Loved “Your toes are covered and you don’t look like shit.” My first pair of Birkenstocks (Bostons in Habana oiled leather) are arriving tomorrow. I’m more of a service boot guy, but I bought the Bostons for around the house since my slippers have worn out. I’m looking forward to the comfort everyone talks about.
Hi Bob, I think you’ll love these if you’re a fan of boots. In my experience it takes around two weeks of wear to fully break them in and after that it’s molded to my foot swimmingly. I brought them again to Europe last month and again tomorrow to NYC, need em everyday hahaha enjoy yours man 😁
I’m a boot wearer, western, Frye, etc…bought my first pair of Birkenstocks intending for them to be slippers/house shoes….but I now wear them all of the time! I have the Boston in Habana, the oiled leather is great, has a slightly distressed look and the more you wear them, the better they look.
I made just an copy of these Kyoto Model Birkenstocks myself. Not as pretty as the originals but they are by far the simplest design to make as DIY at home. You know what these Kyoto style design is only? It is only the same or very similar shape of the upper as the Arizonas only without the cut out in the middle (as for 2 different stripes). If you draw the upper on a paper of the Arizona model as a whole, that gives you allmost exactly the same upper shape as the Kyoto upper is. The uttermost simplicity. Just draw the Arizona upper and leave it as is without cutting it out in the middle. Presto! thats the Kyoto upper with an additional leather strip for the velcro reinforcement. My replicas are super good fitting and way more comfortable than any other model of Birkenstock. The Kyoto model protects your upper foot way better than any other model. The Kyoto is my preferred model. I made the Kyoto copy as well with leather but only genuine leather and I put a bit more velcro in the 2 underhalfs in order to allow for more adjustment. Mine do not cave in and stay as is ready to use. Since I used genuine cow leather. I bet these Birkenstock makes in 10 Minutes tops and the Kyoto model uses not more leather than the Arizona since you do not throw away any leather pieces you cut out afterwards (as in the Arizona model) which the customer pays as well. So at the end these use a bit more labour since they sew on the velcro which is an dedicated step (I sewed on the velcro as well with my saddlery leather machine with Tex 135 bonded Nylon thread) and takes a bit more time. Birkenstock stamps the uppers out in one pass. The upper velcro strip they rivet on which is an economization. But they did not put any buckles so they saved themselves lots of money with that using only velcro. Velcro is a cheaping out solution and will be not nearly as durable as any high quality Birkenstock buckle. They saved on material butt used a bit more labour for the sewing. The rest is equal in materials and labour from the Kyoto model to other models. So these could cost as well as much as other models. I like the Kyoto model the best since it is so darn simple to reproduce, protects better than other models and is more supporting the upper foot.
@@mikkozon As I am an expat in Latinamerica now, here you do not get allmost no materials and supplies. For one shoe (the other sandal I not even started to make) it took me about 3 hours from scratch to finish. It was rather an proof of concept than something else as I first wanted to see how it turns out. I figured I would take the Arizona upper and mold it off and see if it resembles the shape of the Kyoto upper. And presto! the shapes are so much similar as you would not see a difference if Birkenstock did not take just the Arizona upper and left it uncut in the middle. Basically, the Kyoto upper is only the Arizona upper just cut on the outside from a piece of leather. Since we do not get the footbed here I took truck fender rubber matts as foot bed of 6mm full rubber with cotton fibers reinforced. The bush is here very thorny so the foot bed had to be unpenetrable from thorns and spikes. Shoe glues is here availlable so I glued 2 6mm rubber soles together putting there in between the leather upper of the Kyoto (genuine leather of 1.1mm) and stapled it together on the borders with Stanley 12mm industrial staples (construction staples). That holds the 6mm rubber soles together totalling 12mm sole. On the bottom I glued an Birkenstock type EVA 6mm sole on similar to the original Birkenstocks. Thats how far you can get here with the availlable supplies. The Kyoto leather upper is exactly made as Birkenstock did only with an heavy duty leather thread for the velcro. So the total sole is now 6mm + 6mm full rubber + 6mm EVA Birkenstock outer sole in order bush thorns can not penetrate this. I use these for work in an Arizona like very hot climate. I wished I had original Birkenstock material availlable so I would be able to replica quiet well the original. Maybe I would include an steel plate in the sole (staple it in place) for pucture proof soles. I walked today with these new ones Kyoto in the brush and none of the 1 cm thorned passed even the first outer sole.
I have 4 pairs and am probably going to buy the grey suede Buckley this week. I finally got a pair with the original footbed, all of my others had been the soft bed. Breaking them in hasn’t been as hard as I thought it would be. Such comfy shoes, and I haven’t had any arch pain since I started wearing them. I love the tobacco color! Being oiled leather, any scuffs should rub out, or try an oily leather conditioner like the one from Frye. Personally, I like the way oiled leather looks as it gets more beat up, and it really does hold up well. I have the Boston in Habana, a few weeks ago got caught in the city in a torrential downpour, had to walk several blocks, my shoes got soaked…and they are fine! Waiting for the tobacco Boston to come back in stock.
Tobacco is definitely such an underrated colorway, I'm glad more people are getting into it vs the wildly popular taupe versions. I have foot pain as well and all I wear are bostons basically all year round. If I'm not wearing Birks, I use my custom orthotics in all my sneakers to basically make them Birkenstocks haha. Works well on my Jordan 1s, Chucks, Dunks, New Balances etc.
@@mikkozon yes, those damn taupe Bostons…my niece asked me to get her a pair and I had to haunt the Birkenstock website for months, waiting for them to come back in stock!
I'm more of an Arizona guy since I live in the Philippines - oiled leather, smooth leather, Birko-Flor, EVAs. I generally stay away from suede and nubuck models. I had a pair of Habana oiled leather Arizonas that I ran to the ground in just 3 years. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten around a cobbler here skilled enough to replace the outsole and restore midsole. While Birks are indeed durable, their outsoles seem to wear down pretty quickly. I've read about replacing the outsole with Vibram soles though. As for the Bostons, not a ton of people wear that model here because of the really hot weather but I get why you have it as your favorite.
replacing the outsole can't be done just at any of your usual SM shoe cobbler, I would recommend looking into sneaker restoration craftsmen for more precision and vibram sheet access. Arizonas are definitely popular in the Philippines through the decades. Our family could be different though as my mom,myself and my lola have been using bostons for decades now. I'm currently in Manila and have been using my bostons daily, and prior to that the past 4 months in Thailand by the beach. Everybody sweats differently and are comfortable with different models which I totally get, you can never go wrong with Arizonas for daily use. Just make sure to keep the cork midsole intact. I agree- the outsole tends to deteriorate quickly after 6 months of daily wear. Good thing is that it's easier to replace every other year or so.. cheers mate!
I like the things that the longer I wear the better they get ,like Barbour wax jacket or Birkenstock sandals.Saying that don’t ever make mistake of buying new pair Birkenstok for your holiday .That is exactly what i have done for my painful holiday in Thailand. Get the old one !
Where in Thailand? I actually lived 7 months out of the past year in Phuket and Bangkok. Absolutely love Thailand! And totally agree about Barbour and Birks, timeless and ageless items 👌🏽
For work or anytime I walk out the front door of my apartment I am wearing Doc Marten 1460's boots. When I'm at home lazing about it's in a pair of Birkenstock sandals. I dunno' how many pairs I've had but have been wearing Birkenstocks for over 40 years. I've never had the Boston style. Just so happens the guys down the road from me I buy my Doc Martens also carry Birkenstocks. I reckon its time I got a pair of the Boston Birk's. They look so dang comfortable. Mahalo!
@@mikkozon Just ordered today from Birkenstock the oiled tobacco Boston's and cork sealer. One week free shipping. Can't wait! Mahalo for the inspiration.
Fire collection mate, the tobacco oiled leather are the ones I want next, I have the taupe suede. Your painted customs are super nice too I’d love to do that
Love the Boston clogs but it seems like everyones got em these days so im thinking of getting the Kyotos as my first pair. Do you recommend going true to size? I have pretty wide feet so I think id go with the wide option
yeah don't get the narrow, be sure to get the regular width option. The best option for sizing is normally 1 size smaller than your true size. I'm a US10 in Jordan 1s and I get a 42/9 in Birks.
Sounds about right, really depends on your needs. I find that owning a couple pairs and rotating make them last longer vs just wearing one pair regularly.
Hey, there’s this small family run outlet shop along Bloor Village in Toronto. It’s not easy to chance upon good pairs or Birks at all but it’s worth checking out for sure 👌🏽
they will fit the same but the feel will be different. The boston being enclosed around the toe area gives it a feeling of "more room" because you're able to push your toes all the way in the footbed and still be inside the sandal if that makes sense. The arizona ideally you want to strap in snug so your toes don't pop out. Hope that helps!
it's just something you'll eventually get used to. If u got narrow feet, you'll need the narrow version. But if u got normal feet, the narrow width will hurt your foot bumping on the edges and the groves.
The insole is leather so I normally just give it a wipe down or a quick clean with Jason Markk but nothing too extensive as it will remove the natural oils of the material.
Unfortunately, no. But I’ve heard great things about them! Luckily I do have a Birkenstock source for a really good deal about half off which is the reason I got so much 😅✌🏽
@@emo333vampire thanks for the tip! I did not know that wow 🤯 that’s definitely something I’d want to explore maybe cook up some content with them. Appreciate it serena 🙏🏽
other than the pool, beach or at someone's home, I think it's pretty disgusting to see people's toes but that's just me. People in Havaianas walking around downtown NYC is wildly offensive.
