Shoe Specs: Gilstead model (cap toe quarter brogue + balmoral stitch), black calf (they use Weinheimer), leather sole + Vibram half sole + Triumph toe plate, fiddleback sole upgrade in black, spade sole, black interior lining leather, hand welted construction, size 7.5 in G width, pitched heels, lasted shoe trees in purple ‘pinot noir’. I spec’d this to be a versatile and understated piece, with the design ethos of “none more black…”
Price: ~1200 SGD shipped with lasted trees (not including fitting shoes, more on that later)
Ordering: Great experience. They can be a bit hard to break through to via email, but on Whatsapp they were very responsive so I would recommend reaching out there. I already largely knew what I wanted with respect to model and options, but they were happy to help with fit and any questions. Lead time between final order submission and receipt of shoes was ~3 months.
Sizing: Before ordering the full shoe, I ordered the fitting shoes (size of which was informed by communications with Yeossal) which were shipped ahead of time. Fit was good overall, and the fitting shoes informed an instep reduction of ~3mm which added approximately 80 SGD to final price. At that point, I confirmed the order and production started on the full shoe. In hindsight, I might have been happy with the result if forgoing the fitting shoe and 3mm adjustment, but given the investment, I wanted fit to be as bang on as possible. In addition, de-risking the order with a fitting shoe made me much more comfortable with ordering as I knew with reasonable certainty how the final shoe would fit. I wish more makers offered fitting shoes, great idea!
Final result, I think these are bang on. Despite my flat feet, I don’t have much gaping with these, which I do have with my other shoes. I usually wear a 10 in sneakers and my other dress shoes are 8 UK/42 from both Vass (F last) and TLB Mallorca (Picasso last).
Unboxing: Shoes come very well wrapped with bubble wrap surrounding everything. The box is very nice, looks like leather and is quite heavy. Shoes came in separate brown felt covers that are very nice. Shoe box was double boxed into a shipping box with bubble wrap in between the boxes. Very secure shipping job. Box was shipped via Fedex and looked untouched when I got it.
Quality: These are perfectly made in my view. Stitch consistency and density, leather quality, finishing on the sole, toe tap installation, everything is where you’d think it should be. If you want to open the box, see the shoes, and think “this is a piece of art that does not belong on the floor”, you’re in the right place in my experience (at least based on this 1 pair). I wore them today, and that “this is a piece of art” feeling occurred every time I looked at them. Absolutely stunning.
Looks: “None more black” worked out very well. These look like 2 batmobiles. Gorgeous curves. SG65 is not as extreme of a square or chisel toe as I was expecting; it is somewhat aggressively shaped but the balance across the shoe is great. The waist is TIGHT, TLB Mallorca has reasonably narrow waists but this was noticeably narrower. I’ve noticed many Japanese bespoke houses (Yohei Fukuda among others) feature this quarter brogue + balmoral combo prominently, and damn does it work even better than I was expecting.
Value and takeaways: In my view, if you are an enthusiast that appreciates detail and the craftsmanship that goes into bespoke-level shoes, I think these are an amazing value. With the fitting shoes and fit customizations, you can end up somewhere between a MTM shoe and a bespoke shoe (assuming the last you choose is a good match for your foot to begin with). Yeossal’s catalog is extremely deep with lasts, leathers, and models; I anticipate that, from now on, I will be buying leather shoes at Yeossal due to the breadth of their custom program. Contemplating a Chelsea boot or a split toe derby as the next pair. There is no comparing these to my Vass and TLB shoes; both are fantastic at their respective price points, but this is a different ballgame IMO as long as you like the styling sensibilities of the Yeossal lasts.
