The Gaziano & Girling St. James II in Vintage Cherry is one of the Company’s most iconic and popular models. Created as a bespoke sample over 12 years ago, The St. James II is the perfect Adelaide style, with the yolk and laces being cut from a separate u-shaped pattern piece. The shoe is crafted on the company’s TG73 last, which features a square chisel toe, and exemplifies the balance between classic and contemporary styling for which Gaziano & Girling is so well known.
The St. James II is priced £1,130 (or about $1,500) inc VAT or £945 (or $1,200) with no VAT. Fully-lasted shoe trees can be purchased for an additional £125.00, or about $150.
DESIGN
The St. James II is a classic Adelaide, which refers to the yolk and laces being cut from a separate pattern piece. This effect pulls the instep or yolk forward and allows the vamp to sweep all the way back. Adelaide are normally semi-brogues, which you can see is true with the St. James II. With this shoe, you really are able to appreciate Gaziano’s precise execution. Everything about the design balance and execution is perfect.
Immediately visible on the St. James II is the TG73 last on which it is built. The TG73 is an iconic Gaziano & Girling last that exemplifies the updated, modern aesthetic for which Gaziano is so well-known. The cap, vamp, and neck of the shoe are in perfect balance. And despite a lot going on with the pattern, Gaziano is able to keep the shoe clean and not too busy, which I really appreciate.
MATERIAL & FINISH
The desire to bridge the gap between traditional RTW and bespoke is also seen in the choice of materials used to make their shoes. Gaziano uses the same quality of uppers in their RTW shoes as they do their bespoke, and all of the patterns are cut out, or clicked, by hand.
The Vintage Cherry finish is hand-applied and then hand-polished by the in-house patina team. The level of factory finishing and polishing is really quite rare and reserved for only the highest-level of factory-made RTW shoes.
Baker’s oak-bark tanned leather outsoles and heels are used, and the heels are built up layer by layer and then shaped to produce a beautiful narrowing. Baker’s oak bark tanning process is similar to JR Rendenbach’s, where the leather is tanned in vegetable tanning matter for up to nine months. The result is an incredibly dense, durable, and water-resistant outsole that lasts several times longer than fast-tanned leathers. This is the outsole leather used in Gaziano’s bespoke shoes.
CONSTRUCTION
Gaziano is the gold-standard for factory-made RTW shoes because of how much effort they put into the construction of their shoes. No detail is overlooked, and as much bespoke-level finishing is integrated into the factory process as possible.
Gaziano uses three-quarters, and not a 360-degree, welt, which ends right at the heel. This is the preferred method on higher-quality shoes because it allows the heel to sit more neatly on top of the heel. The outsole features a high stitch density and welt fudging, which are the indentations pressed into the top of the welt using a wheel. This is purely decorative but creates a much neater finish by helping conceal the outsole stitching.
SUMMARY AND ENDING
The St. James II is a beautiful Adelaide semi-brogue and just another example of why Gaziano & Girling has risen to the peak of the ready-to-wear space. There are very few makers at this level making factory-made-shoes in the world today. And Gaziano & Girling has certainly earned its place in this pantheon of world-class shoemakers. Everything about this shoe is perfectly executed – from the design of the entire pattern to the way that the factory executes the making.
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