I admit, I fell for some marketing from a well-regarded high-end store, Nieman Marcus. In connection with an airline frequent flier program, if I bought something from that store, I would get 10x the purchase price in frequent flier miles. So I thought, what the heck? Do they have boots? Yes! Frye Boots!
But the story gets worse…
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I was looking at my handy-dandy website statistical analyzer data the other day, and I was intrigued but not surprised that four boot brands are the most frequently searched brands that drive visitors to this blog and my website. Wanna take a guess what those top four “most searched” brands are?
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I am not the only man who has a disdain for those ugly, unsightly, dorky-looking things that some men choose to wear in summer months. I can’t call them footwear. They really aren’t. They are a symbol of a very poor choice made by men who don’t know how bad they look and how bad they are for the feet. Or to quote an article in a newspaper, “flip-flops connote a sort of half-dressed slatternliness, a sense that the wearer has forgotten to do anything at all with his or her body from the ankles down.”
A visitor to this blog, Craig, wrote a comment on an old post where my foot doctor said that he strongly disapproved of flip-flops. Because that post was so old, I doubt readers would see it, so I brought the comment forward to make this mid-40s man’s words about a new passion for wearing harness boots and disdain for flip-flops and sandals more evident.
Here is what Craig said:
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I am having a new pair of boots made to order! Woo-hoo! Why the excitement? You say, “come on, BHD, you’ve got tons of boots. Why a new pair and why are you so excited about them?”
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I get highly annoyed when I see direct and flagrant misrepresentations such as this in a recent marketing promo that I received:
Let me break this down, point-by-point, and explain where the misrepresentation is.
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A guy who was doing research about a pair of Frye-branded boots that he bought found my website, and the history of the Frye Boot brand. The boots that he bought were labeled “made in Mexico.”
Not that many people have noticed that the Frye Boot brand was bought and sold by a series of holding companies since 2003 when the original John A. Frye Company closed its plant in Massachusetts. They sold the name, trademark, logoes, and service marks — valuable assets. Today, the Frye boot name and marks are owned by Li & Fung, the largest shoe-related conglomerate in China.
But does that mean that all Frye boots are made in China now?
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Kid you not, this was a question that landed a visitor to this blog. Unfortunately, it was directed to a post where I discussed differences between Chippewa and Wesco boots, not Frye. Oh well, here goes… what are the major comparisons between Frye and Wesco boots?
Hmmm… like what’s the difference between a Yugo and a Harley?
Some readers may not be old enough to know what a Yugo was… photo shown… a little car made in by the Serbian automaker Zastava that was imported in the U.S. It was notorious for frequent breakdowns as a result of poor manufacturing processes. Compared with a Harley — purely in jest — one would easily find a Harley motorcycle to be much more reliable and better built than a Yugo. The only comparisons were that both of these machines were vehicles made of steel and had tires. That is it.
Today, this comparison is sort of the same when it comes to Frye boots and Wesco boots. While some of the men’s classic-designed Frye boots are made in the USA, the process of Frye bootmaking took a serious nosedive when the original John A. Frye Company of Massachusetts sold out in 2003, and was subsequently purchased, sold, bought, and re-sold by a string of holding companies. The current company that owns the Frye name is Li and Fung, based in China.
The companies that have owned the Frye name since the original company sold out were, in my opinion, not interested in making boots — they were interested in selling boots with a name that was well-recognized in the United States (and around the world.) These companies simply bought the “Frye” name, then had boots made of similar, but not equal, design and made with lower quality materials by machines. However, the price of a new pair of Frye boots is very high, especially considering the low value one gets from the use of cheap materials and labor to make these boots today.
The company that makes Wesco boots, on the other hand, has been owned and operated by the same family since 1918. Their bootmaking facilities are based in Scappoose, Oregon, near Portland. Other than making boots, this is where similarities between Frye boots and Wesco boots end.
Wesco boots have superior leather, materials (such as Kevlar stitching), Vibram soles, double-stitching at the sole and stress points, as well as each boot being made under human control and attention. Yes, machines are used to do various processes in making the boots, but always under human touch — from forming the foot onto the last (the form), to stitching the sole onto the boot, and much more.
I’ll throw an intermediate boot brand in here for consideration. This is based on a comment that someone posted with one of my videos. That is — Chippewa boots. Well cared-for Chippewa boots will last as long as Wesco boots. Chippewas are very well-made, and made in the USA. To a lot of guys, it doesn’t make sense to spend two or three times as much on a pair of boots if you would get the quality from Chippewas that you would from Wesco boots. While Wesco boots have some more features that Chippewa boots do not — such as lug soles — for the most part, the two brands (Chippewa and Wesco) compare well — sort of like a Chevrolet and a Cadillac (in U.S. car comparison terms, carrying the analogy that began above.) Both cars (i.e., boots) “drive” well.
Price-wise, a new pair of Frye boots is almost the same as a new pair of Chippewa boots, but that is it. Frye quality suffers tremendously. The money they save on using cheaper materials and labor to make Frye boots lines the pockets of the Chinese owners of the Frye label. Frankly, I would rather invest money in a U.S. owned and operated company (Chippewa or Wesco) than Frye.
In my opinion, there is no true comparison between new Frye boots and new Wesco boots. It’s worse than comparing apples and oranges … or … Yugos and Harleys.
Life is short: know boot quality!
Recently, someone sent me an email asking about the current boots made under the Frye boots label. He noted that a new pair of Frye 12R harness boots were already falling apart after just one wearing. One boot pull was not sewn on completely and was coming off.
His original question was whether those Frye boots are really made in the United States, despite the label saying, “made in the U.S.A.”
I replied by saying that yes, the boots are assembled (“made”) in the USA at a plant in Arkansas, in a location that Frye will not tell you where it is (which adds to the suspicion.) However, I assert, unless the owner can prove otherwise, that the leather and other materials from which these boots are assembled comes from inferior sources outside the U.S. Further, because the current owner of the Frye boot label is the Chinese company Li and Fung, known for producing the cheap clothing and footwear imported by Walmart, the boots are assembled by non-union labor using inferior lasts (boot forms) that were not from the original John A. Frye Company.
Current Frye harness boots have a cheap off-brand rubber sole. Further, you can see from this image from Frye’s website that they imprint a pebble grain on the boots to hide blemishes that otherwise would be noticed if the leather were smooth. That is a way to hide that the leather is not Top Grain, the best leather for boots.
I assert, then, that today’s Frye boots are cheaply made from inferior materials. While the going price for a pair of these boots is about US$300, the company and all the middle-men involved are making a huge profit from the well-recognized name, and are not purchasing quality materials to go into the boots in the first place. This is definitely where the adage caveat emptor (buyer beware) applies.
Chippewa harness boots are a fair comparison in today’s harness boot styles. The Chippewa company is owned by another conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway. (Actually, the U.S.-based Berkshire Hathaway owns Justin Brands, of which the Chippewa label is a subsidiary.)
However, in my humble opinion, Chippewa boots are made better. They still use the same lasts (boot forms) for their boots that they used before the company was bought out by Justin Brands. The boots are still made in the USA. From my direct observations of the materials and craftsmanship with which Chippewa boots are made, I feel that they leather and materials that they use to make Chippewa boots is of better quality. The boots are made of smooth leather. Blemishes are not observable. Double-stitching is used on stress points, including the boot pulls. Quality Vibram soles are used, which are far superior for a biker’s required traction (and will last long.)
And Chippewa sells a pair of their “Street Warrior” model 27868 harness boots for about $100 less per pair than Frye. Go figure — are you getting what you are paying for with Frye? I don’t think so. You are paying for a label, not quality.
Just because boots are made in the USA does not mean that they are all made with quality materials and craftsmanship. Look closely and compare, and be a well-informed consumer.
Life is short: do your research before making a purchase.
I mentioned in a previous blog post that I was given a pair of new Frye campus boots by a cousin who thought that I coul weather them while riding my motorcycle. Well… after having Vibram 100 lug soles added to them, I could.
Sunday found me going on a motorcycle ride with a group of buds, wearing those new-to-me Frye boots with new-to-them deep lug soles. Unlike the leather you see on my legs in this photo, I wore these Frye boots with regular blue jeans and a t-shirt, as it was warm and humid, so it wasn’t leather weather.
We had a good ride. The boots enjoyed it, too. (Though, as usual, no one said a word about the boots. Seldom does that happen, especially to a biker. I mean, most people expect bikers to be wearing boots, so why would anyone say anything?)
Life is short: go for a ride!
Someone in my family gave me a pair of 14″ black Frye campus boots a couple weeks ago. He said that he had ordered them, and then didn’t like them once he wore them a couple times. He said that they weren’t like the Frye Boots that he remembered back in college (in the ’70s).
Yep. New Frye Boots, even though they are made in the USA, do not have the same characteristics (quality, heel height, sole composition) as their Vintage cousins. That’s because they are not made by the same company any more. The name is now owned by Li & Fong, one of the largest shoe retailers in China.
Anyway, my cousin who didn’t know any better thought that I could wear them while riding my Harley. He did not realize that a smooth leather sole would not be suitable for that.
However, not to look a gift horse in the mouth, I brought them to a cobbler and had Vibram 100 lug soles added to them. They look good — better than I thought — and are NOW suitable for use while riding the Harley.
Sorry for the quick pic — I really haven’t had time to take a decent set of pictures of them for my website. This pic was taken in my office on the day I picked them up from the cobbler.
Life is short: adapt!