Customer review – Oxblood Wholecut

This is a customer written review. The photo was also provided by the customer.

Customer/Location: Simon, Ridgewood, New Jersey, USA

Purchase: Benson Whole cut in Oxblood

Order process

Straight forward and easy to use website. Easy payment option with the use of Paypal. Invoice automatically reflected foreign country purchase, zero VAT and shipping costs without any issues.

Delivery & Shipment

Prompt as promised with tracking number e-mailed shortly after payment. Packaged arrived in good quality box with shoe box tightly fitted inside.

Shoe packaging

Simple box. Typically shoe packing, paper used to separate left and right shoe with additional paper inside shoes itself.

First thoughts/Impressions

Very nice pair of wholecuts; Colour was a very close match to what was shown on website; The finish looked very good though there were one or two tiny areas where it looked streaky upon really close inspection. Leather felt stiff but thinner than other shoes I wear. Stitching looked good and I liked the combination tap soles.. Laces seem fragile. Thoughts after first wear: Leather not as stiff as first thought but still seems a tad thinner than other shoes I wear, though this doesn’t necessarily mean lesser quality in my mind. May be it was because they were wholecuts and had less stitching/structure on the shoe more so than the leather itself.

Comfort

Wore them for 12 hours without any issues. Soles of shoes do seem thinner – only time will tell if they are as durable. Size was a good fit – I wear US10/UK9. Fits similar to US10/UK9 Allen Edmonds and Church’s that I have. Width wears like a D (medium) on AE. Style of shoe meant it was longer in the toe area.

Most recent purchase and shoes used as basis of comparison

Allen Edmonds Cornwallis Dress Oxford – a bit of an unfair comparison since AE are a more established player but I don’t think the Cornwallis were ~2X the quality of TB Benson given the price differential (AE are ~U$395 vs. the ~$U$210) Jack Erwin Adam Wingtip Oxford – paid $195 for a pair of wingtips vs. the TB Wholecut @ ~U$210 so the TB wins on price; Very similar comfort out of box and quality of shoe.

Overall Summary

Happy with purchase. Would have been a nice added touch to include an extra pair of laces and a shoe bag (see note below). Nonetheless, comfort, great looking, smart pair of shoes that’s great value for money. Heads will turn and I’m sure I’ll get more satisfaction from these than similar priced shoes available at retailers. Being a USA based purchaser had its downsides (higher shipment costs) but given the current favourable exchange rate and 0% VAT on foreign purchases I’d have no issues buying from TB again.

Note from Thomas Bird: All shoes and boots are now provided with shoe bags.

View Thomas Bird Wholecut Shoes