and the rounded toe shape of the last gives me a good feel in the toebox.

VALUE

Now let’s turn to value.

On the Huckberry website, they were listed at US $225 when I got them in 2023. They are often on sale and often run out of stock, so you need to keep an eye out.

This puts them in the lower price range of all service boots, and you can compare them to Thursday Captains at US $200 or the Thursday Vanguards at US $265. The Blake-stitched Helm Hollis was US $295 when I last looked. The Red Wing Iron Ranger, not as sleek but certainly sturdily made, is US $350. So in price terms, bang in the range and maybe even at the lower end of the low range.

In value terms, what you get is an eco-conscious boot - if that’s important to you - some comfort in the wear and the shock absorption feeling more like slippers than rugged boots, an interesting leather, and a reasonably well-made QC. They are not made of the best leather, the crepe sole can wear quickly, and there's no shank. In my opinion, it’s not "excellent" value like a Thursday Captain, but about on the money where price meets value.