I was contacted to review a pair of shoes from a company I had never heard of before. I approached it with a moderate level of skepticism. My influence on social media encompassing a dedicated few. But nonetheless, I responded to the inquiry, picked out a pair of shoes, and was pleasantly surprised when they actually arrived at my office. In all I am humbled that someone reached out to me for my opinion, and owe a debt to provide the company with a thorough review. But my obligation to you, the reader, to give an honest opinion precedes all.
Beckett Simonon is a direct to consumer brand focused on footwear and leather goods. Manufactured in Bogotá Colombia, their aim is to give customers exceptional products at a reasonable price. Conventional thinking among the sartorially inclined is that the correlation between price and quality is very real. The idea is that you save money in the long term by purchasing higher quality, more expensive items, compared to continually purchasing cheaper products that fail the test of time. This should ease the sting out of the upfront cost of quality shoes. Especially if they last for decades.
I confirmed with Adela from Beckett and Simonon to review a pair of shoes. She promptly sent me a few options to choose from. I quickly claimed the brown Dean Oxfords. It was a color and style of shoe I needed in my closet. I knew it would be extremely versatile, harmoniously pairing with suits and dressing up my more casual outfits. The only caveat; because they are made to order you will have to wait for the shoes to actually be created, A process they claim will take between 8-12 weeks. This is sometimes the case for products requiring a craftsman's touch, but remember, patience is a virtue.
When the shoes arrived I was immediately impressed with the outwards presentation. I’ve kept the box, unable to deliver a beautiful vessel to its demise among banana peels and empty wine bottles. I found the shoes tucked in dust covers. Black bags made for, you guessed it, preventing dust from getting on the shoes when not worn. Also inside the box was a pair of inserts and extra laces. Upon removing the dust covers, and paper inside the shoes I started my inspection. I scanned over the cap toe oxford and immediately noticed its unique body. A slim silhouette starting with a rounded cap at the tip of the shoe that widens as it moves back towards the toes, and starts tapering closer to the foot as it reaches the ankle. The leather sole and full grain leather upper accentuates the high quality construction. It avoids the stuffy bullet shape shoe, while not drifting into the extreme pointed toe and elongated bodies found throughout some fashion forward retailers. My only complaint was when I discovered the shoes were a size larger than I requested. An unfortunate occurrence that has allowed the shoes to be more susceptible to creases over the toe and sides. I now use the provided inserts to help fill the shoe and limit the leather from folding.
Beckett Simonon built their company in an efficient and simple way that saves their customers money. They only sell their products via their website, removing retailer markups. They create their products in small batches by the order, thus eliminating excess inventory. They have their own factory for manufacturing, eliminating outsourced labor costs. Doing all of this while remaining completely transparent about their process and products (see their website & blog). Overall I can confidently recommend this shoe for someone who is looking to add to their rotation.
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