Saint Laurent Classic Hedi Chelsea Boot - Review

Saint Laurent Classic Hedi Chelsea Boot – Review

February 26, 2016
Written By Timothy Nguyen

During a trip to LA in June for E3, I fell in love with the Saint Laurent Classic Hedi 30 Chelsea after trying them on at the Rodeo Drive store. At the time I couldn’t really justify spending close to $1000 on a pair of boots so I decided I would sleep on it even though I was told they were the last pair in a size 39 in the company. After about two months of drooling, I finally decided I had to have them and purchased the last week of August.

First Impressions:

What convinced me to buy the Chelseas was it’s sleekness. The boots share the same streamlined shape as the Saint Laurent Wyatts and Johdpurs which is unmatched so far at any other price point I’ve tried on. Currently, my wardrobe is focused on clean lines that visually lengthen my figure which made these a great addition.

The Blake stitched boot comes in two stacked leather heel heights, 30mm (1.18 inches) or 40mm (1.6 inches). I opted for the 30mm because I am only 5’6 and getting the higher heel felt like it would ruin my proportions.

It was surprising how comfortable the boots were right out of the box. Most of the time dress shoes and boots require some time to break in and mold to your feet before they are easy to wear but that wasn’t the case with the Saint Laurent Chelseas. My rear heel felt slight discomfort while driving but overall that was my only gripe but this was also gone after the break in period.

Sizing:

Initially I tried on a size 40 boot at Houston’s Saint Laurent but it was too big so I had to size down to a 39. Only one problem, size 39 was either a popular size and/or isn’t produced in large numbers. Paying for the boot without knowing how it fits was a scary prospect so I just kept waiting on them. Almost every SLP store I visited while traveling didn’t have the size and would tell me that there were none left in the company until I got to the Rodeo Drive flagship store, the only store left in the US with a size 39.

A photo posted by Timothy Nguyen (@tim_nguyennn) on Jun 20, 2015 at 7:38am PDT

The way the instep slopes is perfect for my foot. The size of the opening around the ankle is just right. I fell in love.

Here is a quick recap of other shoes I’ve owned:

Thom Browne Longwings – Size 7
Common Projects Cap-toe sneakers – Size 39
Maison Margiela German Army Trainers – Size 40
Allen Edmonds Park Ave/Mcallister – Size 7D
Converse – Size 7
Nike Free 5.0 – Size 8

After Some Wears:

An estimate of total wears on the lower end would be about one hundred wears over six months. They are worn for eight to nine hours a day anywhere from two to five times a week. I also took them on my Thanksgiving trip to Boston/NYC as well. Basically, the only days the boots weren’t worn were rainy days or when I stayed home.

In NYC, I walked from the East Village to SoHo where I went up and down the streets visiting all of my favorite boutiques. If you must know, of course I stopped at the Thom Browne store in Tribeca. Inside the SoHo Saint Laurent boutique, I noticed that at least two other guys asked to try on the same Chelseas after seeing me walk in wearing mine. It’s really hard to deny how beautiful they are.

Worn in this photo:

The boots have held up strong taking everything I throw at them, well maybe except for this one time a girl in heels scuffed the toe but that’s quite alright. I’ll just say it adds “character”. They also seem to get increasingly beautiful with age.

Final Thoughts:

After having tried on tons of different Chelseas from different brands, there really isn’t anything out there like these. Sure, some will argue that you have the option of getting the “similar” Story Et Fall boots for a lot cheaper but I strongly feel that if a pair of Saint Laurent Chelseas, Wyatts, Jodphurs or anything else from the SLP lineup are in your sights right now, I say just do it. Buy them. I haven’t regretted my purchase and I highly doubt you will either.

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