Yuketen weekender bag: Stop. Carry on

If their shoes are anything to go by, Yuketen's weekender bags should still be carrying your shopping when you are relegated to the mobility scooter. They are made from heavy duty canvas, with thick leather detailing and nice clunky brass hardware. And a shoulder strap. No wheels though. Shame.

Yuketen F/W 2011: cold enough

We might still be basking in record temperatures for here in the UK, but the east coast of the US has just had a fairly hefty dump of snow, which is a stark reminder that winter is but a snowflake away and that if you haven't got your Yuketens yet, you'd better hurry up.

If you wanted more reason, check out this lookbook, which is complemented by the Yuketen menwear line, known as Monitaly.

Bring on the white stuff.

PS: I've also added a couple of pics of a cordovan keyring they've just released.

Visvim and Yuketen: get the sole white

The thing that attracted my attention to Visvim was the addition of a white trainer sole to an otherwise fairly traditional shoe. It looked good.

When Yuketen came along and brought with it the white Vibram sole on its Maine Guide Boots I was again suitably impressed.

Now it seems that Visvim and Yuketen, having exhausted most other possibilities of variations to their creations, have decided to start using dark brown or black soles. This might well be a sight more practical but if I wanted practicality I would go to Clark's.

White soles are what made you, Visvim and Yuketen. Without them, you're just another pair of everyday bootmakers.

And before anyone says anything, I realise that both Visvim and Yuketen have previously used dark soles, such as crepe and the like, but to me they are unremarkable. And, I also realise that Yuketen cannot be held entirely to blame for the dark soles on the Maine Guide boot below, because it is a collaboration with Inventory.

Yuketen SS12: think ahead

I know what you're thinking as you sit there in your deck chair sipping your Pimms as the thermostat touches 40 - 'I wonder what the weather will be like this time next year?'

I can't tell you that, but I can give you an idea of the Yuketen collection for this time next year. You could call it a crystal ball, I call it a press release. All the same, take a look at the future.

Images via Hypebeast

Yuketen x Eligens (Look de Luxe) chukka

Can it really be more than a year since I was in a dark basement in Barcelona Ramblas surrounded by Visvim? Evidently so, and those Shaman Folk are still going strong.

When I was there, Ricky from Chikahitsu was all made up over the opening of his Eligens (Look de Luxe) store, and to celebrate the first anniversary of its opening, as well as Ricky's 35th birthday, Eligens has got together with Yuketen to produce a highly limited chukka.

It has a hunting crepe sole, comes with variable lace colourways and even a selection of fringes, meaning that if you are one of the 35 people lucky enough to get your hands on them, you will still be able to make them unlike any other.

New arrivals: Yukene Maine Guide boots, Visvim indigo pollock

As far as I am concerned there are two boots which qualify as iconic footwear. One is the Visvim Virgil, and the other is the Yuketen Maine Guide boot.

I was on the verge of getting the Visvims until it was pointed out by the other half that it would be the equivalent of her coming home with a pair of Louboutins, and "the Yuketens look better anyway".

So in order to maintain the fragile peace for a while longer at least, the Yuketens it was.

To sate my desire to get at least something Visvim, along came a Pollock indigo crew which I couldn't pass up. So in the bag that went too.

Yuketen x Nigel Cabourn: on the right foot

I'm not going to bore you with this again, aside from to say that for the next week I will again be telecom-less at home. This time it's Orange's fault. Don't even ask. So I'm going to rattle off a few posts as and when.

We might as well start here with this thoughtful little Nigel Cabourn Yuketen colab. They've essentially taken the Maine Guide boot and stuck some melton wool on it. A decent production from a couple of well-suited names, made all the more appealing by the addition of a nice white Vibram sole.

To be honest someone could stick a vibram sole on a pair of slippers and I would probably like them.

Getting to the sole of the matter: Vibram

Yuketen Maine Guide Boot with Vibram sole

Out in Spitalfields with Boris last night, which culminated in my being privvy to a gathering of some the capital's career-casuals - those who have made a living out of an unhealthy obsession with hard-to-find mens' clothing. 

Boris called it "a riot of rigid denim and chunky knits," which summed things up nicely, although I would have to add Vibram soles to that description.

As Scouse Dave observed, Vibram soles are just about everywhere these days, attached to everything from calf-height hunting boots to hikers and brogues. It has become the preferred method of difusing the stiff leather shoe.

They were certainly the choice in the pub, which means the look will only gain momentum from here.

Can't say I'm averse to the look myself. I've long been a fan of the shoe with the trainer sole, so a sparkling white Vibram sole, while no doubt derided as sacrilege in certain shoe-making circles, does make a welcome update to a classic brogue, or as it happens, a Maine Guide Boot, to me.

Grenson

Viberg for Heritage Research

Fracap for Oki-Ni

In the bag: the backpack selection

Visvim Luminaria

I don't really know why I have been starting to think about backpacks. Maybe it's that mountaineering vibe that I've got going on right now, the boy scout survival thing coming out, in case I get stuck in a snowdrift on my way down to the train station.

We are after all supposed to be on the verge of the harshest winter for 31 years.

Whatever, I've been having a trawl around and found a few decent methods of transporting my sandwiches, and this year there seems to be a bit of an alpine vibe going on, which is nice.

Acronym 3A-7TS Tec Sys

Supreme 29th backpack

Yuketen triangle backpack

Yuketen sport hunt boots: wearing in

I got these towards the end of August and had planned to give you a detailed look before I started wearing them, but I couldn't bear to have them off my feet for long enough.

A few months on and they are beginning to feel like trusty old pals. the leather is wearing in nicely and they've already proven themselves in the wet - it's amazing the grip you get from a plantation crepe sole.

I'm actually looking forward to putting these through their paces in the dark months. Bring on the snow.