Style

For someone who tends to be fairly conservative with his footwear, the idea of shoes with deep patina, medallion toe, broguing, and laces with gold brass tips might be a little much. And for me, it is. 

Coco Chanel supposedly advised the sartorially inclined to look in the mirror and take one thing off before they left for the day.

I think it’s warranted here. While this is far more subdued than Lethato’s blue triple-monk strapped boot, swapping the gold laces out may be worthwhile. 

Materials and Build

Lethato uses full-grain Italian leather on all their dress shoes. It’s not the finest I’ve felt, but it’s okay for $180. There’s nothing that blows me away, but it’s about what I’d expect for this price point.

At first touch, it is a little plastic-y, but I’d actually attribute it more to the patina painting more than anything else.

Build quality remains fantastic, on par with my shoes from Moral Code. The stitching is nice and even, and there appear to be quite a few of them per inch. The perforations are clean and neatly punched through the medallion and the broguing on the upper. 

Improvements can be made to the laces. The gold accent makes them look a little tacky; it feels like a bungee cord in your hand and cheapens the overall experience of lacing them up. 

Fit 

I like the slope of the upper and am especially keen on the narrow waist. In theory, it should hug your foot around the arch for a more customized fit than many standard “D” widths could offer.

As someone with a long, narrow foot who routinely has to size down to fit my heel, I definitely appreciate it.

I took a UK 9, which translates to a 9.5/10 in US sizing. The fit on me was “okay.”

I didn’t have any heel slip, which is always a positive. But, the mouth of the shoe still left quite a large gap when I walked. Taking a smaller size may have helped, or they may have been too small. If you’ve got a standard width foot, taking your normal size should be fine.