Crockett and Jones Camberley Review

hthomas · June 2015

Just got these boots a few days ago. I really am impressed with C&J. Here are my thoughts and some good shots of the boots. Enjoy! -{

https://youtu.be/_yMqa3xv3Oc

Westward_Drift · June 2015

Nice review Harris. Pity you didn't record your thoughts after a day on your feet.

What size/width are you in US sizing and what size C&J did you purchase? How does the width of the C&J compare to other boots/ shoes you have purchased? Looking at some of their boots, like the Tetbury, I've worried that the lasts would be much too narrow for my feet.

hthomas · June 2015

Westward_Drift wrote:

Nice review Harris. Pity you didn't record your thoughts after a day on your feet.

What size/width are you in US sizing and what size C&J did you purchase? How does the width of the C&J compare to other boots/ shoes you have purchased? Looking at some of their boots, like the Tetbury, I've worried that the lasts would be much too narrow for my feet.

Thanks! I can assure you my thoughts were how comfortable they really were. I really wouldn't know I was wearing new shoes if I didn't know. I am a 9-9.5 in US shoes. These C&Js are 9.5. I couldn't get a 9. I talked to a guy at C&J and he told me the 9.5 would be best for me after I described some things to him about my feet. I have a very narrow foot. These shoes are a standard width. I would say they are widest shoe I own but not by much. Monk straps to me are quite loose on your feet compared to lace ups. I will need to get some inserts for these boots. Due to the toe box on these being very narrow I wouldn't have been able to wear 9. They would have been bending right on my pinky toe. I wish I had more C&J to compare them to. Hopefully in the future! I still want the Tetbury's and the Highbury's.

Westward_Drift · June 2015

Thanks Harris.

I have a wide foot so C&Js would probably look like skis on my feet with having to size up for width.

Once again, great review. I look forward to your other SPECTRE related videos.

DB6 · June 2015

C&J's are lovely but I've found do still need some breaking in.

Thanks for the review -{

The Bond Experience · June 2015

GREAT REVIEW....very descriptive and passionate...makes me tempted to get these! BTW, hour and half to work??? Each way?

welshboy78 · June 2015

Great stuff

Ive collected most of the C&J footwear (DC personal and Bond).

These look rather different so also tempted to pickup rather then the Norwich model (believe this model is featured in SPECTRE) which is too similar to the Skyfall Highbury if im not mistaken

hthomas · June 2015

The Mantis wrote:

GREAT REVIEW....very descriptive and passionate...makes me tempted to get these! BTW, hour and half to work??? Each way?

Thanks David. For now I have to make the drive! I am there Thursday's and Fridays. I stay over night. Then head back. I will be moving to Charlotte after I graduate in the fall!

James Brosnan · June 2015

I was wondering if you were gonna review these. Great review man! Love the emotional description of the shoes. I totally get it man. They look powerful. Perfect hem on the suit by the way, not too long or too short. Im a little OCD about my hem, and yours looks perfect for those shoes.

I know there is a lot of opinions about whether or not monk strap shoes are something that "Bond" would wear, but my opinion is that they are very Bond. They have a very Flemming Bond vibe in my opinion. Plus, if they were good enough for Brosnan, then they are good enough for me

Love these shoes. Great pick man!

walther p99 · June 2015

From the looks of it Bond wears them while undercover when hes wearing the peak lapel Tom Ford suit so it fits with his cover as a high roller or something opposed to something he wears normally. So it makes sense if some see it as not something Bond would wear because hes posing as someone else.

hthomas · June 2015

James Brosnan wrote:

I was wondering if you were gonna review these. Great review man! Love the emotional description of the shoes. I totally get it man. They look powerful. Perfect hem on the suit by the way, not too long or too short. Im a little OCD about my hem, and yours looks perfect for those shoes.

I know there is a lot of opinions about whether or not monk strap shoes are something that "Bond" would wear, but my opinion is that they are very Bond. They have a very Flemming Bond vibe in my opinion. Plus, if they were good enough for Brosnan, then they are good enough for me Love these shoes. Great pick man!

Thank you. I too am pretty OCD with how pants are. I have another suit that have cuffs and a little bit more "stylish" by today's standards of being a little short. I am having the leg opening of those matched to the ones in the video.

always shaken · June 2015

My wife bought these for me as a thank you ,they are a size 10 UK , ive had probably 15 pairs over the last 35 years of C@Js in various models/shades . C@Js shoes are so bang on size wise ,ive never had a problem . In relation to other brands,i have numerous pairs of Russell @Bromley boots ,again in a 10 UK, im normaly a E fitting .Come to think of it as I do for a comparison point of view,all my footwear are size 10 . Adidas ,Sebago, Nike,Timberland,Clarkes, im pretty well standard and easy to fit . I find C@Js easy to wear ,they don't give me blisters ect ,and are very comfortable.I know they are not cheap ,but if you use their repair service ,you can double the life of your shoes .So in the long run ,they do work out cheaper.As I said earlier ,ive always had C@Js,
long before I got interested in Bond and that only really started in the Craig era .So I was quite chuffed to learn from you guys ,that Bond and Craig favoured C@J.With regards to my Camberlys ,My wife dosent know that they are used in Spectre

"the film isn't out yet darling ,so no one knows what he is wearing"

My advice would be ,make the effort and get a pair of C@Js
you will never look back ,MY dad said to me years ago ,always buy the best bed /shoes you can afford

andermt · June 2015

Had my Camberley's a couple of weeks now.

Very happy with the fit and it has the typical C&J high quality.

As soon as C&J unveiled the Camberley I wanted a pair but when I tried them on they struck me as being a bit too like the Tetbury's so passed on them. Soon afterwards the 1st Spectre shot with DC wearing them appeared. So decided I did need them after all.

It took a while before the Factory Shop had a pair in again in my size.

Like always shaken I'm a big fan of C&J from before the bond connection and they are my goto brand, currently have 8 pairs, 3 of the bond ones. Living close enough to the factory to drop in to the shop on occasion helps prevent the obsession get too expensive.

)

always shaken · June 2015

You live near the C@J factory in Northants ,that would be like my mrs living near a Prada outlet ,dangerous

Matt S · June 2015

walther p99 wrote:

From the looks of it Bond wears them while undercover when hes wearing the peak lapel Tom Ford suit so it fits with his cover as a high roller or something opposed to something he wears normally. So it makes sense if some see it as not something Bond would wear because hes posing as someone else.

Do you know that Bond is undercover from reading the script?

I love Crockett & Jones. I got my first pair 10 years ago and they're still on the original soles! I've resoled most of the shoes I've gotten since then. My other Crockett & Jones shoes have held up well too. I was very happy to see that Bond switched to Crockett & Jones from Church's because they are much better shoes. I also like the Camberley much better with a suit than the more casual Tetbury. The Tetbury is great in brown suede as a casual chukka boot, but the chukka style just doesn't work in black or with a suit. These boots respect Fleming's Bond who "abhorred laces".

Asp9mm · June 2015

Matt S wrote:

These boots respect Fleming's Bond who "abhorred laces".

Fleming's Bond would have looked at these shoes as a tad feminine (to put it mildly, but 'gay' meant something else then). His Bond would never even have thought about wearing these or even Monk shoes. The script reflects that they aren't Bond's choice of footwear too. Not to say the shoes aren't nice, I actually like them, but they aren't Bond's choice, and Fleming may have looked at them with concern and a lashing of distaste before consigning them to a dandy villains foot. That's a good description of Fleming/Bond looking at these shoes. A dandy's footwear. Not Bond. No way.

Matt S · June 2015

Asp9mm wrote:

Matt S wrote:

These boots respect Fleming's Bond who "abhorred laces".

Fleming's Bond would have looked at these shoes as a tad feminine (to put it mildly, but 'gay' meant something else then). His Bond would never even have thought about wearing these or even Monk shoes. The script reflects that they aren't Bond's choice of footwear too. Not to say the shoes aren't nice, I actually like them, but they aren't Bond's choice, and Fleming may have looked at them with concern and a lashing of distaste before consigning them to a dandy villains foot. That's a good description of Fleming/Bond looking at these shoes. A dandy's footwear. Not Bond. No way.

Interesting to hear the script reflects these shoes. The film Bond hasn't worn shoes that properly reflect the novels since Licence to Kill. These boots are certainly too old-fashioned for Fleming's Bond, who certainly would have found them rather Victorian (though updated for today). But Fleming's Bond did not express a distaste for boots or monk shoes. He expressed a distaste for laces. In that sense, these boots are closer in that way, though they are still quite far from Fleming's casual moccasins.

James Brosnan · June 2015

I work on feelings when it comes to Bond clothing. I think these boots might have mistakenly given me a Flemming feel because of the old style mentioned by Matt. Objectively, that was probably not accurate, but I think Matt has a point with the fact that Flemming's Bond hated laces. Though, some good points were made about them being too flashy for Flemming's Bond too. Whether or not they would be something that Bond, as in Craig's Bond, would wear is another story. I mean, he has been in costume many times over his previous films, and all those clothing items are very sought after and could even be considered Bondonian from a movie perspective, e.g.,y3 jacket, CR dinner jacket, even the CR gray linen suit was a disguise of sorts. He is almost always pretending to be someone else, but I can't imagine that his own personal style wouldn't show up in his choice of those disguises. I agree that the movie Bond doesn't dress at all like Flemming's Bond. But, the movie Bond style is Bond style to me. It is more prominent in my mind. So, as far as the monk straps are concerned, as I said before, if they were good enough for Brosnan, then they are good enough for me because he is the Bond I grew up with. But, my viewpoint is rather subjective because I am less concerned about what Bond would or wouldn't ware, and I am more interested in what he did ware. I dress like Bond for the fantasy of it, the scene that the outfit was worn in and the attitude of the particular Bond wearing it seeps into the fiber of my day and makes life playful and child-like. Anyway, that's my perspective.

always shaken · June 2015

There are some good comparisons here ,and some excellent points as to wether Bond would own /chosen these boots ,
but we must remember the the black harrinton Y3 jacket in QOS ,that most of us would give our high teeth for ,well that was never Bonds jacket or his choice either ,it just happened to have been in the closet ,and if Bond hant of got his arm cut ,thus needing a ad hoc bandage ,he would have never put the jacket on, to hide his wound,

Matt S · June 2015

always shaken wrote:

There are some good comparisons here ,and some excellent points as to wether Bond would own /chosen these boots ,
but we must remember the the black harrinton Y3 jacket in QOS ,that most of us would give our high teeth for ,well that was never Bonds jacket or his choice either ,it just happened to have been in the closet ,and if Bond hant of got his arm cut ,thus needing a ad hoc bandage ,he would have never put the jacket on, to hide his wound,

The blue dinner suit in Quantum of Solace also wasn't his, but it copied all the fine details of the Dr. No dinner suit except for the trouser pleats. When Bond wears clothes that aren't his own they mostly reflect what he would choose to wear anyway. The Hilary Bray disguise is one of the few exceptions, though the suit jacket has the same cut as his other suit jackets. I'm not counting the clown costume from OP, though he has the same taste in clown-wear as 009. Even in the Live and Let Die novel when Bond has to disguise himself as an American, he still wears "single-breasted suits in dark blue light-weight worsted".

Crockett and Jones Camberley Review

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