Florsheim Imperial
Shell Cordovan
Plain Front Derby (Blucher)
Circa 1980
Euro 1450

“The finest and most durable shoe ever made in America.”
Very likely the among the last new pairs of its kind in this size…anywhere.

This is the last of the great vintage Florsheim Imperials before the dissolution of the firm. If you are one of my old clients you most likely have at least one if not more pairs of Florsheim Imperials, Plain Front or Full Brogue Budapesters. If not, or if you would like to possess perhaps the last available new pair in shell cordovan in this size, here it is, the last word in such a shoe, the finest ever made in America or anywhere, the grandfather of all modern cordovan shoes and the most sought after shoe in the world.

The cordovan leather chosen for this masterpiece is from a deep rich oxblood colour, a fine, even textured, close-grained hide of unsurpassed and unsurpassable quality. Tanned by the world’s best cordovan tannery, Horween of Chicago, it shows a depth of colour that will only improve with polishing Moreover, a shoe of this build quality, with double sole, is a gift from the gods for a big or a heavy man or any man who is hard on shoes. You will be wearing this pair long after you have walked out of several other pairs of less substantial pairs.. Look closely at the massive oak-tanned channeled double sole and the additional “split reverse welt” (the so-called “storm welt”). Please notice the double row of hand-set nails and tri-angular cleat that protect the heel. See the soft and inviting lining in buttery tan calfskin glove leather. The attention to detail in the Imperials is most impressive. Compare this or any Florsheim Imperials to a pair of Church’s, Crockett & Jones, or Alden’s Brogues (all of which I myself sell) and you will see what a bargain this superior Florsheim Imperial is. Read what my other clients have said about this shoe; they rave, and rightly so.

Cordovan shoes are a typically American tradition and Allen Edmonds and Alden, two American shoemakers, are the premiere contemporary producers of cordovan shoes. Others (Crockett and Church’s in England; Vass, Dinkellacker, Reiter in Germany and Hungary), responding to the popularity of this material, have begun to produce cordovans too, and some very good ones. Still, among the cognoscenti, Florsheim, with its ironclad Imperials (while a few are still to be found on the after-market) remains the most loved “vintage” producer of Cordovans and their Full Brogues like this one remain unsurpassed.