Shoe Gazing

Regardless of the city you live in, it has become increasingly difficult to weed out the bad seeds on streets littered with shoe stores claiming to offer quality footwear. Fortunately, there are a few sure-fire solutions. A visit to anyplace carrying Vancouver’s Fluevog Shoes or Dayton Boots will have your tootsies tapping happy tunes in no time.

Fluevog Shoes prides itself on creating funky shoes that, once purchased, are unlikely to be seen on the feet of anyone else in the city. These “Unique Soles for Unique Souls” boast the rare quality of “40 years of the same man at the helm [of] a North American design brand.” This man goes by the name of John Fluevog
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Contrary to nearly every other shoe on the market, when you look at a Fluevog, each carefully named style tells its own story. The women’s Canas, for example, are three-inch heels wrapped in luscious suede. They resemble the sort seen on flappers from movies and photos of the Thirties.

A visit to the company’s website shows that Fluevog’s stylish creations have become favourites not only of the Average Joe, but of widely recognized celebrities as well. Before their show in Vancouver a couple months ago, “Jack White’s whole band, The Dead Weather, came into the Gastown store … They all bought Fluevogs,” says Stephen Bailey, Fluevog’s marketing manager. Though Fluevogs have made quite the name for themselves, you won’t see them following any fashion trends as John purposely avoids reading and looking at fashion rags. Fluevogs are made more for the trendsetter rather than the fashion follower.

A short drive east of Fluevog’s Gastown store, Dayton Boots’ neon, boot-shaped sign towers over the sidewalk of East Hastings. Founded by Charlie Wohlford in 1946, the brand takes pride in having manufactured every one of their boots out of East Vancouver. Originally catering to loggers, the demographic has since expanded to include Supreme Court judges, cowboys, construction workers, motorcycle owners and miners. In fact, people like them so much that Stephen Encarnacao, CEO of Dayton Boots, has stated, “We know over a dozen kids named Dayton. At least half of whom may very well have been conceived while…” well, you can fill in the blanks.

Dayton’s boots are known for their durability and labour-intensive 230-step manufacturing process—according to Stephen, it’s not uncommon to see a customer come in with a pair of boots decades old and on their third or fourth resole. How does Dayton produce this kind of quality? The leather used is two times thicker than most other premium boots and each piece of leather is meticulously inspected before put into production. Though the line first focused on classics made primarily for their function, it now offers what are referred to as fashion crossovers—boots with all the function of the classics but with a bit of twist. The popular Driver boot, for example, is an above the ankle black boot with a white leather heel.

Whether you’re a trendsetter looking for something funky and unique, or a bad ass in need of a sturdy and long lasting boot, Fluevog Shoes and Dayton Boots are go-to brands for guaranteed quality.

[www.fluevog.com]
[www.daytonboots.com]

Words: Alicia Wrobel
Photography: Tyler Quarles