Trickers Boots Review

Trickers is a maker that I have wanted to own and review for a long time, but being someone who generally favors chunkier boots with woodsman heels or engineer boots with woodsman heels, I was hesitant to pull the trigger. After talking with my friend Dave AKA @ruggedworkwear, he kindly agreed to ship me two of his pairs of Trickers boots for me to test out and review. Obviously, this means that this review is slightly different from a normal boot review. Like with the Thursday boots I reviewed, I am not the original owner and this is even more unique as I simply borrowed the boots to review. Still, I think I can give a fairly accurate impression of them aside from some information about long term comfort. 

The actual boots that I borrowed were a pair of the classic Trickers Stow boot in Acorn and the Clobbercalm x Trickers Ethan monkey boot in Marron calf, both in size 9UK. Both of these boots are not quite what I would normally go for, but I have been thinking about getting into English country boots, so they were great boots to take a look at, especially the Stow as it is a model that I have admired for quite a few years. The Stow will be what I will focus on most here because it is the boot that I could actually wear a few times because Dave was kind enough to allow me to do so. It was half a size too small for me, but the Ethan Monkey fits small so I could not wear it. This is despite the fact that both boots were a size 9UK (I would need a 9.5UK in the Stow) because the monkey boot fits much smaller than the Stow.

To start off, I really like the way both of these boots look. While these are not as substantial as some of my boots, I also do not enjoy truly bulbous models either. These Trickers are not sleek dress boots, nor are they chunky work boots. The Stow in particular fits nicely between my slim, dressy Carmina chelseas and my more traditional Amekaji/heritage boots. The monkey boot also looks quite nice, being sleeker than the chunky roofer style monkey boots that American and Japanese repro brands offer, but again, these are no dress boots. The balance is achieved well in both pairs in terms of design and last. As you can see from the photos, the Stows look great with my classic cut Viapiana chinos. 

The leathers on both boots appear to be quite nice, though nothing truly amazing. I quite like both of the colors and the grain is quite smooth and tight for both pairs as is expected with chrome tanned calfskin leather. Again, the Stow in particular is to my liking as the light golden tan color would match perfectly with my favorite jacket, the Freewheelers Sunset. The only reason my fit pics do not feature the Sunset is because it was off getting its sleeves shortened while I had Dave’s boots. Even so, while the color is not as versatile as darker shades of brown are, it still works well with a lot of outfits and contrasts nicely with indigo denim. The monkey boot came in Marron calf leather which is a nice mid/chestnut brown shade. Like with the Stow, it is quite  fine and even in grain due to being good quality calfskin. Do not expect this leather to change drastically in color like a vegetable tanned leather does. Both of these boots should stay roughly the same color for quite a while outside of how they are conditioned. 

While the monkey boot is fairly straightforward if you can get past its relatively unique design, the Stow has a lot more going on. With a 360 degree storm welt, a wingtip, pinking, and broguing all on one boot, this is a busy design, but I still like it quite a lot. The one aspect of these boots that I would want to change is the color of the heel and edges. It does not look bad, but I would prefer a natural edge finish instead of the reddish brown edge finish that the boot has instead. For the sole, the Stow has a Dainite sole and the Ethan has a mini lug sole. Both boots are made with 360 degree Goodyear welted construction with gemming.

The construction quality of these boots is overall quite good. The rapid stitch on the outsole is nice and clean and the upper stitching is dense, straight, and neat overall. However, it is not perfect. There are some loose threads that have not been trimmed and the stitching is not as clean as it could be where the upper meets the vamp. The broguing and pinking is quite good overall as well, though don’t expect it to be at the level of $1,000 plus shoes and bespoke makers. Overall, these boots are quite nicely constructed and finished. They are not as well made as my John Lofgren or Motor boots. My Carmina boots are slightly nicer as well. However, they are without doubt nicer in terms of finishing and cleanliness compared with my Viberg boots and they are also nicer than any of the many Aldens that I have handled in person. I would also say that the construction is overall nicer than any of the Pacific Northwest bootmakers in terms of neatness and finishing quality, including my Wescos. 

I did not even try on the monkey boots because Dave said they fit small on him and his feet are smaller than mine. This means that I would be in for a world of pain if I tried to wear them. I did wear the Stow for a few days, however. At a size 9UK, they are half a size too small for me. Still, they nearly fit and I was able to get an impression of how they feel. The front foot is fairly generous and despite being half a size too small, they were not too narrow. A 9.5 would be perfect for me in these. Even being slightly small, they felt quite comfortable during the days that I wore them. As I have always said and will always say: comfort is subjective. However, these were extremely comfortable aside from them being slightly small. Even over a long day, they still were fairly comfortable. Dave has also told me that he considers his Trickers boots to be very comfortable. I have to say that I did not expect English ‘dress’ boots to be so comfortable, but they really were. 

Overall, I really like these boots. They look quite good to me and I especially love how the Stow model looks. The Stow boots were also quite comfortable, despite this pair being half a size small. With the right size, I assume these would be one of my most comfortable pairs of boots. The leathers and materials used appear to be good quality and the construction, while not perfect, is excellent and better than some makers that cost as much or more money. What really recommends these boots in my mind is the price. These boots generally come in at under $600 which I believe is a pretty solid deal, especially for what you are getting. While I do not quite think their value for money ratio is as amazing as Motor boots, they are now just behind them in my opinion. I still have some handwelted Indonesian boots to try soon so this may change, but that does not change my feeling that these are excellent boots, especially for the money. Trying these out has certainly convinced me that I do want a pair of Trickers for my own. Trickers boots can be purchased on their website (I do not do affiliate links, so I get no personal benefit from giving brand links) and make sure to follow Dave on Instagram. I truly appreciate him trusting me with these boots to review.