Canadian Brand Branching from Handbags to Footwear
Today’s Footwear Review Looks at the Benson Derby
I’m always willing to try new brands out there. Why stick with the same brand for everything? Every brand is supposed to bring something new to the table and give something for consumers to get excited about. Welcome to the WANT Les Essentiels Footwear Review.
The brand today, WANT Les Essentiels has been a name I’ve seen pop up here and there. Mainly it was sneakers (which I have plenty of) that I continued to come across. Then I came across the Benson Derby in black online. It was a very minimalistic design and had a slightly-more rounded toe. I’m one for more pointed dress shoes, but something about this pair of Derbys just seemed like it was worth checking out. Here’s the WANT Les Essentiels Footwear Review.
Initial Thoughts of the WANT Les Essentiels Benson
Another black dress shoe. Yes, there’s thousands of styles out there, but once again they all cater to specific customers. Some don’t want brogueing, some a different style heel, some don’t like Chisel toes. Endless options. These WANT Les Essentiels Benson Derby’s seemed to have just a blend of everything out there for an every day dress shoe.
The one style factor about this shoe was that it seemed to be just a little wider than an almond-toe box style. It might just be the very toe of the shoe being visually wider, but it definitely makes the whole silhouette of the shoe seem wider in general.
However, what most people will likely pay attention to are the stitching design differences and the two-tone eyelet colors. Minimalistic with just enough details to stand out from the competitors.
What Details do the WANT Les Essentiels Benson have?
This is a trademark style that WANT Les Essentiels does to all the eyelets of their dress shoe styles. A silver eyelet paired with a rose gold eyelet. Not much but a small, distinguishing detail that may pump some people up. Is it very noticeable? No, but to the footwear mavens and shoe-conscious consumers (they are in the millions) these things can stick out to people. Sometimes as the wearer, it’s just a nice confidence booster to know you’re wearing something different from the masses.
The other detail is the stitching patterns. As you’ll notice on the sides of the Benson Derby, the stitchings are a straight angled stitch right into the bottom of the sole. It’s black on black yes, but when you’re analyzing shoes at the shoe store you’ll notice that most dress shoes have the same stitching patterns. WANT Les Essentiels tweaked it just a bit, but the stitching does help with the overall minimalistic feel of the silhouette.
How Comfortable are the WANT Les Essentiels Benson Oxfords?
For a leather dress shoe that you usually expect to break in, the WANT Les Essentiels Benson was an instant comfort fit. The insoles are extremely well padded with what feels like some extra foam bedding. The top layer of the insole is also all one piece. I hate it when brands have the two-part top layer of the insole as it always curls up. Such an annoyance.
The extra comfort of this shoe definitely has to do with the width of the shoe as well. Is it a little too wide is what I find myself asking. I do have a slightly wider foot, but this fit may just be a design difference. These are 42’s which I usually order, but I feel that I could probably fit into 41’s for a snugger fit.
Small Things to be Aware of with the WANT Les Essentiels Benson
The leather is very supple with a very fine, grainy texture. It’ll probably show signs of creasing relatively easy, but just keep those shoe trees nearby. The tongue of the shoe is also very well padded and shouldn’t put any pressure on your instep.
As the laces do lace up, it doesn’t feel like they really bring together the side panels of the shoe as tight as they should. Is this maybe an issue with the construction design of the shoe? There is some swimming within the length of the shoe and the heel does have some more slippage then usual for a dress shoe.
For the last part of the WANT Les Essentiels Footwear Review I will just mention the sole quickly. The Benson has a mix of a rubber base for the front part and back part of the heel base. There is a strip towards the back of the rubber base that feel like a plastic strip glued on top. I have no idea what the design intention behind that is. The mid-sole of the shoe is then leather with the front heel base also being leather. We do have a gentleman’s corner on the bottom sole and the WANT Les Essentiels running stick figure man is implanted right on the heel. It’s a pretty unique sole.
Conclusion: Final Thoughts of the WANT Les Essentiels Men’s Oxfords
WANT Les Essentiels is a brand worth keeping an eye for with their new footwear selection. As they did start up built around handbags, their footwear selection has been growing and does have some very nice minimalistic designs that consumers can definitely appreciate.
For the final thoughts of the WANT Les Essentiels Footwear Review of the Benson Derby, I would recommend it but to go down a size. I would definitely have to make a final decision of trying the next size down to see if fits correctly.
From a design standpoint, I am intrigued at the design elements WANT Les Essentiels brings to the table. If I get the opportunity, I would be interested in analyzing some of their future footwear collections. If you have any thoughts about the WANT Les Essentiels Footwear Review or knowledge to share of the brand please comment below!
For other dress shoe reviews on Emploom please check them out here!
Images by Anson Zong-Liscum
