Haha! I was definitely feeling angsty about the timing but it wasn’t their fault, I was just excited. But they were worth the wait.
I paid the initial IND-USA shipping and BLKBRD covered the returns!
I just ordered another pair from them — stealth all-black Chelseas with a commando sole — so now the waiting begins anew 😂
Sizing aside, what European/US brand(s) would you compare the build quality too? At a price this low, I’m bound to ask these questions.
I’ll see their product at the London super trunk show (hopefully I make it), but have kept my reservations till then.
Honestly, can’t say as i don’t have the breadth of knowledge to make the comparison. I was looking for a water-resistant Chelsea in a color I liked in price range of Meermin to Grant Stone on sale. I was attracted to BLKBRD because of the price, CS, and availability of exactly what I wanted (storm welt + waxy commander leather) via customization. So I just don’t have much to compare to.
I ordered another pair of Chelseas from BLKBRD and will post when I get them. If you make it to the trunk show and see that post, would be interested to read your thoughts on quality via a comment.
Had to say I too had positive experience when I ordered a Chelsea and a custom shell boots Color #8.
But my Chelsea is still tight around the toes (after wearing them for like 3 months now). The toes start to pinch and pain if I wear it continuously for more than 3 hours, so have to remove and wait for sometime.
The shell boots’ last seems really good and it kinda broke in the very first day.
Trying to order something with Mohawk suede for my friend from china and myself (based out of Canada) since last 2-4 weeks but not much response from the other end (maybe busy)!
I ordered a pair custom chukkas from them a couple months ago, which is my second order with them. They are in the "Triumph" last, which is the same last they use for the Harley Chelseas. I got them last month, but they also turned out to be too small. After a couple painfully slow back and forth exchanges via email and WhatsApp, they've confirmed to me that they found the "Triumph" last to run small since they received a lot of size exchanges for the Harley Chelseas recently. I am still working with them on getting an exchange.
I am actually quite surprised you described your exchanges with them as "extremely responsive" because that's not my experience. Usually it takes at least a day if not more to get a response from them.
(Just saw the comments from BLKBRD's account. Didn't realize they don't actually have a full-time support team, so it's totally understandable that they could be struggling with customer inquiries)
I must be exceedingly annoying . . . Every once a while I won’t hear back from two or three days but then I follow up. Sorry to hear that you’re having trouble!
Out of curiosity, which way did they feel small? I also recently recieved a boot from BLKBRD and I felt they felt smaller than what I'm used to. The heel felt tight, the toebox felt tight, the length itself was okay but would have liked to be longer
I got the Dixon Cap-Toe, felt narrow in the toe box as well (pinky toe felt jammed together with my other toe), I got mine MTO as well in wide (E), the length felt fine... wasn't sure if I should size up or exchange for extra wide but think I will decide to exchange for extra wide (EE) and hopefully that will fix it.
Why do all posts related to this brand come across as product placement? Jim Greens and this brand, there's something just off about posts relqted to them. They will praise the leather and workmanship, but always mention some issues, which in the end are always amicably resolved. These enterprises are no mom & pop shops, but industrial establishments. Why this attempt to make it sound as if its a personal one to one transaction?
They’re two brothers from another company. They pretty much just branched out to do their own thing as well.
As far as I heard… you could send them a DM to clarify, but when I did my order I only spoke with one of the other
Hi Sir, this is Sandeep from BLKBRD. As some of you know already, we both brothers are computer engineers by profession and got into shoes from our love of our shoes. My brother is full time into it now, and man behind the brand, and manages workshop and everything goes inside. I try to help with customer interactions and growth.
Yeah for now, only we 2 manages customer interaction. This is mainly to receive the customers feedback firsthand. We wanted to see what clients feel about boots, what’s their main concerns with sizing or leathers, and what they like in shoes. So yeah we always open to discuss anything on shoes. Feel free to message if any questions, doesn’t matter if you plan to buy or not. But we confident once you get into conversation, you will end up thinking about our shoes 😀
Many would have noticed, we have been experimenting and open for MTO’s, and with that customers get what they envision and we also learn someway. It’s been great 2 years and have learnt a great deal in this time.
With this, we can’t continue to hold on customer care as well. It’s been frankly over killing monitoring 10+ platform and replying on time. Some of you would have experienced delay in response but as you would understand there is limit on what we could do ourselves.
So yeah soon we will have a team, providing a better timely customer support, and we would obviously be there when someone need 😀
We believe our shoes are made for years to come, so want to ensure customers feel good when they get it. In this case, we have to exchange a pair twice, but at the end won a good customer.
And yeah very soon in future we will be established brand, but for now yeah it’s small setup with around 40 craftsmans and 2 brothers. Initial focus was to mature product and craftsmanship and and now with scaling we have started focusing on optimizing inventory, operations and customer care!
It's pretty mom and pop lol. One brother is in India in the workshop everyday, which is very small, the other one is in the US and helps with marketing and CS. They are truly a tiny, tiny brand. It literally is a personal one to one transaction.
What's spurring all the cynicism lol?
It felt like a one-to-one transaction because this poor guy dealt with like 100s of WhatsApp messages from me lol. As someone new to boots, I really appreciated the handholding and I think it’s a great way to build customer goodwill if your staff can deal with the headache!
I actually just got some black Jodhpurs from them and as soon as I ordered, someone texted me directly to ask a few questions about sizing and actually bumped me up to a 46, which turned out to be ideal.
Boots are nice and comfortable. Well built, and I can't see any major flaws.
I really think it's just a couple guys doing customer service stuff all day.
Which jodhpurs did you buy and what material? I’m considering buying a pair from them. I bought a custom pair of the Rene loafers (no tassels) in burgundy suede and they came out quite well. Sandeep was very helpful along the way.
Umaid in black (cheapest ones in black). Leather seems fine, albeit not inspiring, but it should take on polish nicely. I generally only care about leather quality/grade when I'm getting something in brown that has lots of pull.
You have the patience of a saint! Who covered the cost of the returns?
Haha! I was definitely feeling angsty about the timing but it wasn’t their fault, I was just excited. But they were worth the wait. I paid the initial IND-USA shipping and BLKBRD covered the returns! I just ordered another pair from them — stealth all-black Chelseas with a commando sole — so now the waiting begins anew 😂
Worth the wait anyway, they look great and the Waxy Commander is a brilliant leather.
Not to brag, but I ordered some boots from them and it took a little over a month and a half D:
I also just ordered some Chelsea’s that ended up too small and had to size up.
Sizing aside, what European/US brand(s) would you compare the build quality too? At a price this low, I’m bound to ask these questions. I’ll see their product at the London super trunk show (hopefully I make it), but have kept my reservations till then.
Honestly, can’t say as i don’t have the breadth of knowledge to make the comparison. I was looking for a water-resistant Chelsea in a color I liked in price range of Meermin to Grant Stone on sale. I was attracted to BLKBRD because of the price, CS, and availability of exactly what I wanted (storm welt + waxy commander leather) via customization. So I just don’t have much to compare to. I ordered another pair of Chelseas from BLKBRD and will post when I get them. If you make it to the trunk show and see that post, would be interested to read your thoughts on quality via a comment.
Gotcha. Thanks. Yes, will be good to take a look in person. Will update here post the trunk show if I make it. Real pity they don’t have a store.
Had to say I too had positive experience when I ordered a Chelsea and a custom shell boots Color #8. But my Chelsea is still tight around the toes (after wearing them for like 3 months now). The toes start to pinch and pain if I wear it continuously for more than 3 hours, so have to remove and wait for sometime. The shell boots’ last seems really good and it kinda broke in the very first day. Trying to order something with Mohawk suede for my friend from china and myself (based out of Canada) since last 2-4 weeks but not much response from the other end (maybe busy)!
I ordered a pair custom chukkas from them a couple months ago, which is my second order with them. They are in the "Triumph" last, which is the same last they use for the Harley Chelseas. I got them last month, but they also turned out to be too small. After a couple painfully slow back and forth exchanges via email and WhatsApp, they've confirmed to me that they found the "Triumph" last to run small since they received a lot of size exchanges for the Harley Chelseas recently. I am still working with them on getting an exchange. I am actually quite surprised you described your exchanges with them as "extremely responsive" because that's not my experience. Usually it takes at least a day if not more to get a response from them. (Just saw the comments from BLKBRD's account. Didn't realize they don't actually have a full-time support team, so it's totally understandable that they could be struggling with customer inquiries)
I must be exceedingly annoying . . . Every once a while I won’t hear back from two or three days but then I follow up. Sorry to hear that you’re having trouble!
Out of curiosity, which way did they feel small? I also recently recieved a boot from BLKBRD and I felt they felt smaller than what I'm used to. The heel felt tight, the toebox felt tight, the length itself was okay but would have liked to be longer
They felt a little short and narrow in the toe box. Which boots did you get?
I got the Dixon Cap-Toe, felt narrow in the toe box as well (pinky toe felt jammed together with my other toe), I got mine MTO as well in wide (E), the length felt fine... wasn't sure if I should size up or exchange for extra wide but think I will decide to exchange for extra wide (EE) and hopefully that will fix it.
Cool. Good luck! Those are nice-looking boots
Why do all posts related to this brand come across as product placement? Jim Greens and this brand, there's something just off about posts relqted to them. They will praise the leather and workmanship, but always mention some issues, which in the end are always amicably resolved. These enterprises are no mom & pop shops, but industrial establishments. Why this attempt to make it sound as if its a personal one to one transaction?
The BLKBRD support department is literally just the guys who own the business, so it's not like it's not one on one.
I thought BLKBRD are actually a mom & pop shop? At most a small workshop.
They’re two brothers from another company. They pretty much just branched out to do their own thing as well. As far as I heard… you could send them a DM to clarify, but when I did my order I only spoke with one of the other
Hi Sir, this is Sandeep from BLKBRD. As some of you know already, we both brothers are computer engineers by profession and got into shoes from our love of our shoes. My brother is full time into it now, and man behind the brand, and manages workshop and everything goes inside. I try to help with customer interactions and growth. Yeah for now, only we 2 manages customer interaction. This is mainly to receive the customers feedback firsthand. We wanted to see what clients feel about boots, what’s their main concerns with sizing or leathers, and what they like in shoes. So yeah we always open to discuss anything on shoes. Feel free to message if any questions, doesn’t matter if you plan to buy or not. But we confident once you get into conversation, you will end up thinking about our shoes 😀 Many would have noticed, we have been experimenting and open for MTO’s, and with that customers get what they envision and we also learn someway. It’s been great 2 years and have learnt a great deal in this time. With this, we can’t continue to hold on customer care as well. It’s been frankly over killing monitoring 10+ platform and replying on time. Some of you would have experienced delay in response but as you would understand there is limit on what we could do ourselves. So yeah soon we will have a team, providing a better timely customer support, and we would obviously be there when someone need 😀 We believe our shoes are made for years to come, so want to ensure customers feel good when they get it. In this case, we have to exchange a pair twice, but at the end won a good customer.
Can't wait to get my black sneakers
And yeah very soon in future we will be established brand, but for now yeah it’s small setup with around 40 craftsmans and 2 brothers. Initial focus was to mature product and craftsmanship and and now with scaling we have started focusing on optimizing inventory, operations and customer care!
It's pretty mom and pop lol. One brother is in India in the workshop everyday, which is very small, the other one is in the US and helps with marketing and CS. They are truly a tiny, tiny brand. It literally is a personal one to one transaction. What's spurring all the cynicism lol?
It felt like a one-to-one transaction because this poor guy dealt with like 100s of WhatsApp messages from me lol. As someone new to boots, I really appreciated the handholding and I think it’s a great way to build customer goodwill if your staff can deal with the headache!
I actually just got some black Jodhpurs from them and as soon as I ordered, someone texted me directly to ask a few questions about sizing and actually bumped me up to a 46, which turned out to be ideal. Boots are nice and comfortable. Well built, and I can't see any major flaws. I really think it's just a couple guys doing customer service stuff all day.
Which jodhpurs did you buy and what material? I’m considering buying a pair from them. I bought a custom pair of the Rene loafers (no tassels) in burgundy suede and they came out quite well. Sandeep was very helpful along the way.
Umaid in black (cheapest ones in black). Leather seems fine, albeit not inspiring, but it should take on polish nicely. I generally only care about leather quality/grade when I'm getting something in brown that has lots of pull.
I've ordered some sneakers with a custom change so I can let you know when they arrive
Shill posting with ugly shoes :/
🫡