The Bespoke Shoes Thread

T4phage · May 11, 2015

meccariello just
finished work on
one of my
gator shoes
and sent me
tinypics..

toe to throat
side elastic

jerrybrowne · May 11, 2015

These came out quite nicely!

SoGent · May 11, 2015

Ric Borella said:
Calzoleria Riccardo Borella

like those

SoGent · May 11, 2015

T4phage said:
meccariello just finished work on one of my gator shoes

toe to throat
side elastic

perfectly proportioned - enjoy

mw313 · May 12, 2015

they look fantastic. another great work form Antonio!

bienluienapris · May 12, 2015

SoGent said:
like those

I have a pair from Riccardo Borella and some friends have too. He's really a good guy and he works well, the price is also very very good.

Here's a little post from Justin Fitzpatrick about Riccardo : http://www.theshoesnobblog.com/2015/04/riccardo-borella.html

emptym · May 12, 2015

Concordia said:
I'm re-thinking my travel wardrobes. The ideal is to have a collection of shoes all from the same last, so I can save space by omitting at least one pair of trees. Wear one, pack one (or two). For a longer trip, pack three but use only two sets of trees, and stuff boxers and socks in the third pair.

The trick is finding the right combination for the road. Two-day business trips = 2 black oxfords (unless it's in California). Wear one on the train to NY, pack one for evening or the next day. Holiday travel will need at least one sturdy brown pair to handle walking on cobblestones, plus one black pair for nights out if I'm in a city. A soft pair of suede or grained derbies is a nice addition for comfort after a long day. Something that can stand up to lousy weather is a plus, since I won't have a full rotation to ride out the rainstorms.

Air travel is tricky-- the obvious solution is loafers, but my best-fitting options there are either too flimsy for serious walking (Wildsmith/Edward Green) or lasted to induce a hint of back pain if I spend too much time standing in them (Alden). Not to mention the steel shank in the Aldens that require removal even when I get into the TSA-blessed security queue. In some ways, the safest way to handle the longest air trips is a pair of soft derbies, which won't require a shoe-horn to put on after x-ray, and which will comfortably accommodate even slightly-swollen feet at the end of the flight.
Elastic slip-ons get good press, but if you can't find your shoe-horn after the x-ray or recreate one on the spot, you're screwed.

After several months of neglect due to experimenting with Vass lasts and revisiting Edward Greens from a while back, I've come back to wearing some Cleverley shoes in the last few weeks. Even the ones I'd become less fond of are unexpectedly comfortable, so I think it may be time to renew one or more black oxfords. The very first (and maybe best) pair they made for me in 1997 is hopelessly cracked. I can wear them, but I have no desire to look like Prince Charles in that respect. The next pair (2000) is starting to show hints of cracking. Central heat, and lack of worry on my part are to blame on both of those. And there is some nasty salt damage on some 2005 black quarter-brogues that I'm still having trouble getting out. Anyway, now that they're admitting to using "crup," perhaps a pair of black shell cap-toes for use in the winter. Or sharkskin plain-toed oxfords, for mating with tweed or flannel, and/or slushy, salty streets. Those would handle nearly any trip to London or New York with no trouble, and I have enough browns to cover the rest.

Belt and wallet are often out when going through security, and an ID, credit card, or belt tip are helpful for slipping on shoes.

jerrybrowne · May 15, 2015

Another update on my first pair of shoes by Nicholas Templeman.

Based on the fit of the trial pair (which was already pretty good), Nicholas has made adjustments to my last. In order to get an idea of the changes, here are adjustments made just to the right shoe of the last.

marcodalondra · May 16, 2015

Collected today in Naples. I was worried as they looked slimmer then my RTW ... But the volume is in the right place, over the instep. I never had an Oxford fitting so comfortably from the very first wear, and I know now what the "hugging the heel" with comfort means

jerrybrowne · May 16, 2015

marcodalondra said:
Collected today in Naples. I was worried as they looked slimmer then my RTW ... But the volume is in the right place, over the instep. I never had an Oxford fitting so comfortably from the very first wear, and I know now what the "hugging the heel" with comfort means

They did a great job with these.

bengal-stripe · May 16, 2015

marcodalondra said:
Collected today in Naples. I was worried as they looked slimmer then my RTW ... But the volume is in the right place, over the instep. I never had an Oxford fitting so comfortably from the very first wear, and I know now what the "hugging the heel" with comfort means

Very fine Anglo/Italian co-operation. Both, the shoemaker in Naples and the lastmaker in London
(St. Crispin's little brother) did do a very good job. Hopefully these lasts will beget many more shoes.

"I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

marcodalondra · May 16, 2015

Thanks both.

Once again Bengal, I really appreciate your help and pointers. The last will need probably small adjustments. Once I wear these shoes for few weeks I'll check with Steven to see what he suggest.

I will eventually want to replace by 10 pairs of Formal shoes and also get some balmoral oxfords, cricket shoes (a copy from a picture of my great grandfather), monks and few loafers and slippers.

T4phage · May 20, 2015

teh 'crisi' in
italy may not
be such a bad
thing...

... a shoemaker
closed shop and
offered meccariello
a few top choice
alligator hides
which he is offering
for an 'interesting'
price..

so that is why
i nao have my second
gator shoes
a wholecut loafer:

standard (non aurum)
'campus' loafer

rostov · May 20, 2015

This fall, I plan to place an order for a SWB or LWB in olive suede and tan / burnished leather. Leaning toward doing this as a LWB, as eventually I'm thinking to do a tweed+calf SWB spectator. Likely AE due to price and comfort / sizing of their lasts (I'm a 10.5 3E).

Basically, something like one of these:

jerrybrowne · May 27, 2015

In addition to the split toe blucher he's currently making for me, Nicholas Templeman is also making a pair of reverse calf butterfly loafers.

Here are steps in the making of my dedicated loafer last. As you can see the differences between the loafer last and the lace up last are subtle but important. One major difference is that the quarters are thinned out on the loafer last facilitating the tighter fit necessary for a loafer.

The right foot of my adjusted laceup last

The left foot of my loafer last

The Bespoke Shoes Thread

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