Shoe Cobblers Review Meermin Loafers | Are They Worth the Hype?
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- Are Meermin shoes worth it? In this video, Heath and I give our initial opinions on what we think of the shoe brand Meermin.
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Video edited by: Ashley Saldanha
This is exactly what the shoe community needs. I see a lot of UA-cam videos of shoe repairs on shoes that are no longer available for purchase. I would like to see a deconstruction analysis of shoes currently available to purchase.
I have two pairs of Meermin double-monks. I showed them to my local cobbler, and he said, "Only $200! Buy as many as you can afford!"
Good review video. I like the honest opinions and consideration of price point. Too many videos are either extremely critical or extremely complimentary however that isn't fair to the product. Thank you for the detailed "initial" review and observations.
Good content, guys.
Bryan Harris Thank you! Glad you enjoyed.
Loved how in depth this video was ! Great job guys . More videos like this please
Thanks, Ashley!
Great review, you helped me pull the trigger on a couple of Meermin. Keep up the good work guys.
Excellent super professional review. Thank you very much. I own a couple of Meermin pairs and I would never be able to tell half of what you explain, but I'm really happy with them. Anyway congratulations for your video.
I am impressed they make a few EEE sizes which are very hard to find. When the virus scare lessons I will celebrate by buying my first pair of Meermin shoes. Thanks for the videos I am learning more and more about fine shoes.
I have 4 pairs and they’re great shoes, 2 are from the Linea Meastro collection which have hand welted JR soles. The value and quality at these prices are unbeatable.
I'm interested in a pair of oxfords from the linea maestro range myself. My hope is that I can take advantage of the many qualities listed in this video and that you mention (value / quality for that price) minus some of the drawbacks as the finishing seems quite a lot better on their top range. How did you find the linea maestros and was the break in period okay for you? I'm still expecting some breaking in period but hopefully not as tough as the mainline as I see that seems to be the main drawback with Meermin. Any feedback appreciated man!
Many years later this is still a very under the radar brand. People still looking at newer junk like Taft and Beckett Simonon. Undisputed champ for the price
@@Phal26 the break in period wasn’t bad. The trick is to find a last that fits your foot.
If you’re in the NYC area, I would definitely visit their SOHO location and try on a few pairs. Once you find a last that fits then ordering online will be convenient when they drop a sale.
Most shoes are true to your brannock size. Boots can be sized down a half in the HOK last.
The DANI last which was the Línea Maestro was a bit narrow around the waist and took some time to break in. Keep in mind every person is different and your experience may differ from mine.
With that said if you can find a shoe that fits in your style then this is definitely the brand that offers the best value in my opinion.
Thanks for the professional cobbler's opinion. Meermin is selling Shell Cordovan dress boots for $350 !
Just a thought because I do like Meermin (especially for the price point), if you get these shoes, wear em till the soles are too gross for you, as long as you take care of the uppers when you get them resoled you can spend like $250 to get a really nice job done and you’re still coming in under Carmina price point
Greetings from Japan. I'm a DoD employee working in Okinawa, Japan, and had ordered a pair of Meermin shoes. Unfortunately, a confluence of events has delayed the shoe's arrival. I will caution your viewers living in Japan NOT TO ORDER from Meermin's International website, which had advised me to ship to my local Japanese address instead of the DoD-provided address, purportedly, to "avoid high taxes." Long story short, they shipped the shoes to my Japanese address. Over 4-weeks ago, Japanese customs informed me that the shoes had arrived from "Shanghai" and will cost an additional $96.00 in taxes. I paid $215 for the shoes. Dealing with a language problem (no, not from the Japanese side) was also a problem. Apparently, there are few English speakers on the International Customer Service page because the slew of emails I received when I registered my complaint was that "we're sorry for the inconvenience." Oh, they did as how much the taxes were but did not have any response other than...you guessed it, "we sorry for ..." Truly amazing lack of customer service! P.S. as of 26 September, the pair has still not arrived.
Same issue for me for the cash. Don’t know about the shoes not arriving, I definitely haven’t heard good things about meermins customer service 🤷♂️
@@ouroboros2285 I sent my Meermin loafers to Potter&Sons. The shoes just started falling apart despite being only 3 months old and worn irregularly. Anyway, they found both soles and heels "misaligned." The total cost of the repair was $180 + $15 for shipping. I paid $195 for them originally.
Review a pair of Crockett & Jones or Edward Green?
i hope you can review Sapatero
We need to see what the cobblers themselves are wearing.
Haha...we may just have to do that!
If you ever happen ti have one pair in your hands, review their maestro line, much better quality but much higher price too
What about paul green shoes and bally
Meerman, could do better QC but, can't hate for the money, I'd like to see a review of Yanko shoes.
Shanghai is a very sophisticated city. Hope some more good products keep coming from there.
Have you guys heard of Eremia Shoes? I bought some online and can’t tell how good they are.
I own three pairs of Meermin, not satisfied. After half year of wearing, the heel stack on one pair started to get “grinded” along the contact line with the outsole. One shoe of the second pair’s brogue is off center. On the other shoe of the same pair, the stitching on the upper busted after one year’s wear. The third pair seemed fine so far. The leather they use is so tough that it takes forever to break them in, whenever I wear them they are just not as comfortable as my other shoes (some of which are cheaper than Meermin). I’d rather pay the premium and get AEs.
张朔 Thank you for your feedback!
Great review guys! I have just unboxed my first pair of Meermin shoes!
Hi, what do you think about Antonio Maurizi loafers
What about meermin balmoral boots?
jeremy emilio Unfortunately, we haven’t had a chance to work on any of those yet. We have a few more Meermin reviews coming up though.
Some of those “rough” details might be desirable in a more rugged design. Bit of a shame on such otherwise-elegant shoes, but more than tolerable for the price, and might suit a more casual penny loafer.
1:37 🤣🤣🤣
My experience with Meermin was that their shoes were low quality, poorly finished. Will never buy them again. They really offer bare minimum quality, if that, with a goodyear welt. The welt and quality of workmanship on Allen Edmonds is much, much better. Get a sale price on Allen Edmonds and pass on these.
Are they brothers?
$600? You can get closed channel from carmina, j. fitzpatrick... hell, my Paul Evanses, and they're not that great. It's not that hard to get 'em.
I think Meermin is a giant killer. I currently own three pairs (Cap toe, Derby boot and Wingtip boot).. However, the break in on these shoes is painful!!!
pedrocols I agree. I own a pair of penny loafer, double monk, and Oxford but the loafer seems to be very difficult to break in.
Damn straight they are painful to break in. I have a pair of double monk straps that are a bitch to wear
Andy Lyons But is that a small set back given they tick every other box? Or would you say it’s worth paying and extra £50 for softer leather?
For the life of me, blind stitching? Why, who will ever know, its just some extra crap. Maybe I just am not getting it, I could care less if the stitch is visible or not.
Made in China... Thats when you lost me. It is just lika a Gibson guitar, If made in the U.S. the price will be high because of the quality controls. In China the quality control is wack. After all these years they still haven’t learned from their neighbors Japan and Korea.
These are the worst shoes I have purchased- I tried to give them chance after chance 5x that is and to no avail every pair of boots shoes where horrible quality. As God is my witness no one should ever buy from this lousy brand
Hey guys, what are you're reviews about Berwick?
I have 6 pairs of Meermins and my only real complaint is that they take forever to break in and tear your feet up in the process. But they’re built like tanks and the leather is very sturdy.
Also, they seem to have one width, how did you find that?
100% Agree, if I can share a break-in hack: Heat up the leather with a blow dryer then sit in them and let them cool back down around your foot.
In a sense heat moulding them to your footshape.
@@NoobySammy I must say, I already had 2 pairs of Meermin and about half a year ago I bought my first pair of Thursday boot captains. Yes the Meermins were and still are a bit stiff, but I prefer that to the floppy, soft thing I got when receiving my Thursday boot captains (I have the rugged&resilient version with commando sole so that might have something to do with it).
They provide soft leather if you want something easy to break into
Thanks fellas. I bought a pair last October and they take a while to break in.
I love, love, LOVE your channel. Perhaps you could do a "best made" for womens brands...i feel like so many womens casual shoes are garbage...
Suburbia Prepper so true! I would love to watch that video n
Can women's heels be resoled? Is that a thing? I'm curious now lol
I just bought a pair of Thursday's boots for my wife. A few other quality men's shoe makers make womens shoes. Carmina in Spain does.
I would also like to see this video and share with the wife.
@@Sarahhannahtx Carmina makes an Oxford for women that is absolutely stunning. I am a man, and no I am not a crossdresser, but I have thought about buying them because they are just so beautiful. Problem is I would have to learn to walk in heels. Seriously, beautiful shoe.
Review a wolf and Shepard shoe next. Really curious what you guys think of this brand.
Y’all have quickly become one of my favorite UA-cam channels. Keep up the good work! I can’t wait to see what else y’all come out with!
LHagen9 Thank you very much!
It's always nice to see and hear people who know what they're talking about review a product. Based on this, I'll definitely keep Meermin in mind if I ever break my Allen Edmonds addiction.
Don't have any Meermin shoes but good to know their a good bang for the buck. Looking forward to more of these review videos.
Great stuff! Next time compare to Heath’s handmade loafers 😜
Haha...not even in the same league. 😁
Told you Meermin was great Kavalier. Hahahhahahaha
I love my pair of unlined meermin loafers but the edge work on the soles is definitely shoddy 😂
Translation: this is just us knit picking 😆, and it’s a nice shoe.
Easily the most balanced and honest review I’ve seen in a while. This is great work. Looking forward to more brands (AE, Carlos Santos, Alden, cobbler union, lof and tung, Carmina, tlb Mallorca, Crockett and Jones, g&g, Edward green, Enzo bonafe, vass, st crispins)
Benjamin Weiss Thank you!
Meermin is owned by family members of the Carmina shoemaking family but are separate companies.
davidoletep 👍🏻
davidoletep
They are almost enterely made in China and terminated on Mallorca. That’s why they are so cheap.
I like to see a review on becket Simonon if that is possible great review keep up the work
abrahan sosa chavez Thanks! We’ll be doing this brand very soon.
Yes I would like to see that brand reviewed as well
Don't make a review on Beckett simonon because you and I will know it will break the Kavaliers heart. Hahahhaha. Meermin >Beckett Simonon
I have two pairs of the "softcalf" leather loafers...they are unlined..they are softer than most of my sneakers. The insole is only built for the hell for some reason...thats probably the only thing I would change...i will end up with 6 pairs most likely. I can only speak for the soft calf version so far
My shoes finally arrived (with a 40 percent markup for taxes). These are the most uncomfortable shoes I have ever worn. I know it needs a break-in period, but this pair is a real pain, literally. Trenton & Heath, would you like a pair to dissect? I hate these shoes so much it would give me extreme joy for you both to tear them apart, in the service of the shoe-wearing world. Let me know and I'll send them to you.
I have a couple pairs of Meermin and plan to get more...so far I havent found anything better at this price point.
Check out Yanko, slightly better quality and reasonably priced.
Excellent review, guys! I have a pair of Meermin Chelsea boots. They're the most comfortable shoes I've ever had, even more comfortable than my Carmina loafers.
Thank you! We appreciate you sharing.
You are lucky. I bought the country brogues and they are unbearably stiff and heavy. No more Chinese shoes for me.
@@GordonLF I'm with you, I had a pair of suede oxfords which I sold after just a few days of wear. Incredibly stiff all round, especially the heel, reinforced with super hard plastic that refused to form to my heels. I've owned dozens of "high quality" (traditionally constructed) shoes and they were by far the worst.
If you want a perfect shoe, you have to be willing to pay for it. It’s not gonna be cheap.
$550 for starters, anything above that you're a mark
600 dollar shoes for 200 dollars......had to be made in china!!
I bought 3 pair of Meermin shoe. Honestly after 6 months, I wish i only had bought 1 pair. The build quality is so bad. One pair had the shoe lace broken on the same sport 3 times. The shoe squeak by just moving your toes. Don't even have to walk in it. There are strings left on the weld. And the sole is not even smooth out. I mean the build quality is so bad. For the same price point, go for Thursday Boots shoe. They are much better build. In fact 300% better.
Do Cobbler's Union next please!!
I bought the Cobbler Union John II. Its a great boot, but for $475 I paid I would get the Allen Edmonds Dalton AND Long Branch instead for about the same amount.
Agreed!!! I love cu and would love to see a review!!!
Great review, Gents. Meermin is fantastic to deal with. Just received a shoe from their “made to order” line, a lined penny loafer in shell cordovan with JR soles. The shoe is no longer offered; I missed it when it was in production. Nonetheless, I asked if they would make me a pair, which they did, and only charged me the original offer price. These came marked as “Linea Maestro”, which is their best line. Exactly as noted here, very best materials throughout, detail craftsmanship is a little rough. But overall, stunning shoes for half the price of competitors. Was thinking of having a master cobbler detail out the soles (radius edges, etc). Oh, and as they are MTO, there are no returns, but in emails back and forth, they said if I wasn’t happy, I could return them. Treated me like I was their most important customer. Fantastic people to do business with, and one heckuva deal.
The stuff that does no matter after 1 week is not worth to pay for.
Could yall please do a breakdown of Magnanni next? They seem to be overpriced, overly stylized shoes that use excessive burnishing to mask cheap corrected grain leather and bologna welts.
silent sir We will definitely be reviewing Magnanni’s.
There are many reviews that meermin leather is very hard and hard to break-on.
I think the problem is sizing.
I would say that most of meermin lasts runs small at 0.5-1 of the usual English shoemaker size.
As an example - hiro in 9UK is absolutely equivalent to C&J 341 last in 8UK(!!!!) in lengh, girth and appearance.
The difference is one damn size!
I have several pairs and had no problems with break-on. The leather is good quality and is well preserved over time, I would say that it is much better than loake 1880 and similar to trickers calf.
These are good shoes even at a regular price, honest construction+materials + smooth appearance.
I noticed this as well. I'm usually 41.5 to 42. With the Meermin Hiro last, I'm a 8.5UK or 42.5EU. So yeah. They are smaller then others but the quality is completely ok for the price.
Meermin leather on lace-up shoes is hard to break-in(minus their pebbled leather lace-ups). I fully bought the UK sizing 1 size down from the US sizing and they fit great, just took a while to break in.
Wow, maybe I should cancel my order for Beckett Simonon?
I live in Madrid and bought a pair of full brogue wingtip oxfords at their store here: they're fantastic. Cost €170 (about $192). Well made, look good, comfortable, shine up nicely. Getting a pair of loafers soon for summer. Oddly, they have more styles & colors available on their website than in the actual store.
So it was true. Meermin its really a perfect deal. I would like to see a shell cordovan meermin boot in your hands. They have the "cheapest" ( 680$) cordovan boots.
👞I've been wearing meermin shell cord on a Rod last for 1 year. Very comfortable and look great as long as I stay on top of the brushing & conditioning. Worth the $350 I paid.👞
Joy is found in the finer details! Thank you for this excellent and well-balanced review!
Have they reviewed Meermin Chelsea boots at all?
Great video!! Can you please review some British brands such as Cheaney, Trickers or C&J?
Love your channel. One of the best on UA-cam. My favorite hobby is polishing my shoes. You guys are very handsome. Thanks a lot.
please crack that open
I owned two pairs of Meermin. You get what you pay for.
Review Cobbler Union Shoes!
Nando Shines Cobbler Union is definitely on the list.
Love that so many are asking for CU. My favorite reasonably priced shoe by far!
I would agree.. my impression is that meermin leather is often painfully stiff. I've had two pairs and I gave up hoping they'd ever become comfortable. But they are what they are. That said, Carlos santos (and even Berwick) use much softer leather for not much more money.
“You get what you pay for”; is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Would love to see you review Scarosso :DD
Could you also do Undandy? Great content
Aray Thanks! We’ll put these on our list.
I love how in depth you went with the review. Describing the build quality gives me a lot of confidence to purchase a pair of Meermins. Keep up the great work!
Thanks, Caleb!
Caleb Bellamy
You can buy them with confidence. I bought a pair of boots six year ago, used them a lot in bad condition and they still look very good.
Hey! Would love a review of a Maestro line from them. Which are hand-welted! And the price point jumps to the lower to mid 300+.
Hubby has three pair of Meermins, one of then from their Maestro line. It took him months to break in these shoes.
Very informative and thorough review. I have a pair of oxblood Meermin double monks in my rotation. Thanks guys!
Manuel Galang Thank you!
Went to the NYC store an hour ago. The sole was impressive, the uppers......meh.
I'm liking your reviews! You obviously know your stuff: the detail with which you look at this shoes is admirable. I'm saying yes to subscription. Nice.
Thank you. More to come.
I know this is an older video but would love to hear the comparison of Meermin and Carmina in shoe construction and quality.
i think ripping them open and checking out how they're made would bring a lot of interest but you guys know you're stuff enough to analyse a shoe from the outside. So I took your advice and skipped this one.
Great video! Please do magnanni
Could you review Velasca?
Great video. As you mentioned, Meermin are a notch below Carmina, but how they compare to a Magnanni or Allen Edmonds? Thinking more that $350-$400 range as a comparison.
Meermin is probably better than Magnani and AE
I recommend TLB Mallorca for that price range.
Size 5 n 1/2 ? My man got some small feet
Any more recent gideos??
How about a Trickers review from my understanding they are the oldest shoemaker in the world
Mine squeaked, at least the right shoe did. I contacted the factory and they told me it was just moisture and would disappear as I broke them in. Well it didn’t, it continued to squeak and the factory response was “ well you have worn them so we can’t do anything “. How about we will send you a new pair and send us back the old so we can find the issue?
Normal-speak: "for around $200"
Sales-speak: "for around the $200 price point"
and don't forget the realtors.... I think you will like this "space".
You should check out the brands Satorial Talks mentions in his best shoes list. This list is legit and Meermin is the first on the list. I would like to hear what you think about Idrese. They claim to be better than Meermin
Alex Chu We’re big fans of Hugo from Sartorial Talks and have seen all of his videos. 👍🏻 We’re not very familiar with Idrese, but we’ll try to get our hands on some to review.
Like Carmina? I own both brands and C&J. Carmina plays in the league of Northampton shoemaking, not in Meermin's Designed-in-Spain-Made-in-China one. Also breaking into a Meermin is one of the most painful experiences you'll get (shoewise). They look fantastic to the naked eye.
Mr. Unknown that is amazing. I don’t think I have heard any review of these shows not mention how insanely painful the break-in process is.
@@ericleszkowicz898 You will find it in some forums, Meermi's are well known for three things: Looking expensive, being moderately cheap and working with tough leather.
I do have 3 pairs of Meermin. Price/quality ratio is very good. They are a bit hard to break in :) and for me they are bit hard to wear (oxford and monks) but their boots are very comfortable for me.
Appreciate the insight! From what I’ve seen in other videos you guys are spot on. Fit and finish isn’t perfect.
Guys, great video as always. I have three pairs of Meermins, two of them are from their regular collection and are of average quality, as you say, fair value for what you're paying. The third pair is from their Line Maestro collection, is hand lasted and the quality is definitely a few steps up, worth more than the €260 I paid a few years ago. Once you discover shoes of higher quality, like Carmina, Cobbler Union, Carlos Santos, TLB Mallorca or Justin Fiztpatrick you tend to leave Meermin behind.
Mark Mahan How would you compare Meermin maestro line to the brands you mentioned that are considered higher quality? I heard the maestro line is a bargain since it’s handwelted and has significantly higher quality than its regular lines.
@@tianningli747 I would say that Meermin's Linea Maestro is top notch, truly well beyond their stock collection quality. The leather uppers are superb, the workmanship is well above average and the soles are JR and seem not to wear out. To say nothing of the excellent fit with a tight waist and really well balanced. Meermin advises to size up half a size as the New Rey last is narrow but I'm not entirely sure that's necessary, depending on the shape of your foot. I have a narrow foot and think that I could have stayed with my normal size. They fit quite well but there's a good size gap between where my big toe ends and the tip of the shoe. None the less they are supremely comfortable.
It would have been nice to see what you did with these shoes too. Your audience has a greater attention span than you think.
It doesn't matter that they are inexpensive. Wearing Meermin shoes (model 101371) is like wearing cement blocks on your feet. Hard, heavy, coarse, stiff. And that's not the worst. The worst is that they last forever. It´s like a huge portion of mediocre Chinese food.
Gentleman, I have a couple pairs of Meermin shoes (one unworn the other slightly worn). Both are a half size too small for me which is why I don’t wear them. I’m willing to trade for a couple of recrafts (maybe a pair of my To Boot New York monkstraps and Wolverine 1000 mile boots) that could use some love. Let me know and it would be great to see you crack open some Meermins and To Boot New York’s on your videos!
It just don't have attention to details but quality is top notch ...And after paying 200 bucks who's complaining ?
Curious if you guys would do value for money videos, like it might not be the cheapest but worth the investment, mid range wise.
Dude Meermin are a value brand. It's not like bespoke. They have the goods, and great leathers and at a great price point.
Meermin or Beckett Simonon? I’ve watched your videos on both and trying to make a call. Granted time for the later isn’t a concern. Just going for comfort, longevity and quality. Thanks for the help!!!
Speaking of hype, what are your thoughts on Bruno Magli shoes? I picked up a nearly new pair of cap toes the other day at a thrift store. I'd never seen a pair before. They look nice but I don't see real evidence of a Goodyear welt or a Blake stitch (there is no mention of either form of shoe construction on the website, either). Are they the real deal as far as dress shoes go or have they simply created a quality brand without the actual quality? The company seems very celebrity focused.
Their shoe are nice and well made, but from my experience, they dont take care of their shoes after they are made. i but a pair during their sale and the obviously returns, but they nearly fit the "used" catagory. i paid $300 Cad after shipping and i have stain oil stains on the leather streight out of the box. *Caveat emptor*
Own leather double monk-strap 101341 (HIRO last, as it fit me best) . Looks great BUT, still hurts my big toe like crazy (Even after wearing it regularly for 3 months! Need to add slight padding by big toe. Otherwise love it cause it looks so good and shines really well.
I enjoy all your videos, you make me deciding to buy a nice leather shoe or boot on line but I need your help because I live in Canada . After contacting Allen Edmonds and others , I knew that they stop shipping to Canada. Have you any idea to get lovely leather shoe ( I have to attend a wedding in September) thank you so much guys
The shoe quality is good but I don’t like their sole. It’s the most uncomfortable dress shoes, even after 3 months.