Pointer AFD Shoes

Time for another review from our friends over a Stand-Out.net - this time a pair of casual canvas shoes from Pointer Footwear.

First impressions of the shoe are good - a clean and simple design, bright colours, a shape and style reminiscent of classic boat shoes; perfect for summer and for wearing with shorts. Pointer call this colour scheme ‘Peacoat’ which makes me think they are referencing boat shoes: a Pea Coat is a classic naval coat worn by sailors. Pointer refer to them as “Classic Pointer: lo-fi formal and plimsolls for playtime” and they’re part of the Tabernacle Spring/Summer 2012 mens collection.

As with most Good Clobber reviews, I specifically picked out these shoes from Stand-Out.net and they were sent to me gratis: It’s best to be clear on this so that you can make your own judgement of the item with this information. Almost every single post on this blog leans in a positive direction because I feel this is the best attitude to have. Also, I have genuinely worn these shoes to thoroughly test them out. Every effort has been made to give an honest view in this review.

But what about the brand? Pointer Footwear are small-scale compared to the footwear giants of Nike, Puma or Vans, but I think they’re worth paying attention to. Based in London and established eight years ago, “Pointer was created with the aim of making simple, well-designed casual shoes in response to a market then saturated with increasingly technical trainers and hyped-up limited edition sneakers”. I remember seeing a video online a while back from the people at Pointer explaining their reasons for moving their manufacturing operations from the UK to Portugal you can see it here. Nonetheless, Pointer originated in London and we applaud home-grown talent.

There are a lot of affordable plimsoll shoes available on the UK high street and a lot of these are flimsy and uncomfortable. This pair of Pointer shoes do not fall into this category; they are of sturdy construction, snug fitting and comfortable. Note the innersole here on the inside - extra padding has been added in key areas to cushion your foot. Little features like this can make a great deal of difference.

I wore these shoes on the Queen’s Jubilee weekend. Central London was closed down to traffic so pretty much everyone attending was on foot. After a good few hours of tramping around in the rain, the shoes didn’t rub and my feet were comfortable, they were also dry in the inclement weather that plagued London on this very wet Sunday. I think it unlikely that the shoes are totally waterproof - but they certainly didn’t leak in my experience.

I think I’m right in saying that one of Pointer’s key brand features is the broad white outsole that runs all the way round these shoes. Many of Pointer shoes have this style. As a matter of taste, I’m not mad keen on this feature: The outsole is very, very white and eye catching - there’s nothing to break it up. I felt like I needed to dirty it up a bit.

As you can see from these images, there are areas of the shoe that are suede. There is a tab on the tongue and stripe down the heel of the shoe. Suede really doesn’t fair well in wet conditions. It soon becomes dirty and hairy, so I generally try to avoid suede shoes. There is a version of the AFD shoes that are all black - the suede areas are replaced with black leather, which would be preferable.

All round, these are a good pair of shoes. They aren’t going to set the world alight with a new design direction and although there are plenty of similar styles available on the market, few will be as well crafted. At £44.00 they are reasonably priced. As so aptly pointed out by Stand-Out.net, this is no-messing, quality footwear.

You can find these shoes for sale right here.

Thanks to Stand-Out.net

The people over at StandOut.net are having a mid season sale. There’s an onus on their site to sell fashionable menswear at affordable prices; so this sale is making affordable fashion 20% more affordable! Well, at least the stuff in the sale is 20% more affordable. Here’s a few nice items I picked out. Head over to the site to see all these items.

There’s a good selection of Box Fresh shoes…

Smart V-neck from Voi (£31) and crew neck from Supreme Being (£43)

Farah Vintage Chamberlain Jacket (£75) and Lee Royal Rinse Jeans (£51)

And some nice Pointer shoes.

Thanks to the brands for the images and Stand-Out.net for the heads-up.

Here at Good Clobber we’re all about promoting affordable, good men’s clothing. As a menswear blog, it can be very frustrating; as so often the nicest clothes are the most expensive. The fashion industry is inherently ‘high-class’ and somewhat elitist so expensive costs are expected, but let’s be realistic – we’re not all on £50k salaries.

In our constant effort to bring you affordable, good menswear, we stumbled across Stand-Out.net where their remit is ‘selling men’s clothing and designer clothing at affordable prices’. We applaud this, so feel free to check out their site, here are a few nice items we picked out…

(Please note, some of these prices are sale prices, so you gotta be quick if you want a bargain!)

Fila Vintage Gardenia/Dark Peacoat/Chinese Red 82 Jumper - £34.50

Full Circle Grey Punition V Neck Knit - £22

Baracuta Orchid Purple Malham Check Shirt - £32.00

Gio Goi Black Swainer Shirt - £22.00

Pointer Navy/Cream Angus Leather Shoes - £51.80

Base London Black Zone Shoes - £32.00

Baracuta Brown G9 Original Harrington Jacket - £62.00

A Baracuta Harrington Jacket for LESS THAN £100! This is a very good deal - and they have a range of sizes. Damn!

Voi Jeans Black Gerrard Funnel Neck Cardigan - £22.00

Farah Vintage Navy Churchill Jacket - £49.50

Alpha Industries Washed Black Fishtail Parka Jacket - 64.50

Thanks to Stand-Out.net for the images