What is the difference between Bufford Shoes and other shoe brands?

Bufford Shoes are made with “Goodyear Welt” shoe construction unlike many other shoe brands that are made with “Blake” shoe construction.

BLAKE vs Goodyear Welt

Goodyear Welt shoes are more durable since sole units are easily resoleable. With Goodyear Welt the upper is better isolated from rain/weather conditions because of the cork insole and the way the upper is stitched using a real welt.

The main competitive advantage is that a Goodyear Welt is a REAL SHOE. That is, on a BLAKE STITCHED shoe or CEMENTED SHOE, the welt that you see is IMITATION... decorative. 99% of all the shoes worldwide have this decorative, fake welt. However, the welt you see on a Goodyear Welt shoe is REAL...functional. In other words, Goodyear Welt shoes are constructed the way shoes were produced hundreds of years ago, while BLAKE stitched shoes is the industrial (shortcut) way to produce shoes.

Most Italians use BLAKE STITCHED shoe production. They like to claim it is because they are more flexible and lighter, which is true, BUT the reality is that Italians do not have access to Goodyear Welt construction in Italy. Most of the factories are in UK and Spain. UK is too expensive for them to produce, so they end up going to Spain to produce Goodyear Welt shoes.