Designed by Blackbird in collaboration with Alden of New England, custom bootmakers since 1884. The Blacksheep Squadron Airman Shoe was inspired by the simple black dress shoes that come standard (and highly polished) under the crisp, pressed slacks of military dress uniforms. The name itself comes from Baa Baa Blacksheep, a TV series that aired on NBC from 1976 to 1978. As a child born on Pearl Harbor day, our owner, Nicole, loved to watch the show with her father, and marked every birthday with WWII film marathons. A lifelong devotee of Army Navy surplus store shopping, it was a natural choice for Nicole, when it came time to design our Alden collaboration models, to reference the military look and feel she had grown up appreciating.
STYLE: Clipper plain-toe blucher, LAST: Barrie, UPPER: premium calf leather with reversed seaming, OUTSOLE: extremely durable, water resistant double Waterloc outsole, INSOLE: vegetable tanned leather insoles with the "Made expressly for Blackbird" heel pod, MID-SOLE: cork midsole with steel shank for long-lasting strength and support, LACING: round Cordohyde lacing through no-show blind eyelets, WELT: high quality matching Goodyear leather welt construction, LINING: fully leather lined. Note: these shoes run large. We recommend sizing down half a size. If you don't see the size you're looking for, please contact us for assistance.
With a sleek upper cut largely out of one piece of smooth, high quality calfskin, these basic lace-ups cover a lot of looks and look good doing it. Buffed and polished to an Army Air Corps shine, they're an excellent all around dress shoe perfect for classic dark suiting and low lights. Worn with sheer socks, oversized rolled trousers, and a dark, high gauge knit, they become completely modern and even avante garde in their minimalism. We like them somewhere in between - wear yours with lightly dressed up basics and take to the town like a serviceman on weekend leave.
Handmade shoes from Alden take a long time to produce so there is not always inventory readily available. If the size, width or style you are interested in is currently out of stock, or you have questions about fit, please contact us at info@blackbirdballard.com where the Blackbird crew will quickly answer your questions and do everything in their power to get them for you.
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