 Once upon a time, Viaboot were known for their work boots, servicing the logging industry in Canada and North America. While still offering work boots on a separate website, Viaboot today is famous for their service boots, which practically kickstarted the service boot trend that we see today when they introduced it or reintroduced it in 2008. Since then, their boot designs have favoured the service boot pattern, including this Halcott Derby or Derby boot, depending on how you pronounce it, which is inspired by Canadian officer boots from the 1940s. Let's dive in. How you going? Welcome to my channel Bootlossophy and my name is Tech. I live in Western Australia and I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands I live and work on, the Wajik people of the Nungar Nation. Now I have already reviewed the Viaboot service boot, which you can see up here, and declared it to be one of my most finely finished boots. This is the Halcott boot, inspired by Canadian military boot for officers from the 1940s. Without offering any spoilers, yes, this is also built sturdily, but very finely, more like an English dress boot, like say a Crockett and Jones Coniston, than a military service boot. As such, you should expect, I suppose, some finer details befitting the footwear for an officer and presumably a gentleman. And you do, but they are subtle. This is obviously a cap-toe version of a service boot, six inches high from the top of the heel, a low block heel, and a slim single-piece backstay. That's where the finesse starts with the narrow backstay and internal heel counter that provides a dressier look. Reinforcing this, the quarter panels are larger, and so they lace up a lot closer together than on their service boot. It uses blind eyelets, which look like there's no metal in them, and that again makes it look like a dressy boot. Built on Viaboot's 2020 last, which is an almond-shaped last, and with the addition of the toe cap on the toe box, these things make it look sharper and sleeker. The sole construction is overall only one centimetre thick, even a little bit under, which is actually very low profile, once again dressy. Despite this suede, which is usually screaming casual, sure, this is not to be worn with a dark suit, but a summery tan or cream suit or even a grey suit, a light grey suit would work. And for sure, in dark pants or chinos, the Janus olive green would also work, and here's the versatility, so with denim. But not a distressed denim jean, I think, that would be too distressed for this boot. Let's quickly go through Viaboot's history. Viaboot is a Canadian company started in 1931 and is still owned and run by the same family. Viaboot was founded in Saskatchewan, starting by making boots for farmers. During the Second World War, just like almost every bootmaker in the Western world, really, Viaboot made boots for the military. Sometime after the war, Viaboot moved to Prince George in British Columbia. Now, where Saskatchewan was all about agriculture and Viaboot started, when they moved to British Columbia, that was all about logging. So Viaboot used their experience of making hard-working, tough ankle boots and started making logging boots. They later moved to Victoria, which is also situated in British Columbia, where it remains to this day. Then in the mid-2000s, Japan, and then followed by the rest of Asia, started to take an interest in American heritage footwear and clothing, and it started trending. I think in the boot brands, Red Wing was probably the first to spot the trend and to start catering for it. They revived the Iron Ranger and modernized it. Even today, Red Wing will make models exclusively for the Japanese and other Asian markets. Brett Weiberg spent a lot of time in Japan and started Viaboot making Japanese market-focused boots. In the late 2000s, he really hit on the winner that is the Viaboot stitch-down service boot. The Viaboot service boot was reborn, and today, despite the many boots, shoes, and slides and work boots that they make, the service boot remains the backbone of Viaboot. But let's now dive into the construction of the Hulket boot. Because it is so distinctive, I'm gonna start with the uppers. This is Janus Carth Swayd from famed English suede tannery, Charles F. Stead, itself nearly 130 years old. Stead has been well-known for generations producing suede, which is a split leather, but in more recent years, also for their shrunken suede, like Rambler and their exotic hides like Kudu and Moose. Now I said suede is a split leather, and this is different from rough-out, which is literally four-grain leather, turned the wrong side up when the boots are being made. Suede is split from the top of the hide by literally running the whole hide through a horizontal razor, and then splitting the full hide into the full-grain leather that's on the top half, and the suede that's on the bottom half. That's why the nap is present on top of suede, as this is the result of the looser fibers that's below the surface of the hide. Depending on the tannage and finish of the suede, it's buff to smoothen the nap to a smaller or higher degree. In this case, it is really buttery, and a very short but smooth nap is velvety, and you can basically adjust the color of the boots by running your hand over it. The suede is produced from calf skins, hence the even tighter fibers in this particular hide. Now English terms for suede can be confusing because some are called rough-out suede, where the bottom surface of a full-grain hide is buffed and sanded and then turned around to produce the suede nap rather than the rough fibers of American rough-out. In this case, Stead describes this as a suede with a full-grain and a line reverse, which being calf leads me to think that this might actually be a suede rough-out according to the English definition. If so, the buffing and finishing of the rough-out fibers is astounding, as I said, it feels like velvet cloth. The whole boot is lined with a thin and soft tan-colored kip lining on the inside. Kip is leather-made from young animals, so it's strong but thin. Now in this boot, the suede and lining together add up to about two millimeters thickness, which, knowing there's two layers, is not particularly thick, but it's still sturdy in feel. It is soft and supple, and it's not, you know, cheaply paper thin. The tongue, which is also lined but is not gusseted, which I usually don't like because it could slip over to one side during the friction of wear, but in this case, it doesn't. Now, whether that's from the stitching itself or from the structure of the suede and lining, maybe just a closer lacing or the friction of the suede, I don't know. The laces tie up so that the lace facings lace up close together, which helps with the dressy style, and the lace facings, all the way up the collar, is finished with an inserted rolled edge. Now this is called a French something rather. Someone told me, but I can't remember. There are five blind eyelets and four-speed hooks in antique brass. The blind eyelets are actually reinforced with antique brass eyelets, but they're inserted inside and invisible on the top surface, so it's very clean and dressy, but they are reinforced. The hardware is all washed on the underneath, so it protects and doesn't scratch the tongue. I don't know what the internal heel counter or stiffener is, but it doesn't feel as stiffly flexible as leather, and it may be salastic. If there is a toe puff in the toe box, ooh, it's a very light touch. I don't believe the toe cap is a real toe cap in the sense that I think it's a toe cap piece stitched onto the vamp piece that stops before the toe cap. Talking about the stitching, it is as exquisite as my other Vibeau boots. It's really clean, consistent, and with some damn fine stitch density. I mean, if you look at the double stitching at the toe cap, it is so close together, you really need to look to see that there's actually two lines of stitching. The stitching at the backstay is so fine that you practically need a microscope to count the stitches per inch. On the inside, the insole is described as a channeled leather insole, and they say, good, you're well done. I'll come back to that. Inside the boot, there is a heel to arch leather comfort sock liner with a small pad of foam directly under the Vibeau imprint under the heel. I'm not sure you can see that. And now we come to the construction of the soles and uppers. You might want to watch my video about the different types of construction, a link to which will display in the box below the video if you click on this link up here. Go watch it after this video. Now, I believe this is good, you're well done, not stitched down like in the service boots, but it is hard to tell visually because the finishing of the edges of the soles is so good that the layers all disappear. Now back up a bit. Stitch down is where the uppers are pulled over a last and then flared out and stitched directly down into the midsole and outsole. In Goodyear welting, a thin strip of leather called the welt is sewn to the insole and the tucked in uppers. And then on the outsole, it's the welt is sewn through the outsole and the midsole. Both the heritage, durable, recraftable and water resistant methods of construction. Now I think this is Goodyear welted. Well, because they describe the insole as a channeled leather insole Goodyear welt, channeled meaning they actually cut a channel to sew the welt on. I also believe this has a foam lining and a fiberglass shank. On physical inspection, if it is a Goodyear welt, it's a 270 degree Goodyear welt, but it really is hard to see because the edge is so well sanded and antiqued that it all just blends into one layer. And the outside stitch is so fine and so near the edge of the uppers that firstly they look so good and secondly, I pity the poor cobbler who has to re-seal these. At the bottom of all that, Viabuck chose to pair these with a dark brown day night studded outsole, which I think is appropriate for a dressy low profile finish. In terms of caring for the suede, the standard instruction is to brush with a suede stiff bristle brush and to spot clean with a suede eraser. Basically just rub the spots or dirt off and then brush again with a suede brush to re-raise the nap. I would from time to time just brush these off with a clean horsehair brush, making sure that there's no leftover polish or conditioner on the brush, basically just to brush off any powdery grit and dust. As for conditioning, I almost never condition my suede boots, but there are Saphir and other spray-on products that you can use, made especially for suede and newbuck. My advice, if suede is pretty dry, be very sparing or just leave it. As for sizing, Weiburg uses the UK convention, which equates to the US convention by taking one number down from the US. So a US size 10 is a UK nine and eight US is a seven in the UK convention and so on. My true UK size, as measured on a Brannock device, is a seven and a half in average or medium width. On the US scale, that equates to a US eight and a half in D width. This anatomical 2020 last ease, despite the pointed arm and toe, I think built on an E or a double E four foot. So that means it's snug in the heel and the waist and quite room in the ball of the foot and the toe, which is why I think that the wide ball and the roundness before the arm and toe, which is accentuated by the toe cap, makes the view from the top actually quite pointy, but it's still comfortable. The fit is excellent and it does not squeeze your toes. I can guarantee that. As I said, I'm a US eight and a half, but in most American heritage boots, I take a US eight in D width. However, Viberg, like almost all UK and Commonwealth country shoes, runs to the size. So I take these in Viberg 7.5. If you're from the UK or, you know, a Commonwealth country, order these in your true size. If you're American, take one full number down from your American true Brannock size. The fit is good. It's a firm handshake for me and the comfort is good, although the sole structure does feel thin. Now, I'm not saying it's uncomfortable, but I'm saying that these feel like dress shoes rather than boots. I think that's intended though. Now, let me just say here that I give these sizes compared to what I wear. People often comment on my videos that no, no, no, they take X or Y size in those boots. You should go see my interview with podiatrist Anthony Cox up there. People's feet are different. What suits me is not necessarily what suits you, but hey, if you comment with a different sizing strategy, lay out your Brannock size and other comparable brands so people can be helped instead of confused. Elephant in the room time. These cost six or 700 US dollars on their website. In Australia, they are sometimes available through the Up There store in Melbourne, which is where I got mine from and they were on sale at 1,400 Aussie dollars on sale. Do not make my wife laugh. Are they worth it? You know, some parts of it say no. Look, I'm not sure, but I don't think there is a totally liberal use of leather and other natural materials on the innards of the construction. I'm not sure that saves a lot, but hey. On the yes they are worth it column is the use of the Janus calf suede. If they make pajamas out of these, I would sleep in them. And all the important bits in the boots are leather, you know, the insole, midsole, et cetera. And the finishing is just exquisite. It's like a German street bespoke suitmaker was on the stitching machines and the sanding of the edges of the soles. It's as if they were done by people with nothing better to do than to spend hours sanding and smoothing and polishing. The comfort's great. My head tells me that they cannot be worth over a grand. And unlike my Weiburg service boots or white sand peas, I can't even wear them out and go kick rocks. But my heart, oh my heart, it pumps yes, because they look and feel so fine. Are they worth it? You have to be a crazy boot collector and Marie Kondo love them. Otherwise they're not. So there, it's out there. My honest assessment of what is probably my most expensive pair of boots. Leave me here. I'll just pull them on and go to bed with them. But before you go, don't forget to click on like. And if you're not subscribed, I'm going to be bringing you more and more boot reviews. So click on subscribe and don't miss them. Until next time, stay safe and I'll see you soon.