Errol’s boots from Robin Hood go under the hammer this month? But are they? I looked at the boots and the picture of Errol wearing them and they are so different. Not just the color but also the position of the laces on the top of the foot plus the cut of the turn over at the top of the boot. Am I mistaken or does someone know a bit more of the boots? www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2416765/Errol-Flynns-iconic-Robin-Hood-boots-hammer-Sherwood.html?ito=feeds-newsxml…
— tassie devil
Tim
September 10, 2013 at 11:28 pm
www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2416765/Errol-Flynns-iconic-Robin-Hood-boots-hammer-Sherwood.html…
I’m no expert on Errol’s feet!, but I believe he had shoe size at least a size 10 (US), consistent with his height, build, and atheticism. If so, it would be quite difficult for him to do all he did as Robin Hood in size boots (either UK or US). These ones going up for auction should therefore be carefully examined, even more so in light of your perceptive observations, tassie devil! Perhaps they were connected to the film, but not worn by Errol?
Here’s a link to shoes from Northhampton, owned by Errol, believed to be about size 10:
www.mecum.com…
Here’s a pair of Stacy Adams , also about size 10, believed to be his:
[img]http://p2.la-img.com/462/8256/1446869_1_l.jpg[/img]
The Real Person!
September 12, 2013 at 11:25 pm
All men wore these kind of shoes in the 30’s and 40’s.
What proof is there that these shoes are authentic and the same with – the spectators from Northampton, it sounds rather dodgy as said in England. They did not know they had Errol’s shoes in stock til know? Wow
Anyway, Errol’s favorite shoes were Moccasins!
Here are some pictures:
[img]http://www.theerrolflynnblog.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/shoesFrankft1954.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.theerrolflynnblog.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Shoes-Errol-Moccasin-1945.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.theerrolflynnblog.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/shoes-Errol-N.Y.Airport.jpg[/img]
Plus a picture of the Robin Hood boots, please look very carefully – I would say no – but maybe he had more pair than one and that is another story altogether. Remember the tights!
[img]http://www.theerrolflynnblog.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/A-a634x784.jpg[/img]
Tim
September 13, 2013 at 4:00 pm
I’m not saying anything here is either genuine or not, Tina! I have no clue on the true provenance of this allegedly esteemed footwear!!
As far as Northhampton goes, I think they may mean the shoes were made in Northhampton – a major shoe manufacturing town at that time I believe – not that Errol wore them during his repertory days there.
One way of finding out his shoe size might be to examine those shoes Errol reportedly mailed back to Australia, after he hit it big in Hollywood!
The Real Person!
September 13, 2013 at 6:38 pm
Hi Tim;
You are quite right, needs more research!
I wonder to whom he mailed those shoes in Northampton?
I have on record, found a long time ago on the Internet, that his shoe size was 11 1/2 but if true that is another question. Maybe it is true – who knows, my husband was 6’2 and he had size 11 1/2 but that says nothing.
As always with Errol all is just a good question, and as self-proclaimed he considered himself a question. mark
Tim
September 13, 2013 at 6:57 pm
My father, brother, and I, were/are all 6’2″, with shoe sizes all about 12. So, that would certainly ring true with me, Tina. Gauging by his build, I suspect Errol would not very easily fit into any (U.S. or British) size 8. Small feet would have likely limited his great swimming ability also.
I believe it was Sydney that Errol shipped his (unpaid-for) shoes back to. Perhaps he should have done the same, too, with the recently-reported underwear he apparently owed money on in England.
I’d say the photo below pretty much dispels any notion of a size 8 shoe – maybe on Arno, but not on Errol.
[img]http://visboo.com/img/12052010/43056.jpg[/img]
The Real Person!
September 13, 2013 at 7:17 pm
These look like the same shoes Errol wears at the station to pick up his father.
The Real Person!
September 14, 2013 at 6:28 am
Hi Tim;
Errol also had very big hands which was reported and actually you can see it on this picture. He was no slouch!
I think he had size 8 when he was 12 years old. Hahaha!
The Real Person!
September 13, 2013 at 7:23 pm
These shoes – for sale above – are called Oxfords if I am not mistaken!
Tim
September 13, 2013 at 8:25 pm
You sho’ know your shoes, Tina!
[img]http://www.rexkang.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/shoe-styles-renalan.png[/img]
The Real Person!
September 14, 2013 at 6:13 am
Thanks Tim!
The Real Person!
September 13, 2013 at 10:25 pm
It all depends on which country you are in as regards to the title given to certain objects.
HHDavis
September 10, 2013 at 11:37 pm
There is that line in _Blazing Saddles_ of Hedy–that’s Hedley–Lamar asking about Douglas Fairbanks “How did do all those stunts with such tiny feet?” Perhaps Errol Flynn was similarly small-footed? :)
Tim
September 11, 2013 at 12:59 am
Excellent point!
Though very athletic & dashing, Fairbanks’ feet sure didn’t make a big impression.
[img]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_yMnBS6_ICSs/SztFdXD3neI/AAAAAAAABtY/H1n8bArODEg/s200/063_HollywoodBlvd_Mann’sTheater_Douglas+Fairbanks.jpg[/img]
Tim
September 11, 2013 at 1:34 am
Somehow, Errol apparently escaped giving his prints to Grauman. At least I don’t recall seeing them there. We may not (yet) know his exact shoe size, but, thanks to Tina, though, we do know the sizes of his ankles (9 1/2), calves (13 1/2), thighs (20 1/2), waist (32) and hips (38)! Those, I think, are more likely consistent with a size 10 shoe size than a size 8.
The Real Person!
September 13, 2013 at 3:12 pm
HA HA! “Men in Tights” Great flick! Tim those are “Loafers”
close to moccasins but no cigar! LOL! At 6′ 2″ tall I think Errol had at least size 10-11 American sizing shoes.
Fairbanks was not very tall at 5′ 8or9″ so shoe would have been a 8-9 size but not always, just generalizing.
Tim
September 13, 2013 at 3:52 pm
I see them as loafers, too, Timerider, but maybe they’re called mocassins elsewhere. He seemed to like them. Looks like he wore them or similar ones to pick up his Dad at Union Station in LA, too.
I agree, too, that size 8 shoes would not likely fit Errol. He’d most likely be significantly larger.
[img]http://vickielester.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/1945-errol-flynn-picks-up-his-dad-at-union-station.jpg?w=800[/img]
The Real Person!
September 13, 2013 at 7:10 pm
Hi timerider;
Maybe you are right but we used to call this a Loafer
[img]http://www.theerrolflynnblog.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/shoes-loafers.jpg[/img]
And we used to call this a Moccasin at least in Europe
[img]http://www.theerrolflynnblog.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/shoe-moccasin.jpg[/img]
Maybe some of our fashion conscience men will know better?
and what Errol is wearing in this picture are same shoes I posted in my earlier post – please have look and compare and in my books they are Moccasins not Loafers – but……..
The Real Person!
September 13, 2013 at 10:23 pm
I have just received the following reply from the auctioneers. I suppose the buyer did not like the comments here and elsewhere about the validity of the boots??
Dear Mr Randall
Thank you for your interest in our forthcoming sale of theatrical costumes.
Unfortunately, lots 3301, 3302, 3303 and 3665 have now been withdrawn on the instructions of the vendor. Our client has decided to keep the items, which include Errol Flynn’s Robin Hood boots, in his private collection.
Tim
September 16, 2013 at 7:46 am
Congratulations, Tassie Devil! That’s the way to keep on their toes. You’re quite the gumshoe!!
If the shoe don’t fit, you can’t aquit. No reason to foot the over-sized bill for these under-sized boots.
And here’s some more evidence – provided by detective Flynn himself – from Footsteps.
[img]http://www.corbisimages.com/images/Corbis-PEN2105.jpg?size=67&uid=40567021-b8e9-422d-9937-6c247b80dba9[/img]
Tim
September 23, 2013 at 7:41 am
Read recently, tassie devil, that detailed measurements of Errol’s feet were taken by an exclusive shoe dealer in London, circa 1934, and that these exact measurements were subsequently placed in a vault, on Saville Row, I believe.. They may still be in that vault. … I will try to post more info on this after further research. Warner Brothers reportedly paid for these “bespoke” shoes, which Errol wore on the SS Paris on his first voyage to New York. My guess is that his shoe size was probably around (US) size 10 1/2 or 11 at that time. Photos of him on his trip to LA may well show those very shoes.
Tim
October 20, 2013 at 10:09 pm
Hi tassie devil. I found the name of the ‘bespoke’ shoe shop which kept Errol’s the precise measurements of Errol’s feet in a vault, along with other very notable foot measurements, such as Fred Estaire’s, et al. … It was McAfee’s, on Dover Street.
Just before leaving England for his first trip across the pond and on to Hollywood, Warner Brothers, through London rep Irving Asher, gave Errol a couple of hundred pounds for a new wardrobe. With the studio footing the bill, Mr. Flynn went lickety split to Saville Row for top shelf worsted suits and a camel hair coat, then to McAfee’s on Dover Street for three pairs of shoes – two pair in black & white, and one pair in brown & white – and a pair of riding boots.
Here are a pair of “Errol Flynn Style” shoes from Church Shoe Company, which has purchased McAfee.
[img]http://thumbs2.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mfy7Itfgh2m7N4w1_QQAe3Q.jpg[/img]