Parkhurst The Elmwood

What a ride I had with these! In all honesty, I didn't think I'd finish the dome for a while. I had a few more boot purchases around the same time, including an MTO from Miles and Louie which really made me cheat on these more than I would've liked. The Elmwoods weren't the most comfortable for my feet out of the box. The 602M is roomier and 11.5D was perfect for me lengthwise, my right foot was spot on, but my left foot had the pinky and 4th toe rubbing more than I would've liked. I knew it wasn't too small since my big toe had some room ahead and overall comfort was ok, but that rubbing bothered me probably the most for the first few months of the dome. I could wear light-medium socks, but thicker socks for winter would have my swollen feet aching by the end of the day (12h+). I wondered if it was worth it. Let me tell you though, these looked so good and people complemented them or just looked at them so much, I said screw it let's go. The Mahogany full grain is to die for. Not quite red like #8 cxl, but more red than brown/crimson cxl. They have a similar hand feel to cxl, very different smell (I do like cxl's a bit more), more shine, and IMO a better grain break. Water wouldn't bead off as much as on cxl, but putting some Cobbler's Choice leather cream early improved the weatherproofing. I hoped a more aggro break in would improve the fit. I began taking these where chelseas normally dont go (meaning not just the office and brunch). La Jolla's tide pools and sea wall. Balboa Parks trail, Peñasquitos Canyon Trail. Dog parks. The commando sole took it all no sweat, the leather looked and felt great for it. Walking became very pleasant and eventually, just standing in these became comfortable in the last 2 months of the dome. They took me to beautiful places and looked better the more I followed. I'm glad I pulled through with these. I wore them to my nephew's baby shower and on the day I met him a few months later. I won't let this pair go after that.