thread & salt

                                                                   Eastland Yarmouth Boat Shoe

Paired up with one of my favorite online style sources (StyleSeek) to take part in their ongoing review series. I ended up landing a pair of suede boat shoes from the Freeport Maine family owned Eastland Shoe Corp. Eastland has been around since 1955 (when our grandparents would walk up hill both ways with no shoes in the snow etc.) Since then, they’ve really proved themselves as a lasting quality company - they even have their own shoelace knot. I’ve been giving these some turf time for the last few weeks:

pros:
construction - the yarmouth is crafted with a nicely chosen suede. not too soft, as to lose its shape but not ridged enough to make your feet angry with you & it’s color is a great contrast to a pair of dark denim. although 15 or so hours does not constitute truthfully putting these to ‘the test’ they’re holding up excellently and i don’t imagine that changing.

inexpensive - i guess this is a relative statement but in a blogosphere where we’re often told “buy less; buy better” for a smooth $125 i have no problem adding these to the arsenal

versatility - i’m not really a boat shoe guy. i don’t boat. (or belong to a fraternity) but these gave me a chance to experiment a bit with a different shape shoe in a material i’m very familiar with. I decided to dress them up a bit with a blazer above but feel it’s a pretty simplistic design that speaks for itself. 

cons:

break in time - maybe i just have a soft heel but for the first week or so i recommend pairing the yarmouth with a fresh bandaid or two.

seasonal - like any boat shoe, i think its more easily worn in the warmer months.

grab the eastland yarmouth boat shoe for your own feet
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photography via Christopher Fenimore