The Fit Expert
Maddy from our Ottawa store says:
Fit true to size! The Nathan has a super comfy sole and soft leather.
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Description
John took a traditional Chelsea boot and made it his own, creating durability and natural Fluevogivity (yes, it's a word) in the Guardian Angel Nathan. The boots are made in a wonderful Vietnamese factory using soft, tonal Italian leather, subtle pinking details, and elastic that handsomely references tweed fabric; all combining to complete a sophisticated and durable Fluevog look. These angels are still singing the same, classic, signature tune, "Resists alkali, water, acid, fatigue, and Satan" (and will for years to come).
THE FIT EXPERT
Maddy from our Ottawa store says:
Fit true to size! The Nathan has a super comfy sole and soft leather.
Still Magical...
From disappointment to anger
A month ago, I took the shoes to the Fluevogs store in Georgetown to complain in person. The clerk seemed to listen, and offered to send the shoes for repair. I was very clear about the materials of the soles being the problem, and specifically stated in words that we wanted the soles replaced with the new, hopefully durable material.
Today we got a call and went to pick up the boots. They look great, but the soles are just new latex soles, which will probably start falling off again before snow falls. Seems the first clerk simply wrote “replace soles” without making our issues with materials part of the equation. The clerk who we met today agreed to absorb the cost of the soles, but we still had to shell out $65. For the cobbler’s time.
The galling, really f*#ed up part is that she looked at me and said “when you bring them back next time, be sure to say you want the new sole material.” Well guess what, I did that once. And it did no good. Double boo on you, John Fluevog.
I really hope to hear back from you guys. We’re repeat customers and would like to remain such. But this is an expensive and frustrating pair of boots. You owe us a trade to a new pair with the durable soles. And an apology for crappy service wouldn’t hurt.
John was right
Much to my surprise, John Fluevog commented on that review that I would't be disappointed in the Nathan. And, oh my god was he right.
The Nathans are virtually identical to the Rolands in comfort. I've walked miles in both and never regretted it. The avocado green is a gorgeous color, and mint green soles are the prefect complement. Which brings me to the only problem I've had: the first complements I received on these boots happened when I made the mistake of wearing them on St Patricks day and everyone thought I was being thematically correct instead of just stylishly comfortable.
Although, they did notice my boots, which has never happened to me before.
Ever. Not even with my Rolands.
Buy these boots. You'll only be disappointed with them if you want to walk barefoot on a beach and can't find a safe place to stash them.
the very best "Chelsea boot" available
when the style became a bit trendy, i naver saw a pair more perfect in style, quality, proportion. The Nathan is vintage looking but has a modern fluevog sole that does really well as a city or country boot. Amazingly waterproof i have worn them through nasty puddles in the street, snow, and muddy parks.
you may want an insole if you are a woman with unusually narrow feet.
Beautiful shoe, pity the sole falls off
Pity though. The build, leather and stitch are all good.
So far, so good
Great looking boots but poor build quality
Beautiful poorly built boot
The quality control is clearly lacking.
All in all, disappointing.
Within a month and a half, the soles were peeling. He wore them for another couple months until the rainy season arrived and he subsequently was getting sopping wet feet, so they got shelved for a month or two. We took them back into the store and spoke with a sales associate who said they needed to be resoled and offered two options: a) resole with the Guardian Angel sole for around $70-80 or b) resole with the standard thicker rubble Angel sole for around $130. We went with the latter and were told 2 weeks. He called and they weren't ready; I believe all in all it took around 5 weeks. He hasn't gotten around to wearing them much since their return so time will tell if the Angel soles last better.
I apparently didn't learn any lesson at all from this as I recently purchased him the Guardian Angel Ronalds as a gift. At least if the soles on those die, they were on sale.. And I'll be taking them to a local cobbler instead.
Things of note:
-His regular true size is 9, he went with a 9 but should've gone with a 9.5 (As is, snug but manageable. Extra room would be nice for an insert)
-He'd had the boots around 6 months when bringing them in for repairs so it should've been covered by warranty. We didn't know about the warranty at the time and the sales associate didn't mention it. Remember the 8 month warranty and bring it up to your sales associate.
-You may be better off bringing them into a local reliable cobbler instead if past warranty.
-He hasn't had any issues with the pull tabs so could be some are worse than others.
-Nice looking Chelsea boots that ride that awesome, flexible line between dressy and casual.
Nathan Nathan Bo Bathan
Those folks tried to be green and Earth friendly and disappointed some of it's inhabitants in doing so.
Sole Crushing Return
Great shoe, bad sole
I love the feel--sooooo comfortable and no break-in required.
But the sole...oh, the terrible, weak sole! The sole began peeling off within a week of wearing them.
I took them back to the Fluevog store. They were very apologetic and had a cobbler re-glue the existing soles, all under warranty (as it should be). All seemed good.
Then within a week of getting my shoes back, the soles started peeling off again!
It seems no amount of glue can hold the Nathan soles onto the shoe, so I took them back to the Fluevog store and they are going to have the cobbler re-sole them, this time replacing the rubber sole with a different one. All under warranty, thankfully.
But still, that's 4 extra trips to the Fluevog store, and close to two weeks where I couldn't wear my Nathans (during the rainy season, at that). I'm lucky I live in a town that has a Fluevog store or else this would have taken even longer, with shipping and all.
Word is that they'll be changing to another type of sole come 2015 so maybe this will be fixed. But in the meantime, this otherwise lovely boot is marred by a major design/quality flaw.
If you buy them (they really are great boots otherwise!) watch for the peeling off sole, and request that Fluevog replace the soles at their cost if that happens. Let's hope they get their quality back on track.
(btw, I haven't experienced the problems others have mentioned of the pull tab coming loose but maybe it's a matter of time...or maybe they fixed that, too?)
Poor quality- a sad trend with Fluevog
The most divine!
Beautiful boots, with a design flaw
Simple, cool
Great looking shoe, the worst sole ever
Floating on Nathan