How It's Made #5 - Cowboy Boots

Even James Dean, an all-time fashion icon wore them!

Even though cowboy boots have never and will never be my thing, it is interesting to see the amount of work it takes to fashion them. If you're a fan and would like to read more on Cowboy boots, check out Bootblog AllenBoots.

How It's Made #4 - Esquivel Shoes

The more time I spend in the USA the more I am impressed with the quality and craftsmanship of locally-made items, despite being quite biased due to my European upbringing. I talked about the Alden shoe factory a while back and now I want you to introduce you to a west-coast, California-based Luxury Shoe Manufacturer: Esquivel.

Even though Esquivel markets these marvelously finished pairs as Women's shoes,  there's nothing that I see that would make them unwearable by men. 

The following video is a slideshow of stills taken during the making of Esquivel shoes:

The Esquivel website does not feature an online store, however Esquivel shoes and boots can be purchased at Endless.com

There's just something I love about green leather

Designer Spotlight #2 - Indochino

Having left this series on an Oriental note in the last post in this series, I would like to continue as such and introduce you to Indochino, a Shanghai based company that focuses on made-to-order clothing. What sets them apart from other similar companies is that they do not only offer suits and shirts made to order but also winter coats and vests. Prices are also quite affordable ranging from $299 to $499 for their made-to-order suits and $79 to $99 for their shirts.

What I like most about Indochino, from what I can gather from their website at least, is that they put their customer's satisfaction first and that they run a very smooth operation from the time you place the order online till your item of clothing arrives at your doorstep in one of their very nice Indochino boxes. Indochino has summarized their process of making a suit jacket from start to finish in this short video:

A funny fact that Indochino prides itself with is that they are the only designer to feature a 40-character long monogram on the inside of their jackets.

How It's Made #3 - Suits

Suits are one of the staple items of a man's wardrobe and unless you've had the privilege of having a bespoke suit made, you may not be fully aware of the amount of work that goes into making a suit, even if, as is the case in the video below, the process is highly automatized. Next time you think a suit you see in a store is way too expensive, think again and come back to watch this video.

How It's Made #2 - Jeans

If you've ever thought twice about dishing out a larger sum of money for a good pair of jeans, take a look and see that making a jean is not that easy of a job and price can portent to quality.

How It's Made #1 - Alden Shoes

When it comes to great quality American-made shoes, Alden is one of the classic companies one would think of. Courtesy of Epauletshop.com we get a glimpse into the labour-intensive process that a shoe has to go through to transform from a sheet of leather into the beautiful shoes Alden has to offer. Enjoy!