Beckett Simonon’s Douglas Jodhpur Boot Is Just About Almost Perfect

Beckett Simonon is a curious company. Despite being founded in 2011 the direct to consumer company still flies somewhat under the radar. With classically designed, almost old-fashioned styling across the majority of their shoes and boots, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d accidentally gone to Allen Edmonds’ website. But the Bogotá, Colombia based brand brings more to the table than cutting out retailers and lower price points.

You see, all of their products are made-to-order. In doing so, Beckett Simonon is able to dramatically reduce the cost of their overhead, which ultimately translates to a lower price point to the end consumer. The trade off is the production lead time is super long — like, 2-3 months long. It’s intense.

But the company says that this leads to significantly less waste in terms of unused materials and unsold inventory, which in turn is better for the environment. From start to finish, Beckett Simonon says that their entire process is as ethical and responsible as possible, from the sourcing of materials, to the compensation of their employees including living wages, health insurance, and paid time off.

It’s a refreshing approach and attitude, even if it creates one or two challenges along the way. With that said, let’s get to the Douglas Jodhpur boot.

[GET 20% OFF THESE BOOTS WITH THE CODE STRIDE AT CHECKOUT!]

Beckett Simonon Jodhpur Boot Pros & Cons

Pros

• Soft and supple full grain leather
• Beautifully sculpted leather outsole
• Blake stitch makes resoling possible
• Vachetta leather lining is very soft and luxurious
• Extremely comfortable with no break in

Cons

• Extremely long lead time from order to delivery, as much as 2-3 months
• Leather is on the thin side and creases with regular use (Shoe trees are a must)
• Pull tab on the back of the boot is cheap polyester material
• Metal buckle on the strap feels cheap

What IS a Jodhpur Boot?

Beckett Simonon makes a myriad of different boot and shoe styles which, for the most part, tend to err on the side of dressy. One of the most distinct and interesting styles is their Douglas Jodhpur boot. While I have no clue who Douglas is or what he has to do with these boots, the Jodhpur boot itself is a classic ankle boot style, originally designed as an equestrian riding boot. The style was named for the City of Jodhpur in Rajasthan, India, and men in the area were known to wear the boot with its distinct strap which encircles the upper ankle portion of the vamp.

In the approximate 100 years that followed, it has become a classic staple of the boot fashion world, positioning itself as a slightly dressier alternative to an elastic Chelsea boot. With its long, rounded toe box and low heel, the smooth, clean uppers typically have a similar silhouette to that of a whole cut oxford. As a result, it’s a boot that looks excellent with either suit pants, chinos, or can seriously dress up a pair of slim cut jeans.

Beckett Simonon Leather Quality

As previously mentioned, all of Beckett Simonon’s boots and shoes are made by hand in Bogotá, Columbia. According to their website, the company employs cobblers with decades of experience and utilizes high quality leathers from Argentina and Italy. To be completely frank, it shows. The boots are impeccably built and finished. While aren’t terribly heavy or dense, likely due to the use of slightly thinner leather, there was not a single thread out of place, stitch misaligned, or odd patch of grain to be found. A truly impressive achievement for any shoemaker, regardless of price point.

The leather used is extremely soft and pleasant both inside and out. The exterior is a heavily conditioned, full grain calfskin from tanneries in Arzignano, Italy, and comes in Black, Brown, Bordeaux, Oak, and Tan as well as two water resistant suedes.

It’s important to note that the leather is sourced from tanneries that have earned a Gold Star rating from the Leather Working Group, which focuses on environmental sustainability and best practices for ensuring that no chrome 6 is leached out into the environment during the tanning process— Chrome 6 being responsible for the environmental and human damage that comes from poorly run chrome tanning practices.

The interior of the boot is made from a truly magnificent leather – Vachetta, which is unbelievably supple and luxurious, vegetable tanned calfskin leather. It is glorious. I want all of the things that I own to be made of Vachetta from now on. For more on vachetta leather, see our breakdown of Carl Friedrik’s Palissy briefcase.

[See our review of Beckett Simonon’s Dowler boot]

If there is anything to really be criticized here, it’s in the more ornamental details of the pull tab and the strap buckle. Both are disappointingly cheap. The pull tab is a cheap loop of polyester that feels almost like a label that you’d cut from the inside of a t-shirt. Similarly, the buckle feels very cheap, likely some kind of flimsy nickel with a gun metal finish. It looks fine, but doesn’t feel as substantial or luxurious as the leather it is securing.

Now, when an order is placed with most companies ,that order is processed and sent to a shipping department, either within the company or at some external fulfillment center. From there an existing inventory is dispatched to its new home. But Beckett Simonon has a different business model and does not keep excess inventory lying around. This saves massively on the cost of unnecessary materials, product costs, labor, and the need to store excess inventory. This translates to a significantly lower price point than the quality of these boots would suggest.

The trouble is, in order to create such a harmonious and economical manufacturing process, it takes a long time to get your boots. The exact wording on the website is a bit unclear: in several instances it is made to sound like when you place an order, the shoemaker gets to work on building your shoes, while in other instances, it is made to sound more like there are staggered production runs based off of built up pre-orders. The end result is you wait quite a while, 8-12 weeks in some instances, before your boots arrive. But when they do, they do not disappoint.

Beckett Simonon Douglas Boot Comfort and Sizing 

The Douglas Jodhpur boot comes in sizes ranging from 7-14, with a few half sizes sprinkled in there for 8.5, 9.5, 10.5 and 11.5, which should cover the bases for most folks. Unfortunately they only are available in one width, which seems to be a fairly standard D width. I found that I needed to go down a half size from my Brannock size for a perfect fit. Though it should be noted, like a Chelsea boot, these will have a bit more of a loose or relaxed feel to them because they aren’t a laced up boot. The iconic wrapped strap does help to secure the ankle however, providing that little extra security and fit. 

Now, the way that ordering is discussed on the website is a little confusing and a bit of a double edge sword. With the production lead time potentially comes a fair amount of anxiety if you are unsure of your exact size. What if you wait over 2 months for your boots only to find you didn’t choose the right size!? Well, fortunately, as a production run is completed, Beckett Simonon says that a few extra sizes are produced in the event of something not fitting just right.

In terms of comfort, the Douglas Jodphur is a dream. Due in large part to the fantastic custom lasting that Beckett Simonon has done and the extra soft leathers, there is truly no break in period. These were instantly comfortable from the first moment. How they will hold up over time remains to be seen, but so far so good.

Beckett Simonon Price

At $239, the Douglas Jodhpur is a fantastic value and that’s before the 20% discount you get with our code ‘STRIDE’. But, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. The tradeoff for soft, supple leather and lovely craftsmanship overall is that you have to wait for them. If instant gratification is a priority, look elsewhere. But if you don’t mind waiting for something very nice for a very reasonable price, order them, forget about it, and in 2-3 months’ time you’ll get a lovely surprise in the mail.

[GET 20% OFF THESE BOOTS WITH THE CODE STRIDE AT CHECKOUT!]

The Takeaway

Beckett Simonon is an extremely compelling company. The environmentally friendly(er) means of production and inventory process is admirable and seems mutually beneficials for company and customer alike. The fact that they treat their employees well (though potentially difficult to verify) is always wonderful. More companies should operate with such ethical practices in mind. Despite a slightly painful wait time, and one or two tiny complaints the resulting boot that you get is spectacular. There is no other way to put it, this is a proper luxury boot, even if it doesn’t come with the eye watering luxury price.