Willie's Leathers / Willie's Handmade Boots (Phillipines)

[TartuWolf]

I believe this boot maker deserves a thread of his own as there are at least several TFL members that own a pair of their boots.
https://www.instagram.com/williesleathers/?hl=en
William Carmona with his team in Philippines started the brand around 2018-2019.
They started by repairing / altering shoes, boots and sneakers - a cobbler spot.
At some point they started making their own footwear as well. Wallets and belts too.
They have a lot of different models and operate on a MTO model. Basically making one off custom boots.
Willie himself has participated in the patina thunderdome and quite a few recent years prize places belong to customers of his boots.
He even made for the Czech president (presented by the president of Philippines!):
https://www.instagram.com/williesleathers/p/C4lEFE5vM5k/?hl=en
"Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr gifting Czech President Pavel with a Willie's custom made biker boot in his March 14 state visit. Mission accomplished. Proud to be Filipino."
Here's Willie himself : https://www.instagram.com/williesleathers/reel/Cxe4oXRoVqn/?hl=en
The prices are very reasonable at around 400-450usd for a pair of CXL engineers. Shipping is pretty egregious at ~100-150usd though.
They have at least 5 different lasts including (very important to me) a Munson inspired wide toe last.

Here are some of my favorite pairs from his IG:

 

[TartuWolf]

More:

 

[TartuWolf]

This is the kind of thing I'd go for next myself:
Lugged waxed flesh 8" loggers
https://www.instagram.com/williesleathers/p/DC4p1EhTWLD/?hl=en

 

[TartuWolf]

You can also get some beautiful brass lace keeprs from him, but they were out of stock when I was ordering. I'd still love to own a pair!

 

[TartuWolf]

Here are some examples of the leathers that they offer (at least when I was ordering).
You can get horserump / horsebutt at a very reasonable 550$!

 

[Zoro]

They look great, but I hate how allergic so many makers are towards having a proper website and instead they run things via IG with zero effort.

 

[TartuWolf]

They look great, but I hate how allergic so many makers are towards having a proper website and instead they run things via IG with zero effort.

True. But I'd much rather have a nice IG page and direct communication with a small shop than deal with a big company with a pretty website and robotic customer support. Good small makers usually have enough demand to not need a website or any advertisement.

 

[TartuWolf]

Okay so the whole reason I created this thread is to encourage TFL folks to share their Willie's pairs.
Here's a quick review of my pair and my experience.

TLDR:
Beautiful handmade boots from a small maker for a VERY fair price. ~450$ for a CXL pair and ~550$ for a horsebutt pair.
I would DEFINITELY recommend Willie's overall, but would NOT recommend ordering a pair of engineers (or slip-ons) from them. After two tries and all the info they could possibly get from me in terms of sizing they still managed to make a pair that fits "good enough" (in the shaft/instep).
I greatly respect and admire Willie and his team and I'm glad I chose them. Will most likely order another pair (8" waxed flesh lugged loggers) from them in the future and get my hands on those juicy lace keepers.

Reason for choosing Willie's:
Show me where else I can get a a wide toe last MTO custom engineer boot pair in CXL for 400usd.
From their IG they seemed super legit and they answered my initial questions quickly and rather clearly.
I'm very big on anatomical / wide toe boots and I have a brown CXL jacket and I wanted a pair of matching engineers with my favorite outsole config - leather + topy.

Communication:
Pretty damn good I'd say, considering the native language difference and small size of the maker. I'm satisfied and thankful that I got such nice personal communication from Willie himself.

Process:
Official lead time 10-12 weeks.
Paid the deposit on 2024 beginning of December.
QC pics on 2025 March 10. So 3 months / 12 weeks actually.
120$ shipping. OUCH! How the hell can I get a much heavier pair of boots or jacket from JP for 60-70$ but it's 120$ usd for shipping these..
March 13 sent out (flexible with value declaration, BIG plus in my book), March 17 received.
The pair I received had a nice shoe size, but waaay too wide in the shaft.
Willie apologized and confirmed the mistake, didn't argue, very gracious. I was still very disappointed.
I sent the boots back (paid myself for the shipping..) on March 24 and created a detailed PDF comparing them in various areas in terms of circumference to an existing well fitting pair. And I gave them specific instructions for shaft dimensions that I want.
There was a mixup in their local customs and Willie managed to receive the pair I sent only on May 7.
Instead of changing the shaft they decided to make a brand new pair.
On July 14th it was finished and I got QC pics. So about 2 months after they received the first pair back or 7 months after initial order.
Got them around end of July 2025. They paid the 2nd forward shipping.

Sizing/fit:
They send you instructions to provide 2D and 3D measurements of your feet. Width, length, ball circ., waist circ., instep, ankle in several places, calf, etc.. Then they pick the closest size and adjust the shaft I guess.
Both pairs I received were good in the 2d aspect, but the shaft/instep was off.
First pair was waaaay off, 2nd pair is still off, but "good enough".
2nd pair is midway between the awfully wide 1st pair and what I requested.
So having both my foot measurements and my specified shaft measurements they still did not manage to produce a well fitting boot for me in 2 tries.
In this regard I cannot recommend ordering engineers from Willie's leather. Too sketchy with fit and sizing (instep/shaft). I'm sure laced models would be great.
Maybe these will improve in terms of heel slip with time, but currently I had to make an extra hole and strain the leather quite a lot to make them fit well enough. Hopefully the straps don't stretch as the CXL is very soft.
I'll try and higher arch 3/4 insole as well to see if I can improve the fit without reducing toe space.

Lasts:
They have at least 5 lasts, some bump toe, some soft toe. I went for the "S5" Munson inspired wide toe last and asked to go real easy on the structure/celastic. Result is a slightly structured toe (only wall, no roof).

Heel:
Semi-woodsman or woodsman in several different heights. I went with 1.5cm woodsman.
Super soft and comfortable Dr.Sole heels!

Hardware:
Went with brass (I LOVE brass...). I've seen a lot of different engineer buckles and these are by far one of my favorite ones. Chunky but also rather elegant. Rounded off very nicely for minimal damage on the leather.

Leathers:
CXL, waxed flesh, horsebutt/horserump, SB foot, Latigo. Quite a few choices! Upcharge for horsebutt of course.
I picked brown CXL to match my Aero Hooch Hauler jacket.
First pair that came was stiffer, 2nd pair is VERY pliable and soft to the point of concern haha.

Outsole:
Many configurations possible, but I went with my favorite urban easy-to-repair-replace leather outsole with a glued topy. Very very happy with that choice.

Arch support:
None I'd say, but I didn't ask about it. Definitely not your PNW high arch stuff.

Construction / execution cleanliness:
Top notch I'd say. As good as it gets to my untrained eye, very happy with how these are stitched and finished. Especially the edges.

Insole:
Interestingly they don't use the typical "veg tan slab" for the insole but rather a pebbled softer leather (non-removable) insole.

Pattern:
Beautiful to my eye, but could definitely use more heel curve to help pop the foot in and lock in the heel.

The "goods":

I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

 

[TartuWolf]

Also, here are two STUNNING pairs of Willie himself. These are the ones that finally pushed me to order.

 

[Bfd70]

The boot pictures look great but the whole experience sounds like a total turnoff.

 

[Carlos840]

These look like boots to keep on a shelf and look at, not boots to walk in... (they do look great, thought)

IMO straps on engineers are purely decorative and should not be relied on to achieve a good fit.
If the boot feels bad without having to tighten the strap it doesn't fit right.
Relying on the strap will only create pressure points on the top of your foot and make an uncomfortable boot bearable for a short time.

Also, that front sole is so thin! you are going to wear through that thing in months if you wear them daily.

I don't want to sound rude, but i don't get these boots, to me they have a weird "luxury workboot cosplay" thing going on.

How heavy are they?

 

[Zoro]

True. But I'd much rather have a nice IG page and direct communication with a small shop than deal with a big company with a pretty website and robotic customer support. Good small makers usually have enough demand to not need a website or any advertisement.

There's a middle ground, though. I'll admit I'm biased as I have no IG, but IMO the bare minimum is having an actual web with all your (main) models and then you can leave your email, Whatsapp, Instagram, whatever for further communication and special requests. Kinda like Thedi, who I would rather had a more detailed website but it is good enough to look through before deciding to actually contact him and go for it.

Plus in today's day and age you can have a running website with minimum effort without knowing anything about IT.

 

[TartuWolf]

These look like boots to keep on a shelf and look at, not boots to walk in... (they do look great, thought)

IMO straps on engineers are purely decorative and should be be relied on to achieve a good fit.
If the boot feels bad without having to tighten the strap it doesn't fit right.
Relying on the strap will only create pressure points on the top of your foot and make an uncomfortable boot bearable for a short time.

Also, that front sole is so thin! you are going to wear through that thing in months if you wear them daily.

I don't want to sound rude, but i don't get these boots, to me they have a weird "luxury workboot cosplay" thing going on.

How heavy are they?

Good to hear your thoughts Carlos!

I completely disagree regarding the straps - not using them functionally is missing the whole point of engineer boots (as opposed to pure slip-on boots) entirely. But there is definitely a limit to their functionality and over-strapping creates folds and pressure points that might be uncomfortable as you mentioned.
The first pair I had was unacceptable in this regard, this pair is acceptable even if not ideal.
Sure you can luck out and find a pair with just the right instep and have very minimal need for the straps, but that's pretty rare in my opinion. The straps broaden the margin for error in this regard.
Best fitting pair I've had was actually moderately difficult to slip into - that's basically the ideal.
This pair is too easy to slip into but the straps (barely) make it work.
That's what I mean by "good enough" fit

The sole is not thin, it's a normal thickness leather sole. The sole protector or topy is thin and it's design to be that way. That's the whole point and that's what I like about it. I won't wear these daily but will probably need to replace the protectors after a year or two. But that's a 10$ job - peel off the old one and glue on a new one. No need to re-stitch anything. For me that's the perfect configuration for urban wear living in a country with no cobblers that would agree to do a real resole.

Not sure what makes you think they are not proper boots. Sure they are not lugged hard wearing thick pigment black engineers, but CXL is not some very delicate leather (apart from scratches and scuffs visually). The outsole I already explained. Hardware is robust, stitching is proper. So what do you mean? No offense taken of course. These are no less robust than JP or Indonesian boots. Nowhere near PNW boots - even if I go for the waxed flesh lugged 8" loggers they won't be as knuckleheaded as PNW stuff. I know you're a fan or Red Wing and I've had around 7 pairs of Red Wings - nothing makes these feel any less robust than any RW pair that I had.

Overall these will be my more "fancy" or "dressy" boots, true. I have pigmented lugged Sendra engineers for mud and off-road duty, White's C350 which seem rather indestructible and a pair of White's semi-dress (also leather sole + topy) for black "nice" boots. Very happy to have arrived at 2 black + 2 brown pairs as my total collection. I'm pretty done with boots.

Weight : ~2kg or ~4.4lbs for the pair

 

[TartuWolf]

There's a middle ground, though. I'll admit I'm biased as I have no IG, but IMO the bare minimum is having an actual web with all your (main) models and then you can leave your email, Whatsapp, Instagram, whatever for further communication and special requests. Kinda like Thedi, who I would rather had a more detailed website but it is good enough to look through before deciding to actually contact him and go for it.

Plus in today's day and age you can have a running website with minimum effort without knowing anything about IT.

I agree, having a website is usually better than not having one (there are some exceptions though, like PigerWorks where the load times are enough to deter you from ordering). And yes you can get a website running rather easily these days.

 

[8 0722]

I don't have any experience with Willy's but they look great.

 

[Carlos840]

Good to hear your thoughts Carlos!

I completely disagree regarding the straps - not using them functionally is missing the whole point of engineer boots (as opposed to pure slip-on boots) entirely. But there is definitely a limit to their functionality and over-strapping creates folds and pressure points that might be uncomfortable as you mentioned.
The first pair I had was unacceptable in this regard, this pair is acceptable even if not ideal.
Sure you can luck out and find a pair with just the right instep and have very minimal need for the straps, but that's pretty rare in my opinion. The straps broaden the margin for error in this regard.
Best fitting pair I've had was actually moderately difficult to slip into - that's basically the ideal.
This pair is too easy to slip into but the straps (barely) make it work.
That's what I mean by "good enough" fit

The sole is not thin, it's a normal thickness leather sole. The sole protector or topy is thin and it's design to be that way. That's the whole point and that's what I like about it. I won't wear these daily but will probably need to replace the protectors after a year or two. But that's a 10$ job - peel off the old one and glue on a new one. No need to re-stitch anything. For me that's the perfect configuration for urban wear living in a country with no cobblers that would agree to do a real resole.

Not sure what makes you think they are not proper boots. Sure they are not lugged hard wearing thick pigment black engineers, but CXL is not some very delicate leather (apart from scratches and scuffs visually). The outsole I already explained. Hardware is robust, stitching is proper. So what do you mean? No offense taken of course. These are no less robust than JP or Indonesian boots. Nowhere near PNW boots - even if I go for the waxed flesh lugged 8" loggers they won't be as knuckleheaded as PNW stuff. I know you're a fan or Red Wing and I've had around 7 pairs of Red Wings - nothing makes these feel any less robust than any RW pair that I had.

Overall these will be my more "fancy" or "dressy" boots, true. I have pigmented lugged Sendra engineers for mud and off-road duty, White's C350 which seem rather indestructible and a pair of White's semi-dress (also leather sole + topy) for black "nice" boots. Very happy to have arrived at 2 black + 2 brown pairs as my total collection. I'm pretty done with boots.

Weight : ~2kg or ~4.4lbs for the pair

I by no means meant to imply they where not "proper boots", they look very well made and are clearly made with quality materials.
I guess it's just that they look so freaking uncomfortable/non fonctional to me, i couldn't deal with living in these shoes.

They make me think about an experience i had with a backpack:
I bought one of these thinking it would be the most brilliant bag in the world, i would use it for everything, it would be full of patina and character:

Kasperi Fold Top Backpack Review

The Kasperi Fold Top Backpack nods to vintage aesthetics, premium materials and craftsmanship, and bushcraft flair. Is it right for you?

www.carryology.com

And it is an unuseable piece of ****, it's heavy, it's uncomfortable, it's not waterproof, it's a nightmare.
It does look great on instagram when doing some "tough guy in the woods" larping...
But in real life, i used it once on a day trip, cursed it all day and never wanted to use it again.

This bag, which i actually use is superior in every measurable way other than cool looks:

Jääkäri S - Small and Light Hiking & Trekking Daypack

The small daypack of the Jääkäri family, capacity approx. 20 litres. The Jääkäri S is a highly versatile daypack, well suited for outdoors, travel and everyday use.

www.savotta.fi

For some reason these boot makers make me think of that experience i had.
Things that look great but that aren't that great once you have to live with them day to day.

Now, i completely understand that my love of LW jackets could be seene as exactly the same thing from guys who ride in textile jackets... so i might be doing exactly the same thing.

But i can live with only a LW jacket to wear everyday, and only a pair of RW engineers to wear everyday.


I couldn't live with that Kasperi backpack everyday, and i don't think i could live with boots like the ones you posted.
Both are beautiful objects though, and i appreciate the craftsmanship and the beauty of them.

 

[Carlos840]

I also struggle with the idea of having to worry about footwear, whether it's keeping it pretty or wearing "adapted footwear"

These are literally all i wear day to day, whatever i am doing i wear the boots, if i am climbing on roofs or doing gardening/forestry work i wear the lace ups. This has worked for me for more than ten years now.

To me footwear needs to be as thoughtless as possible, like putting on your underwear or a pair of jeans.

All that to say, your boots are great, I'm weird.

 

[bigmanbigtruck]

Very nice looking boots.

The way I read it, MTO boots for 3 months is decent. But go with the laceups.
Engineers are a no-go as they just can't get it to fit right even with your supplied measurements.

My personal preference is for structured toe though - something about the unstructured just makes me feel like the boot is caving in and can't even hold its own weight lol

 

[TartuWolf]

@Carlos840
Again I'm glad your sharing your thoughts, I'm not taking it defensively, we are just sharing opinions.

The Kasperi backpack looks like a very nice "heritage" leather backpack example, but I don't know what made you think that it would be "comfortable". It's not meant to be. It has no back or shoulder strap padding and most importantly it does not have the chest strap. So nothing wrong with the backpack, just your expectations were baseless I suppose.
But if you DO find something like that with a chest strap and wear it over a thicker jacket (like a leather jacket or a N1 or shearling etc..) then I think it would be fine as the jacket itself would provide the "padding".

I'm close to Finland so I know Savotta. It's pretty famous overall (their extensive marketing helps with that) among backpack enthusiasts as one of the best and most durable backpacks that money can buy, especially if you like the buy-once-for-life concept. But it's a high-tech modern vintage-military aesthetic inspired beast, not the fancy artisan leather stuff. Not sure which one would be more durable assuming you use good quality durable leather like thick goatskin or bison, but Savotta would definitely be more functional, lighter and more comfortable.

Back to boots..
I think of boots mainly as a spectrum going from true classic workwear PNW tanks to pointy toed leather soled shell cordovan dress boots. Anything goes depending on your use case.
These boots are somewhere in the middle, a bit more towards the dressy side I'd say.
They are also more "delicate" that Red Wings because RW are cheaper and therefore folks usually tend to baby them less, they tend to have less "fancy" leather than CXL and because they use more "beater" outsoles. But if you take an anniversary RW beckman with a half-sole made in CXL (I had one pair) then it evens out, only the price motivates the wearer to baby a pair of Willie's a bit more (if one is inclined to treat boots that way).

But I'm still curious what makes them "look so freaking uncomfortable/non fonctional" to you? I know you're a big fan of the wedge outsole, but if we exclude that from the equation - then what? I've had several pairs of RW engineers and these are more comfortable than the ones I've had (non wedge sole). Functional? Not sure what that even means.
For example what do you think about arch support? People swear by it. RW has no arch support, these don't have any either. My White's C350 have a lot of arch support.

LW jackets (same as Aero or Vanson) are neither functional nor comfortable as every day wear unless you ride (even then there are much better armored options these days) but we still love that stuff.
Similar with these (and most) boots in general - for city rats like me it makes no sense to walk around in White's boots when picking up my children from the kindergarten, but I enjoy every single moment in my boots which cannot be said at all about "regular" footwear.

I also don't enjoy worrying about my boots (or jackets, or denim..) but for me it's almost like a method to learn to "let go" and let things happen (dirt, scuffs, bruises, spills, stains, etc..) without stressing out about it too much. The more I wear the item the easier it gets. Right now I'm more careful with these, in a few months I'll be less careful and worried.

Also you do "real" work from my perspective and your boots are a tool. I'm a computer rat family dad and boots (like jackets and denim) are my hobby and one of my main joys in life.

We have very different lives and perspective, but we are both weird. I have a lot of respect for you either way and I am very glad to agree to disagree.

 

[Drzdave58]

I ordered a pair of boondockers in Maryam toscenello horse ****. Communication with Willie on Instagram was efficient but some patience was required as sometimes it would take a day or two for him to reply which is understandable to me. It took about 3 months to get them which is reasonable. They fit me perfect and the leather is amazing. The quality and workmanship of the boots are on par or better than any big name brands and I have owned a lot of them. Also his prices are very reasonable. I would buy from him again.