Tan is the colour that shows brogueing properly. Every punched hole throws a small shadow, and on a light leather those shadows are the pattern; the same detail half disappears in black. Tan also moves. It starts bright and goes gradually deeper at the toe and around the heel counter as polish builds, so the shoe at year three is a different object from the one that came out of the box, and a better looking one.
Wear it with navy, mid-grey and olive, with odd trousers and a jacket rather than a business suit. It is emphatically not a funeral shoe. The lacing is open rather than closed, which is to say the Charter is a derby and not the Oxford it is sometimes called, and that makes it an easy shoe on a high instep.
The published build is a high grade tan calf upper, calf linings, a padded seat sock, leather soles and Blake stitch construction. A Blake seam passes through the insole and the sole instead of running round a welt, so the shoe sits slimmer underfoot than a welted one and flexes sooner. Leather soles also mean keeping it off soaked pavements where you can.
The run holds eleven sizes: UK 6, then 7 and every half size up to 10.5, then 11 and 12, with nothing at 6.5 or 11.5. John White's width guide gives F as standard, so take the size you normally take.
The company built its Lime Street factory in Rushden in 1938-39 to a design by Sir Albert Richardson, and the building has been Grade II listed since 1994. Commissioning an architect of that standing for a shoe factory tells you what scale John White were working at. Design is still done in Northamptonshire; the shoes themselves are made by partner factories. The formal alternative is the Charter semi brogue in black.
Care: A tan or neutral cream rather than a dark wax, or you will lose the light ground the punching depends on. Build the toe slowly and let each coat dry. Brush the perforations clear afterwards. Trees after every wear.
You can ask any question about this product.
Our specialists will answer you shortly!
Tan is the colour that shows brogueing properly. Every punched hole throws a small shadow, and on a light leather those shadows are the pattern; the same detail half disappears in black. Tan also moves. It starts bright and goes gradually deeper at the toe and around the heel counter as polish builds, so the shoe at year three is a different object from the one that came out of the box, and a better looking one.
Wear it with navy, mid-grey and olive, with odd trousers and a jacket rather than a business suit. It is emphatically not a funeral shoe. The lacing is open rather than closed, which is to say the Charter is a derby and not the Oxford it is sometimes called, and that makes it an easy shoe on a high instep.
The published build is a high grade tan calf upper, calf linings, a padded seat sock, leather soles and Blake stitch construction. A Blake seam passes through the insole and the sole instead of running round a welt, so the shoe sits slimmer underfoot than a welted one and flexes sooner. Leather soles also mean keeping it off soaked pavements where you can.
The run holds eleven sizes: UK 6, then 7 and every half size up to 10.5, then 11 and 12, with nothing at 6.5 or 11.5. John White's width guide gives F as standard, so take the size you normally take.
The company built its Lime Street factory in Rushden in 1938-39 to a design by Sir Albert Richardson, and the building has been Grade II listed since 1994. Commissioning an architect of that standing for a shoe factory tells you what scale John White were working at. Design is still done in Northamptonshire; the shoes themselves are made by partner factories. The formal alternative is the Charter semi brogue in black.
Care: A tan or neutral cream rather than a dark wax, or you will lose the light ground the punching depends on. Build the toe slowly and let each coat dry. Brush the perforations clear afterwards. Trees after every wear.
You can ask any question about this product.
Our specialists will answer you shortly!
