The Gallant Gentleman

I bought my first pair of Thursday Boots (their Scouts in brown, US size six) as factory seconds from their recent warehouse sale (purchased 4/3/2020) for $99 (instead of $149) and the matching Classic belt in brown and silver for $40 (instead of $80). And honestly? I’m blown away with the quality.

The Scouts are a classic chukka boot and they do offer them in a sandy brown suede (their cognac Scout) as is more traditional for such a boot, but seeing as I’m just starting out in my quality shoe collection, I decided to go for versatility and get a dressier boot.

These boots are made from Thursday’s own proprietary oiled chrome leather and you can feel and smell the quality in them, along with the glove leather lining that is soft and supple. The boots themselves are made with a stitchout construction, which is a little disappointing, but seems to be sturdy enough and a Dainite-like rubber sole that appears very durable. To my knowledge, they make their Captains and Presidents with goodyear welts. My particular pair of boots came with creases already in the leather and the welt a little beat-up, but seeing as they were factory seconds, that’s perfectly acceptable. The creases lightened up significantly with a good pair of shoe trees (courtesy of Allen Edmonds) and lots of shoe conditioner (Bickmore Bick 4). Some sandpaper smoothed out the jagged welt edges.

The boots do not come with a shoe bag but the box is high enough quality that you could protect them from dust and debris by simply storing them in the box. The belt did come with its own belt bag but I will be likely to use that for travel, seeing as I prefer to hang my belts so they don’t curl or crease. I’m slightly sad that they didn’t come with a boot bag but for $99 one really cannot complain, especially with the raw quality radiating from these boots. How on earth they sell these at a full price of only $149 I will never understand.

I will post an update after a month of wearing these boots but right from the box they are incredibly comfortable and fit me, a US size 5.5 E to 6 D, quite well, though the ankle is something to get used to if one is not familiar with ankle boots. They roll well with my foot and support my arch well, which is something I look for as my family is prone to plantar fasciitis.

The belt is nothing less than top-notch. It is edge painted, which is a high-quality way of doing the edges, though not as quality as folding and stitching the edges--however, for a belt that’s normally $80, that’s perfectly fine for the price range. They say the belt is made out of their Thursday chrome leather and the buckle is simply made of a “silver alloy,” which I imagine is silver with nickel, silver with zinc, or perhaps silver plated ZAMAC. Either way, the belt buckle gleams right now and I imagine with the proper care will continue to do so for a solid few years (probably not more than four or five, however). Thursday’s logo is stamped behind the buckle.

Overall I am very pleased with these boots and will likely buy a pair of their Dukes (chelsea boots) and Captains (lace-up boots) later down the line, along with their matching belts.

So you may be asking yourself, “What? Fragrances aren’t gendered!” and I do and don’t agree with you. I understand I’m walking a fine line here, so I will explain as clearly as I can. Within this article, I will define sex as one’s birth genitalia/hormones released, and gender as one’s identity and/or presentation.

With one’s sex often comes a natural scent, and the pheromones and hormones released tend to lean one way or another depending on such a sex. There’s no definitive scent per person, and everyone has their own scent, but in general, AFAB people tend to have lighter, sweeter scents, and AMAB people tend to have heavier, muskier scents. Hence, the general association with different genders for different fragrances. However, that does not mean that men cannot wear floral fragrances, that women cannot wear woodsy colognes, or that nonbinary folk cannot wear scents at all. Everyone presents themselves differently and that’s perfectly valid!

Why is cologne considered a men’s fragrance while perfume is saved for women?

Well, it’s another simple thing of body chemistry. Classically, AMAB people (and AFAB people on testosterone) produce more sebum (oil) due to androgen also being produced in higher quantities. Because of the higher oil quantities on their skin, the oil from the fragrances will blend and act almost as a scent diffuser and make the fragrances stronger. However, AFAB people (or AMAB people on testosterone/androgen suppressors) have drier skin, and it soaks up the oils within the fragrance, and because of this, the scent from the oil fades much faster.

Now, onto the difference between perfume and cologne.

Many people believe that perfume is for women and cologne is for men.  This actually isn’t true! The difference between perfume and cologne is the concentration of oils within the fragrance, affecting how strong the scent is and how long it will last for on one’s skin.

Perfume (extrait de parfum) - this is 20%-30% fragrance oil, easily the most expensive type of fragrance and likely the most well-known type. It has the highest concentration of oils, lasts the longest, and smells the strongest.

Eau de parfum - this is 15%-20% fragrance oil, what most things advertised as perfume will be.

Eau de toilette - this is 5%-15% fragrance oil, most commonly used for men’s fragrances.

Eau de cologne - this is 2%-4% fragrance oil, most commonly used for men’s fragrances.

Eau fraiche - this is 1%-3% fragrance oil, very cheap and most commonly seen in dollar store fragrances.

Anyone can wear any scents they want, but for me personally, as an AFAB person without any HRT, I enjoy wearing EDTs in classically “manly” scents (#notsponsored but I use Dollar Shave Club’s Blueprint series, 102 and 201 are my favorites). With some people who are suffering from gender dysphoria, wearing scents of the gender you wish to present as can help a great deal!

Feel free to correct any inaccuracies or add to this post.

Stay gallant, gents.

Why, of course I know him. He’s me!