 G'day. Welcome to Boot Lossophy. My name is Tech. I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands that I live and work on, the wadjuk people of Nungabuja. Now today I'm taking a deep dive into casual bootmakers and this Lisbon service boot. So this is Caswell's service boot model that they call the Lisbon. I've had this about three months and I consider them broken in. Just to be clear about this, this pair were provided by Caswell for a review. I reached out to them to see if they would be interested in providing a pair and they agreed with, totally honestly, with zero discussion about what I could and couldn't say in my review. So here we go. This particular makeup is in Charles F. Stead's waxy commander. This is their snuff waxy commander, which means that under this dark layer of wax there's a snuff coloured suede waiting to peek out. It's a typical service boot design, six inches high or thereabouts, actually a little over five inches in the shaft from the top of the heel to the collar. It's got a derby or derby lacing, open lacing system and it sits on a standard block heel. The Lisbon is a plain toe service boot by which I mean, look ma, no toe cat. The plain toe suits the sleek design of the last, which is Caswell's own wane last. In profile it's sleek and not a great deal of volume in the instep, whereas from the top it has a graceful almond toe in an asymmetrical shape where the outside curves in more than the inside, which probably suits most people's feet, you know, big toes to cut more. So being that service boot style and sleek and in the very casual waxy commander, what outfits do they go with? I think unique to take the key from the leather and not the svelte design. Caswell makes this boot in other leathers that are pretty casual as well, but if you did want to dressier version they do make it in other smooth leathers. In this waxy commander and especially knowing that as they patina they'll become more and more nappy with that gingery snuff nap showing through everywhere, I have to say that these suit most casual outfits. They definitely go with jeans and of course in the Australian summer a t-shirt or a polo shirt. I haven't had the chance to dress for the cool, but a henley on top under a bomber would be great. Casually wear them with jeans and a soft untucked shirt and they'll go with that very relaxed vibe. Dressing up, I would go chinos and a casual button down and maybe a pair of darker denim would also work with a dress shirt and a blazer, but I think that's as dressy as I go. These are definitely casual and not versatile in the sense that they could be dressier. You couldn't wear this with a more dressy event and certainly not with a suit. Although as soon as my wife saw them new without the wax wearing off she said that they would go with a suit because of that sleek and very svelte slim shape. So if you want more versatile maybe look at the smooth grain leathers. Now before I launch into their construction I wanted to talk about casual boot makers. I was introduced to them by my friend Dale on a real boot talk on his Aero Surfer LV channel where he interviewed the owner Kevin Wilson. Kevin immediately came across as a really nice guy and soon after my Instagram DMs lit up with people asking me if I would review casual boots. So I thought this brand has really caught people's imagination and I reached out to Kevin. So here's the lowdown on casual. You can read some of this stuff on his website which I'll put a non-affiliate link to below. Now Kevin started casual in 2019. He's based in Washington DC and he branded casual as a premium footwear brand that specializes in making modern unique leathers with traditional craftsmanship. He sources high quality leathers from tanneries like Horween, Stead, Seidel, Maverick and Dupoy. When I asked him what was his why that got him started he immediately talked about his passion for high quality durable boots made from different quality leathers. In fact he says he used the nerd out visiting stores of major brands to look at their aesthetics and the brand cohesion of their designs in lasts and styles. You can see this from this sleek design that his design values come from Kamina, Mirmin and Crockett and Jones. Then one day he asked himself the question, why not me? He realized that these brands he admired came to be simply because they put action behind their passion. In terms of brand values Kevin decided to put a strong emphasis on providing the best value possible at a reasonable price regardless of the right profit margins. He wanted to prioritize functionality and durability while incorporating a sleek modern aesthetic. You can see it here. They currently offer three styles being this service boot pattern, a cap toe jumper boot and a chucker. All of them from what I can see on the website incorporate those brand values. The gestation of casual was not easy. We who have short memories will not have registered when I said Kevin started in 2019. Remember what happened in early 2020? Yeah, that COVID thing. That COVID thing that wreaked havoc on international supply chains, transport systems, manufacturing, labor, being able to even go to work. Kevin had partnered with a US factory, in fact the same one that Parker's used to use in upstate New York. But over COVID that factory shut down and I understand it's now shut for good. And he describes his journey to eventually find a quality Spanish factory as challenging. He was introduced to the Spanish factory by someone from CF Stead. While he always wanted to make the brand in the US, COVID and the economic times didn't allow it. Many US factories that he approached were either shutting down or had minimum order quantities that were just too big for a small brand. He says he's been happy with the quality produced in Spain and I'll talk about that later. For the future we can anticipate increased leather selection and introduction of group MTO models and a loafer will appear and maybe soon a whole cut boot. And oh by the way there's another connection. Kevin is actually a full-time management consultant like me. So it's good to see that boot nerds come from all professions. I spent a lot of time on the genesis of Caswell which I think is necessary because it's such a new brand. Like many others in recent times these new brands are brought out by passionate people who really have a vision for their product. Kevin is one of them as is Christian Ramos of Christian Daniel Boots and Andres Natalia from Bordón, Colombia. When you talk to them their enthusiasm is infectious. They come after similarly passionate small brands that followed on from Vibergs and Whites, Thursday Parkhurst, Oak Street Bootmakers, Truman. It's such an exciting time if you're a boot collector. So let's see how these boots are made and shape up. As usual I'll start from the bottom. And right at the bottom is a rubber wavy lugged sole called the Laundra by Vibram. You know Vibram was founded in Italy in the 1930s by Vitali Bramani out of a tragedy involving his friends dying on a mountain for lack of good boots. Vibram are famous for their commando lugged soles but they make many different types including this one. Now some of you would have taken a quick look at this and thought hang on that's the UK made Ridgway sole. It's very similar. The give feels the same and while the wavy lugs are not as deep as the Ridgway the grip is really excellent. Interesting fact the Ridgway sole is made by Harborough Rubber Company the same maker of Day Night Soles and the Ridgway swirling pattern is meant to simulate the topography of the Ridgelines of the ancient Ridgway walk trail in England. Go look it up. The outsole is connected to the Vagetown midsole and the uppers using the Goodyear welted form of construction. You can check out my detailed video up here but basically a welt or strip of leather is sewn to the uppers on the inside all the way around the boot. The outside edge of the welt is sewn through the welt, the midsole and the outsole. This makes a recraftable boot because your cobbledges cuts through those stitches when the sole is worn out, peels off the rubber, glues on a new outsole and then sews it all back up without disturbing anything above the welt. It's also more water resistant because no stitch holes go all the way from outside to inside the boot. They all join at the welt which forms a barrier. Now this is a split reverse welt which adds to the water resistance. The welt is split halfway and part of it is flanged up and pushed up against the sides of the boot when it's sewn on. Inside the boot there is a cork filler layer with a steel shank embedded in it. A shank is a strip of hard material that bridges the gap between the heel and the ball of the foot offering arch support and stability. This Goodyear welted leather cork and shank sole make up is considered gold standard. Further on inside the boot is a leather sopliner for comfort. It's lightly padded with foam. It's not removable. And going on up as I've already said, the uppers are from Charles F. Stead in Leeds, England. A tannery that's been making the best suede since 1904. Now suede is a split leather, not a rough out which is basically rough side out. Suede is made by splitting the hide. It's not split going to make smooth leathers or rough outs and the bottom slit getting corrected to produce the nap that's suede. Waxy Commander is Stead's waxed suede where they apply a heavy coat of wax on the nap initially smoothing it out until it wears off. The wax is not as thick or as hard as that you see on Horween's Java wax flesh for example which is wax on rough out. It really wears off quite easily as you can see here even after only three months of not particularly frequent wear. The patina is amazing and here I want to quickly compare this Lisbon with the Grant Stone Edward Boot in Tobacco Waxy Commander. Very similar boots, obviously different in detail and age and I've recently rewaxed the Edward boots with some beeswax. But you can see that perhaps they can be mistaken for each other. Probably the biggest points of difference are the backstays with the Lisbon having this larger boondocker style heel counter cover and backstay. Whereas the Grant Stones have the single strip up the back and as well obviously the shape of the elasts. Grant Stones Leo last is rounder at the toe and not as sharply almond shaped as the casual boot. The casual uppers are fully lined with leather including the tongue which is not gusseted. Despite this though the tongue hasn't slipped which if you're a regular viewer you know my right tongues that are not gusseted always tend to slip to the side. You'll see that the quarter pieces are large causing the edge facings to close together and emphasising their form of design base. The edges are cut not rolled but that's fine many at this price point and beyond are the same. The stitching is pretty good a very close double stitching and triple stitching where it matters very neat and even and no loose threads anywhere. The heel counter and toe puff has Celastic to structure those areas and they feel supportive. The Celastic in the toe box is a little long into the vamp in my taste. The edge of it seems to rub up against my little toe but that may be down to the shape of the toe box and not the material. There are seven aged brass eyelets no speed hooks which helps the dressy design of the boot. They're really nice eyelets with a discrete washer backing at the back. I can't find anything wrong with this quality wise. Look it's only been three months but nothing has come loose nothing has come apart. As it's waxed suede care for this leather is simple not much. You should let the wax wear off and show the patina. The suede is oiled well enough that it shouldn't need conditioning for a long time. I would definitely brush it though first with a soft horsehair brush and then as the nap starts to show you might want to use a suede brush which has stiffer bristles or sometimes even copper bristles. This is going to clean and get that nap to sit down one way. If they get dirty brush them with a stiff bristle brush and if you have to use suede shampoo not a saddle soap. Check out the description box for some care products. They are affiliate links and they won't cost you any extra but they might give me a little bit of the top to help pay for my channel expenses. As for sizing, Caswell bucks the trend and fits true to size. I'm an 8.5D on the branded device which I use as my true to size not some stupid sneaker size nonsense. In most US heritage style boots they fit large and I usually buy an 8D. In this case after giving Kevin a few different brands and what size I wear in them he advised going true to size so I got these in 8.5D. The fit is perfect. The comfort is pretty good out of the box. In my unboxing video up here I think I voiced my surprise at how much arch support I was actually getting. I think that's because of the last. You can see how it tucks in under the arch. And I think that's helped by the stiff shank as well as the foam that's in the sock liner. My heel feels locked in and the ball of the feet they're snug but not tight. Where I'm not a fan though is that the almond shaped toe is a little sharp. To me the toe box cuts in a little bit too sharply from the outside to the apex. After a long day in these I do feel I have to rub my little toe side of my foot. But that's where every foot is different. Others have said to me that this is the curve that fits their toes just right. If you have a preference for rounder toe lasts like Grant Stone's Leo Last or Alden's Barry Last you might find these toes a bit of a challenge. I was given these for review but on the website they're US$339.95. Call it $340. I think that's a sweet spot for these middle of the range boots competing with Grant Stone, Parkhurst, Red Wing, Beckett Simmonon. Thursdays are less but they are a gateway entry boot and as good quality as they are I think you get what you pay for. Truman etc. Well they're a lot more expensive and you do get what you pay for. So overall in that sweet spot these are pretty good value. Here's the real question you want me to ask. If I had to pay for these would I buy them? The toe bothers me but even so for the design and the quality I probably would. But I think what I'd buy is one in a more formal leather like maybe the Black Chrome XL. I feel I can stretch out that toe box eventually and the black smooth grain could be more versatile for my lifestyle. So there you have it viewers. Overall I think Caswell's Lisbon boot is well made, looks sophisticated and if Kevin was inspired by brands like Mium and Crockett and Jones I think he's pulled it off. This is something comparable in design. On the plus side that Spanish factory produces good quality as far as I can see. It's comfortable all the way under foot. On the minus side my feet find that toe bothers me. Let me know what you think and don't forget if you like this video click on the like and if you haven't already make sure you subscribe. More videos are coming so until then take care and I'll see you soon.