Grant Stone Coffee Suede Diesel Boots
Nov 14, 2022
If you like shoes and boots, at some stage, you will be drawn to suede, that soft, nappy texture with the variation of colour and shade in different lights is hard to ignore.
The Grant Stone Diesel boot in their makeup that they call Coffee Suede is a great example of how a boot company can have a winning design, and then change it up a bit, in this case by using suede instead of smooth leather to satisfy that suede itch, and adding a wedge sole to make something very different from the conventional.
I bought these boots in July 2021 on sale for USD $250. Since then I have worn them regularly and not frequently because of my huge rotation of boots but I have had enough wear to be able to bring you my thoughts of what they're like "in real life" use.
Click to watch my review on my YouTube Bootlosophy Channel
The Aesthetic And Dress Options
The basic design is of a plain-toe service or dress boot. - just ignore the sole for a minute.
It's actually pretty difficult to categorise boots into the various types of boots that theoretically exist. As you enter the world of quality Goodyear welted, Americana-heritage-styled boots, you'll get to hear of categories like service boots, work boots, dress boots, and so on. Then sometimes, to confuse the issue, they are classified by other descriptors like moc-toe boots, combat boots, or paratrooper boots.
It is my probably controversial belief that unlike classifying boots by the specific construction style such as "a Chelsea boot" or a lace-up boot", categories like "service boot" are sort of made up. There's really nothing that says this is a "service" boot, but this falls broadly into the service boot category where - again, just ignore the wedge sole for the moment - the uppers are lasted to look like a boot that the military might have worn in World War 2; about 6 inches high at the shaft, lacing up in an open Derby lacing system, with a round toe, and pretty sleek-lines down the instep and vamp to the toe. Some "service boots", notably the Whites MP boots, have a cap toe, but this design does not, hence known as a plain toe.
This makeup of Grant Stone's Diesel boot design has uppers that are coffee-coloured suede. The welt, which I'll describe in more detail below, is a lighter natural colour, framing the dark brown nicely.
The lines are really elegant, either from the profile or looking down from the top. There is no chunky, bulbous toe and no obvious toe spring pulling up the tip of the toe. In fact, the shape is sleek and dressy. But despite that, the antiqued but still prominent brass hardware, the suede, and the cream-coloured wedge sole make this definitely a casual shoe. You are definitely not going to wear these boots with any kind of suit or even odd trousers and jacket combinations. It's not really business casual, probably not even very smart casual with wool pants or anything like that.
I think you can get away with it as part of your reasonably neat casual attire though - maybe with neat chinos and a button-down shirt and a sport coat, maybe khaki pants and a polo shirt.
Definitely, any 5 pocket pants or jeans would work, topping them with a collared shirt or even a T-shirt or Henley and maybe a casual bomber or leather jacket. Just think "going for a walk" around the neighbourhood where you don't want to shock your neighbours with your scruffiness, - meeting people as you go, maybe going into the local supermarket to buy some milk, and maybe even wandering into the pub for a drink, or ending up at a friends' for a barbecue.
Grant Stone Designs
Grant Stone makes some 10 to 13 different versions of this Diesel design, not all of them available at the same time because they do offer some one-off specials. However, there are usually 10 to 12 stock makeups.
What they do is base it off the basic Diesel design, on their own designed "Leo" last, and change up the sole, from rubber Dainite-styled studded soles to leather outsoles, and to these wedge soles, and they play around with the staining on the edge of the soles from dark to natural tan and so on. Obviously, they also change up the uppers from suede, like this model, to different coloured Chromexcel and other Horween products, to Italian veg-tanned leathers, to waxed suede and other more rugged-looking uppers. It's a platform that they then hang design choices off, making it a very versatile-looking series.
If you want a Diesel boot to wear casually, you got it.
If you want a Diesel boot to wear to the office, you got it.
If you want a Diesel boot to explore the great outdoors, you got it.
On top of the Diesel boot design, Grant Stone also makes a "work-booty" style moc toe boot called the Brass boot, a dressier style of service boot called the Edward, a Cap Toe boot, a Norwegian Split Toe design, and different Derby, Oxford and Loafer shoes - quite a range.
Grant Stone started in 2016, after a long gestation. It was co-founded by Wyatt Gilmore and Josh Lange. Gilmore's father, working for premium American boot brands, had worked with a factory in China for 20 years. The factory had decades of experience making Goodyear welted shoes for international shoe brands, and when Wyatt found an interest, he went to work in the factory for 8 years before founding Grant Stone.
Wyatt and Josh identified the need to make quality Goodyear welted boots using premium components and prioritizing fit as a primary mission. They also decided to reduce the cost to the consumer by going for a direct-to-consumer approach, cutting out the middleman and costs of physical stores, so everything is sold from their website, although recently they have partnered with some menswear stores to carry their stock.
Shoe lasts, those foot-shaped moulds around which the bootmaker stretches the uppers to create the shape of their style of shoe or boot, are either designed by specialist last makers and licensed or sold to boot makers, or they are designed by the boot makers themselves as proprietary designs. In this case, the prioritization of "fit" meant the development of their own proprietary last, and the Diesel is made on their "Leo" combination last.
I personally find Grant Stone lasts are comfortable for my shape feet, anatomically correct in the toe box shape, simultaneously snug and roomy in the right proportions in the right places, and have no pinch points caused by a fashion-driven, slimmed-down style, yet elegant and sleek at the same time.
The elephant in the room is of course, that Grant Stone boots are made in China. They're not just made in China, they are proudly made in China. Grant Stone does nothing to hide this. It's all over their website; it's stamped on the tongues of all their boots.
They really are proud of their association with this privately owned factory in China. On their website they have a blog post that's titled "What Made-in-China means to Grant Stone".
To paraphrase that article, the Gilmore family had a long-standing relationship with the owners of this factory. They helped Wyatt develop samples and try out ideas that sometimes worked and sometimes did not. Wyatt worked alongside them for 8 years and learned about their commitment to quality.
To further produce a quality product, Grant Stone uses uppers, lining leather, the insole, and even the welt, from primarily American producers. Almost all of their components come from famous producers in the US, the UK, France, and Italy. They are shipped to China and manufactured there, and then the finished product is shipped to Grant Stone's warehouse headquarters in South West Michigan.
Some readers may be immediately turned off by this because they think that "made in China" means poor quality but I can point to many things made in the USA or in the UK or in Australia where the quality is really suspect! As a management consultant and having worked with clients all over the world, I know that quality is not a function of geography but a function of getting quality materials, and then putting them together through a carefully designed, consistent, manufacturing process that is controlled and overseen by clear and consistent quality control procedures and inspection.
Any contracted factory asked to produce a cheap product can do so. Any properly equipped factory with the right processes and procedures can produce high-quality products - as the contracted factory, they just make what you tell them to make. And if you've ever held a pair of Grant Stones in your hands and looked them over, any argument about being poor quality goes right out of the window.
Some objections may be about modern-slavery practices in some countries but over the last 20 years, foreign companies have made sure - probably, to be honest, because of the protests about sweatshops at home - to "audit" the working conditions of the factories they use.
In this case, everything I see about Grant Stone tells me that they are an ethical business. The Gilmore family's relationship with the factory, including the fact that Wyatt worked alongside these workers for 8 years, does not say to me that they will turn a blind eye to worker abuse without saying or doing something.
Another objection is the desire to keep jobs at home and to avoid supporting a communist country.
I get that.
As I write, Australia is losing industries it once proudly supported, and, we are having some fraught political relationships with China, particularly in our own backyard of the South Pacific. But the world today is a world of global economics. The other side of the coin is that any company doing business with China still brings income into the home country, whether in creating some jobs at home or by paying home country taxes that ultimately benefit the citizens of that home country.
Construction
Macro-economics now being done, let's see how these boots are constructed. As usual, let's start from the bottom up.
The outsole is the Vibram cavity wedge sole. I think Vibram's model number might be 2060. But don't quote me.
Vibram is an Italian company that makes a huge number of models of outsoles including several blown rubber wedge soles, the most famous being the Christy wedge sole that you see on Red Wing boots.
This variant is made for casual walking and is a bit different in that it's not totally flat - it has a slight cavity between the heel and the ball of the foot to create an actual heel.
It is made from soft rubber, and in my experience grips really well, even on wet smooth surfaces like slick concrete floors. Because it's soft it may not be that durable, at least compared to harder materials like harder rubber Dainite soles or Vibram's own commando soles.
It is very comfortable, and totally shock absorbing.
It is cream though - a very pretty contrast against the tan colour of the natural welt and the dark chocolate uppers - but it is a pain to keep clean if that is your particular OCD obsession.
I don't really mind, I'm not obsessive about keeping it clean, but then, I don't particularly wear this hiking around mud, rocks, and dusty ground so mine don't dirty spectacularly.
The sole is attached to the uppers using Goodyear welt construction. I promised earlier I'd explain Goodyear welt construction.
A welt is a thin strip of leather that goes all the way around the edge of the boot. The uppers are formed around the last, then the insoles are attached and the uppers and insole together are sewn onto the inside edge of the welt with the unseen Goodyear stitch. The welt causes a cavity inside itself - imagine a piece of leather going all the way around the edge - obviously, the middle is going to end up slightly lower than the welt. This is filled in with some material, traditionally cork, but nowadays, potentially foam.
In this case, Grant Stone uses cork.
Then the midsole and outsole are stitched to the construction through the outside of the welt with what is technically a Blake stitch that goes all around the edge of the welt that you can see.
In this case, it's stitched through a leather midsole, and then the rubber outsole is glued on to the midsole, which is why you don't see stitches under the boot.
This Goodyear welt is formed and turned up against the upper. This is a split reverse welt, where the welt is split halfway, and the top of the split is flanged up against the upper while the bottom of the split stays flat and is sewn to the midsole as usual. The split that flanges up against the uppers further improves water resistance.
That is the reputed value of a Goodyear welted boot - it's more water resistant because, even without the split reverse welt it offers an extra layer of protection between the outside and the inside.
The other reputed advantage of a Goodyear welt is that it can be recrafted and resoled. When you wear down the outsole, you can take it to a cobbler who can prise off the glued outsole and whack on a new one with glue. Or, if there's some damage to the midsole, they can unpick the Goodyear welt stitch, keep the welt connected to the uppers and the insole, stitch on a new midsole, and then glue on a new wedge sole.
Or, if you wanted to change it up, they could do all that, but then replace the rubber wedge with a normal Dainite sole or leather outsole.
Further up the boot, I've already said there's a leather midsole and cork filling. Embedded in the cork layer inside - between the heel and the ball of the foot - s a triple-rib steel shank. That is a strip of steel that bridges the gap between the heel and the ball of the foot to give you arch support and stop your arches from collapsing into that gap when you stand put pressure on it, as well as giving you some stability in case you step on something with an edge.
Then, on top of the cork filling, there is a non-removable leather insole, and on top of that is a leather heel pad to give more shock absorption, and to protect your feet from the nails clinched in to attach the heel stack.
That is an awesome combination - all that rubber, leather and cork means that you get tremendous shock absorption.
The leather and cork soles mould to the shape of your feet the more you stand on and impress yoiur weight into them, making them more comfortable the more you wear them.
Then we come to the uppers - obviously a suede.
This suede comes from the Charles F Stead tannery in Leeds, England, which has been producing quality leather since 1904.
This is buttery soft!
You could just about wipe your face with it! It's supple, the nap is soft, and feels like powder under your hand.
The toe is unstructured. There is a heel counter to give the heel stability. The heel counter is leather and is covered by a double backstay - one up the height of the shaft covering the seam of the two quarter pieces, and the other cupped around the counter.
This boot has 4 eyelets and 3 speed hooks, using Grant Stone's signature antiqued brass hardware. The eyelets are satisfyingly large - you can easily thread a leather lace through, and the speed hooks are firm and also satisfyingly open enough to thread your laces into them.
The stitching is mainly double-stitched, but at the front edge of the quarters, they are triple-stitched for extra strength.
Inside, the boot is fully lined with soft leather - even the tongue is lined. Many quality boots (like Red Wing) might line the vamp only, sometimes with nothing but a cloth canvas lining. But in this case, the full leather lining is extremely comfortable. The lining gives the boot a luxurious feel when you slip your feet in.
A word about the tongue. It's partially gusseted, up to the second eyelet.
This low gusset, and the thinness of the suede and lining at the tongue, being about 3 millimeters thick, means that for me, the tongue on the right boot slips to one side. That's easy to fix if you have this same problem.
Apparently, you can "train" the tongue by folding it in half, but for people like me with no patience, you can take it to a cobbler who can put a little stitch to one side, or like me, use a chisel to cut a couple of slits to lace the laces through the tongue.
All in all, despite the thick leather layers in the sole and the Goodyear welting, the boots only weigh 687 gms each. That's pretty light for a Goodyear welted boot, and makes walking in it a really pleasant experience.
The Quality Control is - how can I say this?
Magnificent!
I believe that they have the usual Quality Control procedures at the factory, and the factory knows what Grant Stone demands so they take QC seriously. But each boot also undergoes a second QC inspection at the Grant Stone warehouse in Michigan. I also believe that before each boot is shipped out to a customer, it is inspected one more time, and given a brush down or polish.
OK Red Wing, Alden, Allen Edmonds - tell me what you do for Quality Control?
All this emphasis on quality means that there is not a stitch out of place; nothing is misaligned; there are no loose threads; no evidence of machine wheel marks beside the stitches.
The stitching on the welt is super consistent - and let me challenge you to do this -take any boot you have in your collection that is 360 degree Goodyear welted. As a Goodyear welt is a strip of leather that's stitched all the way around the boot, there has to be a beginning and an ending right?
Usually where the beginning and the ending meet is on the inside of the foot, just under the start of your arch. Take a look at the boot in your hand and you will see a joint. Maybe your boot even has an overlap.
Now take a look at these boots.
Pick up any Grant Stone and examine that spot where the welt joint usually is.
I challenge you to find that joint! It is perfection!
Finally, as we examine their pursuit of quality, let me just say a few words about the presentation. The presentation of the boots when they arrive is amazing. They are shipped in a box within a packing box, that is packed with cardboard so that the inner box does not shift in the passage. The presentation box has a lid that fits into the body of the box on a lip so that when the top is on, it fits into a grooved lip without overhang. Inside, the boots are presented inside soft felt boot bags. They are further wrapped with a thick cotton cloth that can be used as a polish cloth. The boots are accompanied by a thank yu and care card, and a little draw string bag containing a combination metal shoe horn and bottle opener, and a spare pair of laces.
Value
Now on turning to the value, I think you can guess what I'm about to say.
Are they worth the US $250 I got them for or even the US $340 on the website?
Well, value and worth are subjective, aren't they? So let me try to be as objective as possible.
Hell, yeah!
Uppers from the famous C F Stead tannery; a Vibram sole, full leather lining, welt and insoles from US tanneries, the quality of the manufacturing, the quality control, the fact that you can't even find where the welt joins!
Man, if you don't think these are worth it, you are hard to please!
OK, sorry, went a bit overboard there.
Seriously, I think - for what you get - and compared to the quality of similar $300 to $400 boots - in fact, compare them to $400 and $500 boots, I actually think they're worth at least $50 to $100 more!
Sizing and Fit
Let's finish this review by looking at sizing and fit, and talk about the break-in.
I take an 8D in most American boots. This is no exception.
My True to Brannock size is 8 and a half D. That's my measurement on the Brannock device that you stand on to measure your feet in the shoe store. So that makes sense as Grant Stone advises you to size half down from true. In this Leo last, the fit is perfect.
The last really suits my feet in dimension and volume. The boots hug my heel and the waist of the foot so that I feel secure, but the vamp opens up so that the ball of my feet are not constricted, and the rounded toe gives my toes plenty of room - I'm not swimming in them - but I can wiggle my toes with some impunity!
Grant Stone usually makes their boots from size 6 to 13, with all the half sizes in between, and they make them in D widths to triple E widths, so you should be able to find the perfect fit for you.
If you're in any doubt, you should email them. They are extremely responsive - give them some examples of your different shoes and sizes, and they're great at suggesting the right size.
If you live in the US and you get the wrong size, you can print a prepaid UPS return label from the website. Exchanges are free, but I think returns for refunds may have a small handling fee.
If you're outside of the US, you have to pay for your own shipping.
As for break-in, the sole construction is firm. I did have to wear them for about a week before I felt that all that leather and wedge sole was flexing comfortably as I walked, but then after that, super-comfortable.
A week was also about what it took to break in the suede uppers. When I first put them on, my right foot, which is my bigger foot - your feet are not exactly the same - felt a bit tight at the outside knuckle of the little toe. You can expect suede to stretch quite quickly, but the lining probably constricted me for a while longer.
But after a week or maybe a bit more, everything had stretched sufficiently and now these are just so comfortable when I put them on.
Summary
In summary, there's a lot to like in Grant Stone and specifically in these boots.
They are made well, comfortable yet sturdy, and they look really stylish as a casual pair of boots. Unlike many you can get at a similar price, they are fully leather lined, on a last that is slim and sleek, yet sufficiently foot-shaped not to squeeze all your toes in the name of fashion.
As I write this, the coffee suede is no longer available, although they still offer it in tan suede and a dark, blue/grey suede called Storm Suede, both also from Charles F Stead. However, Stead still produces this colour so maybe this particular colour will make a return one day.
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