UPDATE Oct 2022: The boots below now belong to my sister-in-law, as it was love at first try for her. So I bought them again :) For a brief time, in July, The Drifter Leather offered their best selling shoes in standard sizing, ready to ship. But I got size 41, as size 40 sold out pretty quick ( I wanted to be able to wear them with thicker socks and size 39 didn't accommodate thick socks well, I felt them too snug).
I’m a sucker for Chelsea Boots. I was in my ‘before barefoot shoes’ life as well. So imagine my delight when I received these soft boots with my name on the parcel. I placed the order 4 days after launching my blog, on my second try. I got very lucky: first, because I was able to order and second, because my boots arrived in less than 3 weeks! It’s true, I chose the standard 39 instead of custom, because the sizing for the 39 was pretty much what I needed: ‘our standard 39 EU is suitable for length of foot contour, traced as per our guide that measures approximately 25 cm and foot's ball width approximately 9.6 cm’. I knew I wanted to wear them with thin socks and that's what I do.
They did not disappoint: beautiful pebbled black leather hugging my feet and making me smile. I have Greek feet and skinny ankles and these shoes fit me great.
How to place an order? Quite easily once you subscribe to their newsletter and set the alarm for when ‘open for orders’ is on :D You have about 5-15 minutes before they stop taking orders. The first time I tried, it lasted 5 minutes. The second time, it was 10 minutes - plenty of time if you already know what you want by going through their catalogue as well as leather options. After placing your order someone from DL team will contact you to know if you prefer standard sizing or a design based on a personalised foot-bed template which is a service they offer at no extra cost.
The Drifter Leather is a small family business and it consists of a team: Callie, Christianna, Maria and Garifalos. I had the pleasure of talking to Christianna, who has studied music. Callie is a photographer and graphic designer and their mother and father, Maria and Garifalos, have over 20 years of experience in the shoe industry. Everything is hand-cut and sewn with minimal use of machinery so there should be no wonder that it takes a few weeks for your perfect pair of shoes to arrive.
They are based in Thessaloniki, Greece, and had I known about them when I visited this beautiful city, I would have gone straight to them and I would have bought whatever pair of shoes in my size they had available :D They usually don’t have any, but keep an eye on their On Sale page, maybe you find something that fits you.