Ealdwine's Matt Gray and Jim Pietryka on How To Open an Alden Shop, Selling Vibergs, and The Matt Gray Pose

Matt Gray came out of nowhere to become an instant Alden legend, and one of the Instagram kings of rare shell cordovan. Now Matt and partner Jim Pietryka—who has almost a decade of experience in the shoe biz and an insane vintage shoe collection—are about to celebrate the second anniversary of their Raleigh, NC shop Ealdwine.

In the first episode of Shoecast Season 3, Ben from Stitchdown.com and Ticho cover a ton with Matt & Jim, from how they cook up some of the best, most distinctive Alden makeups in the entire game, to Jim's oldest vintage shoes (from the 40s!), to what shell cordovan would look like with Matt's face printed on it (and how we might be able to make it actually happen.

Oh and they let the cat out of the boot-bag on a very exciting brand they'll be stocking soon....


This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange, where you don't NEED an engineering degree to buy their engineer boots...but it helps.



Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera 

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2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.

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