Parkhurst's Spaulding Boot in Natural Chromexcel

 

 

This is the Parkhurst Brand Spaulding boot, in natural Chromexcel. The style of the boot is called a brogue wingtip boot, originally known in England as a Country boot, and this one is made with an Oxford closed lacing system. Parkhurst calls this model the Spaulding, and you can watch my original review of it on my YouTube channel by clicking on the link below.

 

 

What is a "brogue wingtip boot"?

 

 

 

 

Later, they were adopted by English gentlemen in the early 1900s and worn by them when they retired to their country houses at the weekend for a spot of shooting and hunting! Even later, when the genteel divide between formal and informal wore away, they became another fashionable design in boots and shoes in the city. They come in a variety of designs, and models like this are known as "full brogues" or "wingtips".

 

Full brogues or wingtips - the name is interchangeable - are characterised by a toe cap that extended down the sides - hence "wings" - and in some cases, such as these, had extra panels echoing that wing, perforations along the eyelet panels, and a medallion toe cap, or a toe cap that have decorative brogue holes punched in a pattern on the toe cap. In most cases, the edges of the leather panels would be "pinked" or cut with a serrated blade, producing the iconic serrated edges to the leather panels.

 

 

Brogues had both Oxford and Derby lace closure styles. A Derby lacing style has open panels sewn on to the outside of the vamp whereas the Oxford style, like these, are "closed" in that the two sides of the lacing panels meet and are sewn under the vamp, so that you can't get your finger between them to open them up.

 

You can see the difference between the Parkhurst Spaulding's Oxford lacing system and below, the Derby style on the Thursday Boot Company's Wingtip boot.

 

 

 

In the US the Derby closing style is sometimes confused with a Blucher named after Marshall Blucher of "rescuing Wellington at Waterloo" fame because he shod his army with easy on-and-off boots with an open lacing system instead of the more 18th Century traditional pull-on boot styles. A Blucher is in fact not a Derby as a Derby has large quarters sewn on top while a Blucher technically is one cut of leather as seen below.

 

 

 

Chromexcel is tanned by Horween Tannery, based in Chicago in the US. Horween is a 5-generation owned and operated family company, and one of the oldest continuously running tanneries in the US. Amongst the many high-quality leathers that they tan, Chromexcel is arguably their most famous, along with their shell cordovan.

 

There are a lot of stories about Chromexcel.

 

One of them is that Horween developed Chromexcel in the early 20th century when the invention of safety razors meant that the use of shell cordovan for razor strops declined. They needed a replacement volume product and developed Chromexcel initially for mechanical uses as engine seals and gaskets. Its development coincided with World War 1 when industrial production of heavy trucks and tanks ramped up and so the leather became very popular in that use. Apparently, a leather seal is better because it breaks down more slowly during heavy use.

 

What made it really valuable as a seal or gasket was the heavy impregnation of oils and waxes during tanning.

 

Chromexcel is a slightly corrected full-grain leather, combination tanned, based on tanning using chromium salts and then re-tanned using vegetable tannins. It's finished in the tanning process by hot-stuffing the leather with a formula of oils and waxes to imbue that oily, waxy feel to it. This gives it the characteristics of being heat resistant and having a stronger tensile strength, along with the ability to mould to a shape and breathe - and for us boot fans, the ability to develop a beautiful patina.

 

 

I wrote "slightly corrected full grain leather" and that is a kind of contradiction so I had better explain that. "Full grain leather" is arguably the best type of leather and "correcting" the leather usually produces top grain leather, the next best grade.

 

One thing about the leather industry is that there is no correct, standard way of calibrating different grades of leather. For example "genuine leather" which sounds terribly good, is often the worst grade of leather, called genuine because it is leather, but that's about it, often made from poor quality leather splits and imprinted with fake leather grain. Full grain leather is pretty much all the leather from the flesh side with the nappy fibres, to the formerly hairy or now smooth "grain" side, with just the hair removed and still showing all the animal's wrinkles, hair holes, veins and scars. This is called the grain. Top grain leather is the same, but the top of the smooth grain side is sanded to remove the wrinkles, hair holes, veins and scars and even out the "smoothness".

 

Chromexcel is lightly buffed to smooth the grain side but only to smooth out the worst of the irregularities and it still shows the character of the animal's life.

 

Because it is hot-stuffed with an enormous amount of secret waxes and oils in a heated drum, it's also a "pull-up" leather. You can use your finger and "pull up" against the leather, and the colour will move around as the oils and waxes move around under the surface. As a supple oil-stuffed leather, it can scuff quite easily, but because of all those oils and waxes inside the leather that can move around, it also repairs itself very easily. All you have to do is just rub it with a finger, and as you heat the leather in that way, the oils and waxes move back and lubricate and cover up the scuff.

 

Horween produces Chromexcel in a variety of colours, but they all tend to be brown or black-based earth-toned colours. I believe this is due to the heavy waxes and oils used, which do not allow it to take on blues and greens.

 

In this case, it's "Natural" Chromexcel or un-dyed Chromexcel. When it comes out of the box, it's a light, sand-coloured tan or brown.

 

  

 

When new, the colour is very even and many first-time boot buyers are horrified to learn that it will darken with wear. This pair of Parkhurst Spaulding boots are now 2 years old and they have developed a deep patina with use, becoming a dark mid-brown burnt honey colour, with patches of light and dark, but still light enough for the grain to show through.

 

If it's not apparent enough from the photos above, below is a comparison with a much newer Oak Street Bootmakers Trench Boot also in Natural Chromexcel, in bright sunlight, which by the way can actually sun-tan the Nattie.

 

 

 

 

The effect of the shaft rubbing on my jeans or trousers can also burnish the patina turning it a deeper colour in the shaft.

 

 

 

The act of just brushing also deepens that shade and builds the patina because you're warming the leather and the oils inside, and moving them around and to the surface. As a boot leather, it is incredibly complex and interesting to see over time.

 

 

 

I have been sparing in conditioning these boots. I waited about 4 or 5 months before it saw the first drop of conditioner. I wanted the tan and patina to develop naturally before I conditioned it, worried that applying conditioner too early would darken it and darken it too evenly.

 

I used neutral Venetian Shoe Cream. Really, I don't think you can go wrong with VSC on smooth leathers especially as Horween uses litres of the stuff when they finish the Chromexcel hides.

 

It did soak in quickly when I first applied it but didn't significantly darken it because it had already started developing its own mid-brown patina. What it did do though, was to add depth to the colour, bringing out the dark and light play of shades.

 

Since then in the period when I wore these hard, I conditioned them with VSC about once every 4 to 6 weeks, but after that, when I've hardly worn them, they get conditioned once a year and get a good brushing with a horsehair brush whenever I think of it, which has been about every 3 months. The vigorous brushing not only cleans any gritty dirt off it, which can cause the leather to scratch and crack in time, but it also helps to distribute the oils and waxes and hence develop the patina further. You cannot believe the depth of colour that vigorous brushing brought to this, almost in front of my very eyes.

 

I'd also recommend the use of shoe trees. They will help to dry out a damp just-worn boot, and they will help to prevent the heavy creasing on the vamp.

 

 

 

Let's now turn to how these boots are constructed.

 

These are built on Parkhurst's old No. 18 last. A "last" is the foot-shaped 3-D mould that the boot maker stretches the leather over to make the shape of the boot. That's why a Red Wing Iron Ranger looks different from this, and why the Parkhurst Allen boots in the 602 last look different from these - different lasts equals different shapes.

 

The 18 last has quite a snug heel pocket, a narrow waist, a slim but roomy ball of the foot with reasonable volume over the instep, and then rounded into a sleek almond-shaped toe.

 

 

 

The uppers are made of 5 different panels, not counting the tongue or lace and collar edging reinforcements, each except the backstay brogued and pinked. Parkhurst says that this Spaulding boot took twice as long to stitch and used 1 ½ times more leather than one of their cap-toe Richmond boots. You can see that the stitching would have to be very precise. Get a stitch wrong and the lines along the pinked edges look all wrong.

 

There is a single backstay up the back of the shaft that covers and reinforces the stitching together of the two quarters at the back. The heel counter - the stiff piece of material that shapes the heel, is Celastic, and it is an internal heel counter protected on the inside by the lining. The toebox is very lightly structured, again with Celastic. 

 

The inside of the boot is fully lined with soft veg-tanned leather, and the insole and heel-to-arch cushioning under the heel of your foot is also leather.

 

The uppers are attached to the sole using the 360-degree Goodyear welt method of construction. Basically, a strip of leather called the welt goes all the way around the edge of the boot, sewn to the uppers on the inside through the insole and the turned-in uppers leather, and the outside edge of the welt is then sewn through the midsole and the outsole.

 

In this case, as with most Parkhurst boots, it's a veg-tanned "split reverse welt". The flat welt is horizontally split halfway, and then the outside inner edge of the split welt is flanged up against the uppers and so provides more water resistance.

 

 

The advantage of the Goodyear welt construction - many consider it the gold standard - is that it is water resistant and that it is easily re-soleable when your soles become worn out.

 

In terms of hardware, it's built with 4 eyelets and 3 speedhooks, which, with the Oxford pattern provides a good combination that allows you to unhook the laces from the speedhooks and quickly loosen the lower laces by pulling apart the lace facings. The backs of the hardware are simply pressed, with no washer backing, so does cut into the tongue.

 

The new Niagara model is the only current leather-lined boot made by Parkhurst, and this was the only older Parkhurst boot I know of that is fully leather-lined, including even the tongue, which helps to stiffen the tongue and despite it being ungusseted, helps prevent the tongue slipping to one side as you wear it through the day.

 

The Chromexcel used is about 2 millimetres thick and combined with the lining is about 3 mm altogether, which is not particularly thick, but does make for a softer and more supple boot, and contributes to it weighing about 680 gms per boot. That's about average dress-boot weight, which I guess, is what this is, despite the Nattie CXL looking so casual.

 

The midsole is veg-tanned leather, and there is a real-leather stacked heel sandwiched by the outsole full-length rubber and the heel toplift rubber.

 

The outsole and heel toplift are from Dainite. Dainite is from a company in the UK, invented in 1910 and called Dainite because the mill (factory) used to run "day and night". It's a very popular rubber outsole. Just every boot manufacturer uses it in one of their models, or they make a proprietary version of the same style of studded outsole. Thursday and Grant Stone come to mind.

 

The secret to the popularity is the way Dainite combines grippiness with a reasonably thin profile so that you can use it for dressy boots, as well as boots that might need grip outdoors. The studs are low-profile and the way they are recessed into shallow depressions provides grip without picking up loose dirt and gravel.

 

 

I find Dainite very good for my personal use-case scenarios, which are mainly urban but with an occasion or two of walking on forest trails - and I haven't slipped yet.

 

 

 

The Dainite outsoles help make these a comfortable pair of boots.

 

The old 18 last snugly holds your foot and gives reasonable arch support, because in my opinion, of the way the uppers on the medial side (inside) tuck in under your arch due to the slim waist of the 18 last. There is a fibreglass shank inserted in the cork filler layer between the leather midsole and the leather insole, and the shank provides further arch support under the gap at the arch as well as torsional rigidity, and, as it's fibreglass, is also airport-friendly.

 

After the last 2 years of wear, the layers of real leather and cork under my foot have compressed to the shape of the bottom of my feet so that they feel almost custom-made for me. The shock absorption as I walk is good.

 

I took a half size down from my true Brannock size in these, as was recommended by Parkhurst, and as I measure an 8D on the Brannock device, these are a size 8. Parkhurst's combination lasts run between C and E width from the heel to the ball of the foot, and that fits me really well. Just for size comparisons, I take an 8D in Red Wing Iron Rangers, an 8D in Grant Stone's Leo and Floyd lasts, an 8D in Alden's Trubalance lasted Indy's, an 8D in the Wolverine 1000 mile boot, and a size 8 in Thursday Captains.

 

Fitted well, and with this Chromexcel leather and excellent sole construction, I experienced no break in period at all. This fitted perfectly and was comfortable right out of the box.

 

 

 

It's not a difficult boot to pair with outfits. It's a casual boot because of the heavy patina on the Natural Chromexcel, and I wouldn't wear it with a suit. But it can be worn smart casual and business casual.

 

I have worn it with a pair of chinos or with brown 5-pocket pants and a button-up shirt.

 

 

 

I have paired it with a non-matching pair of pants and blazer and waistcoat or vest.

 

 

 

The classic khaki chinos and blue blazer work well.

 

 

 

I don't often wear them with denim but it will work. I just think the design is slightly dressier than "denim casual", but it will work.

 

 

 

 

When I bought them in September 2021 they cost me US$ 318. That was a really good price for these well-made boots. In terms of value for that price, I got a difficult-to-make boot that was made well, I got the famous Chromexcel that has patinaed so well, I got a comfortable and versatile boot, I got a well-designed last that suited my feet.

 

There were some loose threads that appeared a couple of months in, but I singed them off without problems.

 

Good value at that price I think.

 

Parkhurst's current models run from the high US three hundred dollars to the mid-four hundred dollars after the pandemic, still recovering supply chains, labour issues and a global inflationary situation. If they ever come back in today's circumstances, be prepared to pay US$ 400 to $500.

 

It really is a shame that they are no longer available, but oh well, I have them and you can just drool.