 G'day, how you going? Welcome to Bootlosophy. My name is Tech. I'd like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands I live and work on here in Perth, Western Australia, the Wajik people of the Noongar lands. Today, this soon after the coronation of King Charles III, I thought I might look to England and these Henry boots from historic English bootmaker, Trickers of Northampton. So if you know your boots, and I mentioned the name Trickers, you'll almost certainly think of their stove boot, their broad wingtip country boot, and probably in the acorn tan-colored leather. These are their Henry boots. To give them their full name, it's their Henry Country Dealer boot. I'm told by Trickers that this is actually one of their best-selling boots and indeed, inside the UK, you will see a lot of men wearing this or similar-style Brogue Chelsea boots made by other English bootmakers. Outside of the UK, maybe not so much. It is a slip-on elastic or Chelsea-style six-inch high Brogue Country boot, and unlike most of their competitors who produce boots in this style, it's built in quite a slim, sleek last to give it a dressier look than the other round-toe-lasted Brogue Chelsea boots produced by say churches or Grenson. While this is flat-welted and on a day-night outsole, they do also make this with a storm-welt and a commando sole, so they are made for town as well as for going on wet-country walks. The Brogue pattern is on the heel counter-cover and around the wingtip panel on the vent, and the toes have a punched rosette pattern. Looking down at your own feet, you'd be reminded of a Brogue wingtip shoe, except you suddenly notice there are no laces. The slimness of the last is emphasised by this unusual, goring pattern or cut where it tips forward around the sides of the instep, so that from the front, the leather around the shaft looks like a tongue and fools your eye into thinking these are lace-ups. As I said, the last is very sleek and so makes the boot quite versatile, and especially in this black calfskin, capable of being really dressed up, or worn with jeans and dressed down. So, I don't know about you, but a discussion about styling the Henry boots then must surely start with a suit. It is slim and sleek, the shiny calfskin is smooth and looks dressy, and if like most English or UK and UK background or UK educated people, where you think Brogue's can be dressy, to me this goes well with a dark navy or black suit. Styling it can then tone down from there, with business casual say and dark chinos, a dressy button-up shirt and a check blazer. Continue toning it down, you can layer a jumper over the shirt, and change it to a more relaxed corduroy sports coat. From there, keep moving to the casual and exchange the jumper for a waistcoat, and a lighter pair of pants to start moving around towards the English country. And then you can also go for totally relaxed and pair the boots with a pair of jeans and a fleecy shirt and waxed country jackets. Now before I talk about construction, I'll segue into the Trickers firm. Trickers was founded in 1829 by Joseph Tricker, who was a 19-year-old bootmaker. To give you some context to my American viewers, this was the same year that Abraham Lincoln gave his first speech in politics. Joseph and the generation since made and continued to make their handmade boots in Northampton, introducing Goodyear welting in the early 1900s. When Joseph died, the business went to his son-in-law, Walter Bartrop, and the company is now in the fifth generation of the family. The current Trickers factory in Northampton was opened in 1904 and has remained the manufacturing centre of Trickers. Northampton is pretty much in the middle of England, and is famous for its shoemaking history which goes back centuries. In fact, a shoemaking guild was set up in 1401, that's kind of like a union, to control the way that work was performed to ensure good quality. All the shoemakers in Northampton had to belong to the guild. Trickers has been at the centre of that shoemaking tradition since 1829, and while methods have changed, they still use many traditional techniques. Trickers has held the former Prince Charles's royal warrant since 1989. A royal warrant is a recognition to people and companies that regularly supply goods to the royal personage. So obviously, Prince Charles, now King Charles, likes his Trickers shoes and boots, and will presumably upgrade the royal warrant of the Prince of Wales to the royal warrant of the King. So let's make sure we make a good sturdy pair of boots for King Charles. As usual, I'll start from the bottom up. This pair of Henry boots rests on a Daynight Outsole. Daynight is a brand of UK Outsole manufacturer, the Harbour Rubber Company, based near Northampton in Market Harbour. Apart from making Daynight Outsole, they also make the Ridgway Soul. Daynight is the trade name that they came up with in 1894, that's how old they are, when they first produced this studded inset rubber outsole. It was called Daynight because the local expression was that the factory would work day and night. The heel is stacked leather, topped with a Daynight top lift. The Daynight Soul is then attached to a thin two or three millimetre leather midsole, which is then attached to the uppers using the Goodyear welter form of construction. Check out my video up there. Goodyear welting is where a strip of leather, called the welt, is sewn on the inside to the insole and the uppers, all the way around the boot in this case. And then the outside edge of the welt is sewn through the midsole to the outsole. In this way, the stitch on the inside is not exposed to water and the elements outside the boot, while the stitch on the outside does not penetrate the inside, making the boot relatively water resistant. It also makes the boot capable of being re-sold, because the stitch on the outside can be cut and the outsole removed before a new outsole is glued on and then stitched through again without disturbing either the welt and especially not the uppers. Inside the boot the insole is leather and there is a cork filler for comfort. It is a pretty thin sole construction though, helping the boot look sleek and dressy and giving you a sensitive feel to the ground that you're stepping on and it feels like dress shoes. A wood shank is inserted in the cork filler inside between the heel and the ball of the foot. A shank is a hard flat bar that gives arch support and stability. It is often steel and sometimes fiberglass or plastic or as in this case wood. Inside is a full length leather sock liner and then on top of that at the heel is a padded heel liner. The uppers are made from full grain calfskin that's the leather of a calf. Calfskin is finer grained and lighter in weight than leather from older cows. This means that it's also more supple and durable having very closely packed but thin fibers. They're lasted or molded by hand over trickers 444 last. A last is the mold that the boot maker pulls the leather over to make the shape of the boot. The 444 last is said to be a generous last which I don't necessarily agree with. To me it's slim and snug. The pattern making up the uppers is simple and yet complex. There are only four pieces of leather. The brogged wing tip, the vamp piece that also runs up the front of the shaft, the rear quarter pieces that make up the back of the shaft and the heel counter cover. Technically five because there's two of these pieces. The way they are sewn together by hand on a sewing machine creates the elegance of the design because it looks seamless and it's certainly flawless. Part of the look is the larger than usual elastic goring pieces with this crescent shape that visually elongates the side of the boot. The toe box is lightly structured with thin pieces of leather and the heel counter is leather also but a lot stiffer. There are two cloth pull tabs at the top of the shaft which is needed because the throat closes quite tightly and gives a really good fit and ankle support. The boot is luxuriously leather lined on the inside with soft glove leather. The way I describe it makes it sound really simply built more like a dress shoe than a boot but it's how it's put together that you know this is a quality product. As I said, flawless, not a stitch out of place, not a drop of glue or machine mark or no wheel marks from stitching machines, no loose grain in the calf skin, perfectly cut pieces. As for leather care the instructions are pretty simple. Trickers say to apply polish and or cream, that's it. Look calf skin is pretty durable. I have a pair of calf skin RM Williams Chelsea boots, you can check it out out here that have been with me in the desert, a dug a bog vehicle out of mud, climbed a rock face and any damage has been able to be polished out. All I'd do is to keep it clean, wipe it with a damp cloth if it's a little dirty, no problem with saddle soap if it needs more, otherwise brush it after everywhere. Look, to be honest I'm a bit lazy and with my regular but not very frequent wear of these I only brush these after every second or third wear. Once or twice a year I condition it with Venetian shoe cream in neutral to nourish the leather and finish off with a Tarago boot cream in black, basically to fill out any scratches that might have been put on. I suppose I should tell you about that scary and tricky thing called sizing. First up, being an English brand the sizes they quote are UK sizes. UK sizes are one number down from US size numbers. Here in Australia some stores and some brands use US sizing, others use UK sizing so you have to be extra careful and ask but here's the low down. I measure on a brand device that's that sliding scale thing you stand on in a shoe store, I measure a US 8.5 in USD width. That means that in UK sizing I'm a true 7.5 in average width. I find in UK makes average width is a little inconsistent. RM Williams for example calls average a G width while Granson called it an F. Some makers just say average. Again, just ask. Anyway, I usually size a half down in US makes. I buy an 8 in most of my American brands. UK brands can vary not only between brands but also within a brand depending on the last that's used. I bought these boots in 7 average, they're snug. Given that half size is less than a centimeter or that's about an eighth of an inch, I think. I think my proper size would have been true or that 7.5. I can wear these and they don't pinch but true to size I think would have been more comfortable through the day. As a result, they're not my most popular boots for comfort. They fit like a dress shoe, you know what I mean? It's okay but at the end of the day you're kind of glad to get them off and get into a pair of slippers. There are no hot spots and I can't say that it feels like it's pinching my toes but they are snug. They're dress boot snug. Underfoot though comfort is great. I alluded to the fact earlier that the thin soles meant that like dress shoes you can feel the terrain underfoot. I'm so used these days to thick beefy American veg tent leather mid soles and thick commando soles or similar things that I've forgotten what it feels like to have thin soled dress shoes on my feet. Again no discomfort just a strange feeling that you feel everything. As to value these cost 515 pounds sterling that's about 960 Aussie dollars and about 640 US. Not cheap. So the value proposition had better be good. Once again when I look at value I feel in the back of my mind a little wondering if the name has added some sort of premium to the price. But let's be fair it is a really well made boot. It is handmade and the QC is excellent. The materials are top notch. This leather is just fantastic. Trickers imposes a lot of processes in making their boots to ensure the quality of production. I think this Henry boot undergoes something like 260 separate processes not including quality inspections along the way. All this is done by experienced craftspeople not only those making the boot but also those charged with checking them as they go through the process. Now that kind of quality isn't cheap. They're not made as heavy or outdoor tough as my white MP boots for roughly the same Australian dollar price. In fact they weigh nothing compared to the MPs but you can tell the quality is there. One is built tough, one is built sophisticated yet both are worth the similar price. So while I still think these are pricey I do think they're worth the price. Yeah I would pick them up again but probably only at a sale which is tell the truth where I got these in the German street London store at a sale for £400 about five years ago. And there you are my Watsonall review of Trickers Henry Country dealer boots. So versatile, really pretty, well made comfortable and durable. Yet you'd have to be able to afford it and it might seem like you don't get a big boot for your money. Tell me what you think. While you're telling me what you think how about clicking on like and subscribe below. It will help me out, it will help me grow my channel and it will tackle the YouTube algorithm to put more videos like these in front of you. Now watch out for my Vibeaux service boot review coming up and I'm planning some ASMR boot cleaning that's always popular for some reason. Until then, take care of yourselves and I'll see you soon.