Club Obi Wan

If you really want your Aldens to be screen-accurate, don't use the top two rows of speed-lacers.

In the scene where Belloq snatches the idol away from Indy, there's a quick pan which shows his boots. They're not laced up all the way. The top two rows are open.

That's how I'm wearing them now. They're actually more comfortable that way.

Rob, could we get any screen grabs from Raiders to validate this? Please? Thanks alot.

That's a great shot to also show the high pants hem to avoid snags on said speed lacers.

Mike

Nice job on the screen grab!

I'm shocked and pleased that I was able to come up with a detail that none of you eagle-eyes had mentioned before. (At least I THINK nobody mentioned it before.)

Now I REALLY feel like a "member of the club"!

I was hoping that screen grab would put Indy's sock issue to rest but it hasn't.

There's even a better photo buried somewhere in that infamous sock debate from last year that shows Ford and Spielberg sitting in folding chairs in Hawaii. Ford has his legs crossed, and there, for all the world to see, were white socks and his speed laced boots in the third from the top hooks. It was mentioned then, but no one picked up on it as they were embroiled in the sock color debate . I have found that lacing this way makes the shoe WAY to loose on my ankle, but it's different for each person. Glad you brought it up on it's own merit, Flash! High regards. Michaelson

Sorry to get the thread off topic, Michaelson. I lace my shoes up like the above photo when I am in a hurry in the morning. I will relace later in the day.

But if you're in a hurry, isn't that why they're 'Speed Laces'? As for the socks, isn't there a good shot when Indy is climbing into Jock's plane that shows black socks? I imagine this point was brought forth in prev. posts, but i thought I'd reinstate this argument.

I believe the final concensus was, yes, he was wearing socks. (grins) Regards. Michaelson

Yeah, but what brand underwear? I think Michaelson I heard a rumor you knew that. Or at least knew somebody that would. )

-S

Sergei wrote:Yeah, but what brand underwear? I think Michaelson I heard a rumor you knew that. Or at least knew somebody that would. )

-S

Oh no! Here we go again!

I do, but then there wouldn't be anything else to talk about. (grins) Regards. Michaelson

That's a cool pic. And about the socks thing . . . I don't know if this was talked about on that sock thread, but do you think maybe he wore different colored socks at different times? He does wear different pants in the different films, I don't see why socks would be any different.

Rob, great screen grab. Thanks a lot.

When I lace my Aldens like that, the shoe laces are too long. Should I cut a few inches off hte end, or get new laces? What kind of laces should I buy if I decided to get new ones? Thanks.

The Aldens I have use 54" laces...although they came with 45" ones. I suppose if you use the 45" laces, you could skip the top two rows without them being too long.

By the way, Michaelson brought up a point about the length of the laces, but I never heard anymore about it. He said that the OLD Aldens took 45" laces and the NEW Aldens take 54" laces.

How come?

Oh, and in the screen grab it looks like Indy wears dark socks...either black or dark brown.

At least they are NOW. Maybe they started out white. &

Flash Gordon wrote:The Aldens I have use 54" laces...although they came with 45" ones. I suppose if you use the 45" laces, you could skip the top two rows without them being too long.

By the way, Michaelson brought up a point about the length of the laces, but I never heard anymore about it. He said that the OLD Aldens took 45" laces and the NEW Aldens take 54" laces.

How come?

The same thing happened to me when I purchased my new Alden's. They came with the standard 45" lace. But they couldn't lace all the way to the top. Michaelson's theory is that the 2 sides of the leather, where they join at the tongue, are further apart now. So it takes more length of the lace to lace them all the way up.

I wear a 10D. But I have seen other people in their new Alden's and sometimes they do not run into this problem. So, I think it might be a combination of this theory and some people have wider ankles, hence the spread of the 2 peices of leather.

Regardless, when it happens to you, you can get quite mad, that Alden's gave you the wrong size laces. I complained to the factory and they sent me a pair of 54" laces. And, BTW, I can not find ANYWHWERE. brown flat laces longer than 45". I even complained to Allen White (the first pair I bought mine from) at the Alden Shoppe and he claims he never heard about this problem and I was the first one he heard about. I know, I was not the only one. This subject, I'd say comes up once every 6 months.

-S

Mine were too short at first as well but they stretched out fine now.

The reason? Aldens seems to be using less leather in the section that goes around the back of the foot, creating the need for longer laces to 'fill in' the area where the leather has been reduced. Regards. Michaelson

Flash Gordon wrote:In the scene where Belloq snatches the idol away from Indy, there's a quick pan which shows his boots. They're not laced up all the way. The top two rows are open.

Maybe Alden wants us to be screen accurate and therefore sends us the short laces. <grin> Hmmmm....maybe not.

Cheers,
Pyro.

Is it just my imagination, or are only the top 2 lace entry points speed lace hooks? From the image, it appears the rest are eyelets, compared to my Aldens which have the top 4 lacing points being speed lace hooks.

-- Obi-Wan and Only

Michaelson wrote

There's even a better photo buried somewhere in that infamous sock debate from last year that shows Ford and Spielberg sitting in folding chairs in Hawaii. Ford has his legs crossed, and there, for all the world to see, were white socks and his speed laced boots in the third from the top hooks. It was mentioned then, but no one picked up on it as they were embroiled in the sock color debate . I have found that lacing this way makes the shoe WAY to loose on my ankle, but it's different for each person. Glad you brought it up on it's own merit, Flash! High regards. Michaelson

I believe this must be the pic, though they are in Tunis and that's Lucas in the other chair.

Laces are another issue that I'm not sure any resolution has come to.

Looking at my pan and scan version in slow mo, especially at the truck scenes you can clearly see Indy's lace being round, looking more like brown hiking boot laces than the flat brown ones.

I'm wondering if the brown laces were a thing of TOD and LC.

Anybody?


Illinois

On the subject of socks, the following rhetorical question:

Does one wear the same colour of socks everyday?

I think not. I also think I am not that different than everyone else, excpet perhaps peole who wear a sort of uniform which requires a certain colour of sock.

That having been said, I think it is safe to assume: sometime Indy ears white socks (as seen in the Tunis set photo above), sometimes he wears brown or black socks (as seen in the Belloq scene above), and perhaps even fancy striped or argyle socks with the suit (since those were in fashion at the time period).

In short, unless you are mimicing a specific screen moment, any servicable, heavy duty, and basic heavy sock is likely character appropriate for adventuring, and any dress sock, especially argyle and/or striped, is appropriate for suited/dressy situations.

Now, on to the real question - briefs or boxers!

-- Obi-Wan and Only

I wear black socks (or very dark blue) everyday, unless I wear my sneakers, then I wear white. As for the undies, I like b . . . sorry that's just TMI.

Michaelson wrote:I believe the final concensus was, yes, he was wearing socks. (grins) Regards. Michaelson

Otherwise, we'd have to call him "Miami Jones"

Michaelson wrote:I do, but then there wouldn't be anything else to talk about. (grins) Regards. Michaelson

Perhaps there's a clue hidden in Michaelson's answer. After all it was ... brief.

Keep in mind as well that Ford was wearing a decidedly long costume in the Map Room scene and as such his feet might not have been showing at all in the day's work and as such were not of concern to the costumer. That sort of thing happens all the time depending on what's due to shoot.

The socks could have been a comfort issue and therefore Ford's preference (especially considering we know he favored Aldens even before Raiders) or just plain a non-issue.

A stretch, but definitely possible.

Best --

F&G

I just wanted to throw my 2 cents into this whole little sock thing. It appears Indy wore white socks in at least 2 different scenes. One is the one seen above in the pic which could have been from a number of scenes. Indy was also wearing white socks as he rode of with the stolen horse after the truck. Whether the others were blue, brown or black is up to your own imagination and the settings on your TV. I personally I think it's a little silly to debate what color they are since they're hardly seen at all. Just undergarments.

To get back to something that Sergei posted above, mine is a bit more than a theory. I have an old and new pair of Alden 405's. They are both the same size. The old pair has approximately an inch more leather around the back of the boot than the new pair, and take a 45 inch lace, where my new pair require a 54 inch pair to do the same job. Something changed between the making of the two pairs, and I witnessed several folks at the last summit with the same problem. Regards. Michaelson

To get back to something that Sergei posted above, mine is a bit more than a theory. I have an old and new pair of Alden 405's. They are both the same size. The old pair has approximately an inch more leather around the back of the boot than the new pair, and take a 45 inch lace, where my new pair require a 54 inch pair to do the same job. Something changed between the making of the two pairs, and I witnessed several folks at the last summit with the same problem. Regards. Michaelson

THIS is what everyone should be talking about! YES! I mentioned this in a recent thread (http://www.indygear.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3659) but nobody seemed to care. Everyone is all excited about the color but the cut of the boot itself has been altered! To me that's a problem and a half and it really bothers me. Is there anyone at Aldens we can talk to about this to see why this was done and if it can be corrected? Why are we now paying more for less?

The expression "paying more for less" may be a bit off considering Alden's probable goal -- to make the shoe better. Maybe not for gearheads such as ourselves, but in general. The 405 has a strong following among carpenters and those in need of its orthropedic qualities or just plain wanting a boot with a little class. Many of these changes were probably made with these communities in mind.

Just my opinion (though I would also love it if they offered the old model).

F&G

The expression "paying more for less" may be a bit off considering Alden's probable goal -- to make the shoe better. Maybe not for gearheads such as ourselves, but in general. The 405 has a strong following among carpenters and those in need of its orthropedic qualities or just plain wanting a boot with a little class. Many of these changes were probably made with these communities in mind.

I've taken this into consideration as well but I recall a post from a while back where someone mentioned this to the owner of Aldens and he said he wasn't aware of any changes made. If memory serves me right, he said he'd look into it and it was dropped from there.

Here's a thought. Just like the DM whip handles, I wonder if the Indy 4 boot will be the same color and style that is offered now.

Pyro.