The Sutro Alder Boot Review: A Class of Its Own

I was sent the following product in exchange for my honest opinions.

Sutro may be a company you’ve never heard of. I certainly hadn’t heard of them until I began venturing into the world of higher quality footwear. They started in San Francisco and still call it their home. Sutro even derives their name from San Franciscan roots—naming the company after their 24th mayor, Adolph Sutro.

Two things jumped out at me when I first checked out Sutro’s boots. First of course, the look. Sutro creates several styles that I’d love to own or try out. I also love every color they offer. One of the most incredible things about their boots is that they come with this naturally aged look that most people dream of achieving when they buy a new pair of boots. I can confess that I love looking on Instagram at pictures of people’s well-worn boots. The leather takes on a look that says, “Time has been put into these and they are well loved.” Sutro boots somewhat have this look from the get go and they look better with every wear.

Second, the price really stood out. The Alder I’m reviewing today clocks in at $265 and if you sign up for the Sutro e-mail list, they’ll knock off $20. That’s a really nice price for these boots because of all that goes into making them and the fact that they’re built to last. Let’s talk more about it.

Packaging

When you open your package, you’ll pull out a nice black box with a gold emblem adorning the lid. I’m big on packaging and Sutro’s box is attractive. When you open the box, you’ll find your boots. Sutro doesn’t include any extra laces or shoe bags with the boots, but those things are just extras that some companies choose to include and some don’t.

The Alder Boot Introduction

The Alder, in my opinion, is a very attractive boot. However, I think it has a few quirks that make it a bit unique and unusual. It has a fold over cap toe, which to my eye, puts the cap up higher on the foot and also gives it a curve rather than just going straight across the boot. I really like the aesthetic of this and think it looks great. 

It’s not quite as tall as your standard 6” boots, but it is a bit taller than a Chukka. This gives it a unique character all it’s own. It also has an opening in the back, which makes it more comfortable around the ankle. This really does increase the comfort a lot! I remember just how comfortable the ankle of the Alder is when I wear a different pair of boots without this feature.

Finally, it has a leather and rubber combination soul. Sutro has placed rubber on the sole where pressure points exist to increase the comfort of the sole. It definitely gives it a unique look. I’ll definitely talk more about this later. 

The Alder Upper

The leather on this boot is really nice. It is smooth and soft. There was no loose grain out of the box. I chose the grey color and I love it. I think grey boots are really versatile and really underrated. Grey boots work with a broad range of colors and they stand out a little more than a black boot does.

The leather itself is 16mm thick. It’s vegetable tanned and each pair is creamed, burnished, and polished by hand. Sutro takes great pride in this as it gives each pair of boots unique character. They embrace the fact that you may see interesting marks on the leather that occured during the animal’s life such as insect bites, scratches, and birthmarks. You can read about their tanning process here and I’d encourage you to. It’s really interesting and natural tanning gives a much more unique character than processed tanning, which would create a uniform smoothness. A lot goes into making a pair of Sutro boots and it’s certainly interesting to read about.

The inside of the boot has a nice, soft full leather glove lining. It feels great and when a boot is lined like this, you can actually wear lower socks if you want and your ankles and legs will feel just fine. Once you wear full leather lined boots, it’s hard to go back to anything less.

The upper has four antique metal eyelets and soft waxed cotton laces. This brings me to my first criticism of the Alder. It took me quite awhile to find a good way to lace and tie this boot and I’m honestly still not satisfied. The laces it comes with are pretty long, but honestly they’re not long enough and not short enough. I saw several pictures of people lacing these boots by wrapping the laces around the back of the boot and through the heel loop. I tried this and they weren’t quite long enough to keep them secure. I tried not wrapping them and they looked ridiculously too long for the boot. I finally settled on wrapping them in a kind of strange way and that works for now. But I honestly need to buy longer laces because I do like the wrapped-lace aesthetic.

All that being said, these boots have that vintage look. I think they’re really attractive and comfortable. I’ll get more into the comfort later.

Sole, Comfort, and Sizing

One of the best features of these boots is what Sutro calls their ¾ Goodyear Welt. It would probably also be known as 270 Goodyear Welt where the stitching goes around the whole boot aside from the heel. A Goodyear Welt makes the boot more waterproof as well as making it resoleable. Sutro says their boots are built to last and the Goodyear Welt definitely plays an important role in that.

The outsole, as mentioned, is a combination of leather and rubber. With this interesting sole, I find one major pro and one con. The pro is that this increases traction and grip. Full leather soles can be kind of slick, but adding rubber makes this boot pretty stable. The con, for me, is only minor, but worth noting. When I’m walking on hard surfaces, I can feel a noticeable change between the rubber on the midfoot to the leather on the toe. On tile, this produces a prominent clicking sound and people can definitely hear me coming. The sound is slightly annoying, but feeling that change can also be a bit distracting.

The boot has a stacked leather heel, a removable premium cushioned insole, a layer of polyurethane and cork, and a metal shank. I found this boot to be very comfortable. I’ve worn it quite a bit before writing this review including days where I’m in it all day. I really like how it feels and that encourages me to reach for it when I’m thinking about my footwear for the day.

Size wise, Sutro says this boot is true to size and I found that to be true. I wear a 9.5 in most dress boots (10 in sneakers) and that’s what I went with here and it feels really comfortable. 

Conclusion

Sutro is a brand that’s definitely worth your attention. These boots are attractive, comfortable, and they’re made to last. Pair that with a really nice price for a Goodyear welted pair of boots and I think you’ll be really impressed. If you have any questions then feel free to reach out and if you find yourself buying a pair of Sutro boots, tell them I sent ya! Check out a few more pictures below.