Stitchdown

I can’t say that 2000 IG posts is history’s MOST remarkable milestone, but that’s what this one one is. So here’s the first photo I ever posted on @stitchdown : my Alden 403c Indy boots purchased from @aldenmadison in probably…2015? This is probably the one pair I’ve ever truly regretted moving on from. My first Indys, my first Alden boots, and hands-down some of the best CXL I’ve ever seen. I ended up selling them (to a good friend who treated them nothing but right, so that’s great at least) while going through one of various personal sizing revelations. This particular sizing revelation was INCORRECT. One day, I’ll forgive myself. Perhaps. The honest truth is my relationship with social media is quite a confounding one these days. Everything seems to be AI, or could be. On a personal day-to-day level I don’t interact with it all nearly as much as I used to. Apps have been deleted, brainspace restored. Even on Stitchdown social stuff I feel stuck, unsure, and uninspired way too often—and then guilty as all hell that I feel that way. Not the happiest combo. Looking at this Indy boot photo took me back to a unfathomably simpler time. There I am, just a person who saved up for and suddenly owns some of the coolest boots in the world. And so I take pictures of them and tell you how much I love them and why. I have an idea for what Stitchdown might end up being, but I have no true sense of where it’s going. I make incredible friends—on the internet of all places!—in and outside the industry, and eventually figure out ways to connect them all together. But that’s all still a ways off. For now (yes we’re in the past still for this part of the story), I just take pictures of my fantastic Alden Indy boots I love. Then I post that picture and maybe 12 people like it, before staying up way too late on the couch, just staring at my wonderful boots.

MONSTER new Release Roundup with: Nail-bottom @whitesboots x @buckinbillyray @crockettandjones_official and @nickshandmadeboots at @divisionroadinc Bison @grantstone Field Boots All manner of @vibergboot including hatch grain @horweenleather shell @easymoc and @whitesboots (separate boots!) from @franklinandpoe A fresh Horween leather at @nickshandmadeboots Tons of classic @trickers_shoes in updated leathers @unmarked x everybody including @selfedge and @eastwestapparel @bridlenshoes spectator loafers, do not fear them And a whole lot more, this one is a burner. Check out the whole gang through LINK IN BIO or at Stitchdown.com #nicksboots #whitesboots #viberg #shellcordovan #cordovan

@tichoblancoshoes posted his so I’ll reciprocate: @whitesboots x @maryam_tannery_italy horsebutt is just a 🎯.

Your Top 10 winners, in order, from the 2025-26 @stitchdownpatinathunderdome Open Edition. Of course we’ll be digging into all 80+ fantastic winners far more deeply, to tell their stories. But for now, enjoy some absolutely wonderful before/afters (errr…after/befores??) from the world’s greatest wear contest. All winners from all categories will be contacted this week about prize selection and distribution. Just FYI in many cases we need each winner to make a selection before prize distribution can continue forward—looking forward to seeing what you select and thank you for being prompt and keeping things moving for everyone! #wesco #wescoboots #shellcordovan #whitesboots #williesboots grantstone horween bootmaker shoemaker patina

@stitchdownpatinathunderdome WINNERS!! Year five of our six-month Thunderdome aging and patina contest was, well, tremendous. 1411 entrants across four categories—Open, Work, Pre-Worn, and Leather Goods. 797 finishers. 83 glorious winners. HUGE congrats to everyone who participated and finished this year. This wacky contest has always been about the journey, and about getting the idea of high-quality resolable leather footwear—the kind that gets better each day when worn hard and cared for dutifully—out into the world. And boy did that happen. Hard to overstate the appreciation for everyone who took a single step and posted a single photo in @patinaproject.app —you did something very good and worthwhile for this industry and its amazing makers. But obviously we had to pick some winners! You can see every single 2025-26 Thunderdome winner on Stitchdown.com or through LINK IN BIO. We’ll of course be rolling out the individual winners on @stitchdownpatinathunderome over the coming days and months. But for now they’re all in the big story—and the Top 5 from each category are rightly glorified over on our YouTube channel. Every year this thing gets better, and I know it’ll happen again next time around. Patina Thunderdome SIX starts Oct 1, 2026. See ya there…

Hot lil’ GIVEAWAY in the @stitchdown Discord… Made-in-Canada @archiveleather is as new as brands get—they JUST released their first model! But Archive’s lineage is substantial. True heads know @lovejulesleathr , the handmade work of bookmaking talent Jules Symons. Now Jules is the design mind behind Archive, which will be revisiting many of her classic patterns. With only 15 pairs of their initial release, Archive’s Derby Boot in either black or natural @horweenleather Dublin is what’s up first—and one is going to our lucky Stitchdown Discord winner. (FYI Archive is threatening to keep doing this with each subsequent release—a wonderful possibility, especially as these are $1500+ handmade boots.) Aside a shot at from this excellent giveaway, a Stitchdown Discord subscription is obviously just a brilliant idea anyway—it’s the best and most sane place on the internet to discuss shoes, boots, leather and plenty more, gain inside info, and figure out your ACTUAL size in hundreds of lasts. Our no-fee buy/sell marketplace is bumping 24/7, we run top-flight GMTOs, and we sometimes talk about hot dogs. Head to Stitchdown.com or hit the LINK IN BIO to join the Discord…and good luck to all who enter the Archive giveaway!

Super Trunk x @stitchdownexpo . It’s time. Hard to overstate how excited I am to be teaming up with @shoegazingblog , @theshoesnob_official , and @kirbyallison for our Stitchdown Expo Chicago 2026 this Nov 6-7, back at @artifacteventschicago . (Yes this is the wonderful event that used to be called Boot Camp) The tri-continental Super Trunk has been the premier show for classic dress shoes, bespoke tailoring, and more for nearly a decade. @stitchdownexpo has traditionally espoused a somewhat more rugged take on great footwear. These worlds have zero reason to be separate. So now it’s time to bring them together. Kirby, Justin, and Jesper all ran so @stitchdown could even consider jogging. The paths they laid gave me the confidence almost 8 years ago to say: I think I can cover the footwear space, and I think there’s an appetite for a fresh perspective. Stitchdown and this show literally wouldn’t be here without them. But we all do it differently—always have. Now we’ll be doing it collectively. Many more Super Trunk exhibitors to come of course, but @saphir_medailledor , @bridlenshoes , @peterqu , @emi.and_bespoke , @divijbespoke , and @charlespaigeatelier is one heckuva start. The Super Trunk team and Saphir will also be hosting the inaugural Americas Championship of Shoe Shining on Saturday Nov 7th—an outgrowth of their US Shoe Shining Championship that will now include competitors from the entirety of North and South America. Both Stitchdown Expo and Super Trunk have always been truly global events, so this development is pretty exciting to say the least. See our announcement post with more detail on Stitchdown.com—and see YOU in Chicago this Nov 6-7… -Ben Robinson, Stitchdown founder

Some of the coolest monkey boots out there recently got restocked in two roughout colors for the first time in years (that I’ve seen): the Joe McCoy TenMile Work Boots by @therealmccoys.jp . The simple pattern is so dialed, and there’s just a wonderfully unapologetic design heft to these. Love the contrast upper stitching pattern, which hits extra hard on the black model. See these and plenty of other very very good boots and shoes in our latest weekly release roundup through LINK IN BIO. #realmoccoys #realmoccoysmonkeyboot #monkeyboot #workboot #amekaji

Latest release roundup is up on the dot-com, complete with… -New shorties from @nickshandmadeboots -More Nicks from @divisionroadinc -@blamopodcast x @grantstone -@hiroyanagimachi1999 sneakers at Leffot -Those Alden LHS you can’t find anywhere, except @franklinandpoe - @harker.leatherworks doing good things with @oldspeedmfg - @limmerboots Century Boot And a whole lot more through LINK IN BIO

If you’re even remotely near NYC this Thursday April 16, I fully expect to see you so we can have an absolutely lovely time at @standardandstrange along with @indi.and.ash . We’ll provide the beer and @ayrloom_ny THC bevs, you provide the you. Thurdsay April 16 6-9pm 238 Mulberry St RSVP= link in bio 🥳🥾🥳

After podcasting with Marika aka @stiefelwerk.nyc , who almost exclusively uses their leather, I went to Hudson Valley micro-tannery @pergamena_ny to meet with CEO Jesse Meyer. And it’s so damn cool. Tanning has been the Meyer family business—uninterrupted, even though Jesse himself tried his hardest to get away to pursue a fine arts career—for almost 500 years. Much of that was back in Germany, before the Meyer family brought their tanning tradition to the US in 1830.   The survival story of a small tanner is always fascinating. Lederhosen, veg tan calf and goat for book restoration, and even piano components were all end destinations for their products. The slidey leather bottoms of bowling shoes sustained the business for decades (my favorite part of this winding story) before goddamn synthetic microsuede took over (my least favorite part). After the bowling shoe market disintegration, Jesse transitioned to tanning parchment, which is often used in book convservation—but also the highest quality drum-heads. Parchment is…kinda leather, it turns out. Definitely made from animal skins! And absolutely incredible stuff. Back on the definitely-leather side, their veg tan cow, sheep, goat, and deer leather has as much character as anything I’ve come across. Such an amazing operation, and a fabulously interesting road to get to where they are today.

All good things must come to an end, apparently. Including the 2025-26 @stitchdownpatinathunderdome , which is now officially DONE. At least the competition part. A MASSIVE, massive thank you to everyone who entered, followed along, and of course our 600+ finishers who took the plunge to age their footwear and leather goods for what has been a spectacular fifth edition of our six-month wear and aging contest. And of course endless gratitude to our amazing prize-putter-uppers like @grantstone —who had quite the run with many exceptional pairs during this year’s contest—and @patinaproject.app , our ever-trusted app partner for the Dome. Judging begins this week! And of course there’s all the announcement content to put together after that. But before too long, we’ll have the winners results that everyone’s waiting for…STAY TUNED!! #grantstone #stitchdownpatinathunderdome #patinathunderdome #patina #stitchdown