Shoes, Handmade in the United States for $1000.00 - Page 3

ask yourself, what do you do with a last that already carries the signature of a certain shoemaker, who worked on them?

i haven't met a shoemaker who would use that particular last, yet.

I believe Cliff Roberts shoes are not bespoke in the sense I understand it. He does a more made to order on a pre selected last and some of the work is done with machines.It may be that he does do a full bespoke service but at a higher price.Hand welting is only one process of many in fully bespoke work so a hand welted shoe for $1000 may not be handcrafted in all aspects.Nothing wrong with that but it makes a whole difference to prices if everything is done by hand. Part of the reason the top end bespoke makers are so expensive is they have big overheads to cover that a one man band does not.The chap I have used works for London shops and has made for me in his spare time, I also had a last for him to tweak a little as I had not had shoes made for a while,I can assure you he works hard for his money and is not driving around in a Rolls Royce.

Why would you think you automatically own the last? If the shoemaker is carving the last from a solid block of wood to exactly your shape and measurements, then either he is charging for that service (and it could raise the price of a pair of bespoke shoes double or more) in which case you may indeed own the last. Or he is not. In which case you need to factor in the time and skill and even artistry that goes into carving a set of lasts...and it won't be cheap. It is every bit as detailed, studied and skilled a Trade as the making of the shoe.

If the shoemaker is modifying a standard last, chances are he has not built either the price of the last or the work done modifying it, into the cost of the shoes. Lasts are a tool every bit as much as a hammer or a pincer is a tool. Why would a shoemaker throw a pair of lasting pincers in with your order for bespoke shoes?

BTW...it might be said, if only parenthetically, that except in very skilled hands there is no way to say that carving the last from scratch is necessarily better than modifying a standard size last. If a shoemaker respects the foot and what is necessary to achieve a fit, it is raw materials either way. One method subtracts material (often having to add back) and the other adds material. Again, it is the perception and dedication of the shoemaker that is critical.

Springline, AFAIK, will work closely with the shoemaker but begins with a standard prototype--they don't carve individual lasts for each foot, IOW. I could be mistaken about that, but that's what I took away from my conversations with them.

At Lobbs St James, the last maker is a dedicated Trade completely separate from the shoemaking...and that's how the requisite experience and skill is obtained.

In hands that are less experienced (or, in the US, almost as a matter of practice) starting with a standard last and adding to modify at least ensures symmetry between the left and right...as far as that is possible making a bespoke pair of shoes. By default, the bottom profiles will be near-as-nevermind the same, in other words.

I would bet even money that an Anthony Delos (who carves lasts by hand) could and would achieve near identical results starting with and modifying a standard last.

As far as securing the lasts your shoes were made upon when the shoemaker dies or retires, I suppose that would need to be negotiated. But what are you gonna do? Watch the obituaries for the foreseeable future? And the poor widow...the last thing she's going to want to deal with is informing you that her husband died.
Edited by DWFII - 1/29/12 at 12:23pm

it's not impossible. depends on a lot of factors, though. can you link to it? thanks

That's a great point! One I hadn't thought to bring into the conversation but spot on in every way.

When I visited my maker with my lasts he was very unhappy with the idea at first and he only agreed to go ahead by remeasuring me and ajusting the last to his liking.He know the lastmaker that made my last but still wanted to put his own ideas to work

Well, the maker is borrowing trouble right from the get go. Suddenly he's held responsible for the fit as well as the styling (someone else's work, IOW). Patterns for shoes are specific to the last as well. So, even if I take on a pair of lasts from another shoemaker, none of the subtle techniques he has developed to make that last work with his patterns and to make the customer happy with the fit, are going to be available to me.

For instance, I am insistent that a shoe have a heel seat and tread width that corresponds to the foot. Not all shoemakers consider this important simply because the shoe is meant to be laced tighter or looser depending on personal preference. I am also kind of a stickler for getting the long heel measurement correct--the distance from the outside corner of the heel (of the foot) to the middle cuniform (a prominent bone that more or less defines the middle of the instep). Most shoemakers that I have run across don't even recognize that measurement much less apply it. Again, because lacing covers all sins.

If I am asked to make a pair of shoes on a last that takes none of this into consideration, I am more apt to refuse the order than accept...and if I do, I am going to want to re-measure the foot and modify the last. At which point, what's been gained?
Edited by DWFII - 1/29/12 at 4:31pm

exactly

no prob. i can always call or see my shoemaker.

glad you like it.