In his lifetime, Vincent van Gogh captured quite a few beaten down pairs of workers style shoes in his paintings. It has always been questioned why and several psychological reasons have been proposed. To Van Gogh they must have represented the harsh life and conditions of a simple workerman's life, a subject he preferred and thought of as picteresque. According to others these shoes represent the life of the artist himself. The worn leather, that has been all sorts of places and the tired soles that felt the struggle of the owner, resembles the rough lifestory of Van Gogh. 

At the time a fellow student of Vincent in Paris reported that he bought a pair of worn boots at a local flea market to use in one of his still-lifes.Yet, he believed the boots were still too decent and so he wore them himself on a long and rainy walk. Only then were they in the proper worn-out and lived condition to be a matter of subject for his paintings. 

Take a look at these marvelous paintings of worker's boots by Vincent van Gogh, all painted between 1886 and 1888. And don't forget to visit the newly re-opened Vincent van Gogh Museum when you're in Amsterdam, next to paying a visit to the Red Wing Shoes store of course. 

We have some good and bad news at the same time for you, depending on how you look at it. The Oro-Iginal leather as we're familiar with it right now, will be taken out of production on the 875 and 877 styles by Red Wing Shoes and be replaced with an updated type leather. The 'old' Oro-Iginal leather was introduced in 1996 as a counter to the former 'reddish' color of the Oro leather used in the early 1990s as you can read from the timeline of the Oro-Russet DNA as published in the Nouvelle de Nîmes issue Nº2. The new Oro-Iginal leather contains some stunning characteristics of which we will reveal more later on. 

This is your last chance to acquire a pair of the 'old' darker Oro-Iginal 875 or 877 Moc Toe's, since the stock we have right now is all that is left, and will not be re-stocked again. We'll keep you posted on the release of the 'new' updated Classic Moc styles!

With thanks to Fortalitia54 for the close-up photos of the old Oro-Iginal leather. 

The Distinguished Gentleman's Ride is a worldwide event that brings together all sorts of enthusiasts of cafe racers, flat trackers, vintage, classic and custom-build motorcycles. The Singapore edition was held last September and as the code prescribes most of them were dressed properly in a three-piece suit, brought their treasured custom-made bikes and of course a good pair of sturdy leather boots was part of the game. If you watch closely, you spot the 3141 Chukka Briar Oil Slick, the 8890 Moc Toe Charchoal and the "Japan Only" 8108 Moc Oxford Maize Mustang. Enjoy watching!
 

A while ago we got these marvelous oldies in from a customer, who asked us to bring them back to life again with some good conditioning. Original Irish Setter models are rare seen these days and always raise our attention. So we love to have them in our boutique for a while to take some good care of 'm. This particular pair is still made with the red tone Oro-Russet leather and a Vibram lug sole underneath. According to the owner it was bought somewhere in 1983 or 1984. After some proper cleaning and applying a fair amount of All Natural Boot Oil on them, the result was amazing. As you might notice, the time of day is different on the before and after pictures, with effect on the color hue. Still, the difference is significant and once again proof why you should take care of your beloved Red Wing boots!