Okay. So you're interested in a Gordon Boot Heritage. What on earth are all these options? Let's talk it through.

COLOUR: This is the colour of the leather bovine upper (the main part of the boot that you see). We try to have images where possible of the colour in a boot make up to give you a visual. With the crust leathers we use, there can be variation between batch to batch, from cow to cow. Some leathers will burnish or take on dye better than others. Please note, in the shop there are a lot more swatches to choose from outside of what you see on the website too.

BOOT LEATHER THREAD COLOUR: This is the colour of the stitching thread we use to sew up the boots. If choosing 'Matching' it will be as close a colour to the upper colour selected. If choosing the 'Contrast' option, it will be in a cream contrasting coloured thread.

TOE CAP: This is where we can have the pattern to include a cap of leather at the toe. This tends to casualize the boot more so than the no toe cap. Our Toe Caps are an aesthetic detail. It consists of two pieces of leather joined at the seam (not a doubling up of leather thickness like is somethings assumed).

EYELETS & HOOKS: This is where you can choose the size and hue of the eyelets and whether you would like hooks at the top. Hooks will casualize the look of the boot and can sometimes get pants/things caught on them, as a word of warning. But they do speed up the donning and doffing of your boots as the laces will fall to below their level. When considering the size of the eyelets, also consider what laces you might like. Our large eyelets will fit all our laces (paracord and flat) but will look large against our smaller round 2mm laces. Similarly our large hooks will work with the Paracord and flat laces, but the small hooks won't work with them.

TOPLINE: The topline is the detail along the top edge of the boot from the backstrap all the way down past the eyelets to where the quarters end. Raw is our preference as it is a more durable method of construction. Bound involves a thin layer of leather binding folded and stitched into the topline. Over time this bound edge is less strong than just the durable thickness of the quarters at the edge. The bound edge may be considered to be dressier, so you might see it more often on our Cambridge or Stanley toe examples.

SOLE CONSTRUCTION: Blake Rapid (McKay Welt) or Blake Stitch is the question here. These days, we are mostly doing McKay Welted soles, because of the inherent durability, structure and repairability of the soles. Especially for boots, the welt really suits the proportions of the boot. However there are times when someone is used to more Italian-ate finer soled shoes, and in this case they might choose the lighter weight Blake Stitch option. Visually, you will see stitching from the birds eye view of the boot with a McKay Welt, whereas you won't with a Blake Stitch. McKay Welted boots are stitched twice as a minimum, and Blake Stitched soles are stitched once through.

SOLE OPTIONS: This is the first option in the world of bottoming (soling). Firstly choose whether you're wanting the simplest and dressy leather and 1/2 topy, OR, whether you're going for a rubber option instead (full or half, doesn't matter, just select rubber).

FULL RUBBER SOLE OPTION: If doing the leather sole option, select option 1. If you're here because you've opened up to the world of more durable rubber soles, welcome. To start with, you might want to read through this post first to help you make some decisions visually: https://wootten.com.au/sole-finishes/?nocache=true and gaze at this table, but as a summary, see below.

The Starr Rubber sole is our best option for regular every day wear. It's got a nice amount of grip, doesn't have too much of a chunky tread, and is a really good durable nitrile rubber compound. This is our most popular rubber choice. Topy Rug is a bit of an older rubber choice we used to use back in the day (namely on our Veldschoen Bob boots and shoes) but we use less of it on the Gordon Boots just because there are better options. The Dr Sole is quite popular in either the full or half version (if choosing the half Dr Sole, you will actually choose "I'm doing a leather sole" at this point, because you actually do have a leather outsole first before the half rubber of this goes on). The Itshide is the very chunky hiker sole, but is also limited because the manufacturer went out of business in 2024. The Vibram Tuscany is a full rubber sole but does have a double leather midsole when chosen because the rubber portion is actually quite fine through the midfoot and we need to give it more structure for our boots.

On a side note, we are in development of making our own soles, so keep an eye out.

WELT OPTIONS: This is where we introduce the ideas of Stormwelt and Triple Stitch construction. Positively, both of these options can make the boots more waterproof, however on the downside they can make the boots more complicated when it comes to full soles repairs due to the extra welts and detail of the stitching.

EXTRA RUBBER AT FOREFOOT: If you've chosen a full rubber sole, just select No Extra Rubber At Forefoot. For those doing the leather sole they would choose the 1/2 topy, for those doing the 1/2 Dr Sole, this where you would input your colour choice.

EDGE FINISH: This is where you choose whether we're painting the side profile of the sole (not underneath) a clear, brown or black wax. Consider that a clear wax will show through the soling detail, if you wish to see the detail of the rubber through to the heel, or the colour of the rubber, for example. The Clear wax will start off looking like blonde wood, (it's actually all leather) and then will darken with water, light and wear to be a darker tan. The brown and black waxes are more consistent and will normally dress up the look of a boot, depending on all the other combinations you've gone for.

ADD 3mm PADDED INSERT: When making the boots in the Heritage range, we are able to make the last 3mm deeper to allow for a 3mm padded innersole. Please note if adding a 3mm padded insert, an extra 3mm of volume is lasted around the size of the boot you choose. This padding is removeable. So if choosing this option and removing the padding, it effectively gives you 3mm of extra volume through the whole boot. This is useful when someone has a wider ball measurement but doesn't want to go up in length, or is doing the order by correspondence and wants some flexibility in fit, and or wants to remove in winter to allow for thicker socks. Alternatively, when left inside, it gives you 3mm of padding when inside the boot without changing the standard size of what you've selected. Our padding is made from medical grade poron and covered with pigskin.