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Sartorial Adventures in Vienna, Budapest & Warsaw

gshen

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[Warning: picture heavy post!]

Thought I would share some some photos of my recent 12 day sartorial adventures in Central-Eastern Europe, mostly shoemakers:

We start with a certain Gerald Fischer in Vienna (Address: 1090 Wien, Liechtensteinstrasse 29):

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Unfortunatley, I did not get to handle the shoes as they were closed for lunch. They have a website though, www.fischerschuhe.at Prices were listed:

Maßschuhe (bespoke?) : 450E
Holzgenagelta: 258E
Goodyear: 168E
Handmade belts: 64E


Next, Abba schuhe, apparently made in Budapest(?), which also stocks Vass:
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Cannot remember the name of this glove shop, but it was located on Herrengasse (I think!).
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Balint was found on Singerstrasse. Very sexy lasts..:
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We head to Budapest now, with a random shoemaker of dubious quality - Toth Istvan. Claims to be made in 'various workshops in Hungary'. About 250Eur, claimed to be bespoke.. I did not bite.
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And of course... how can we miss Vass? It was quite the adventure finding the shop without having the address to start with:
First I spotted a display in between 2 random shops:
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Apparently, Vass is part of pop culture in Budapest:
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The trail continues...show yourself already!
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Seek and ye shall find:
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Prices are confirmed at 115,000HFT for U and F lasts, with 5,000HFT more for lasted trees. Additional 20,000HFT charge for cordovan, if I don't remember wrongly. Both Evas in the shop speak english, but Eva Vass was quite obviously more fluent.

Found an interesting fur shop on 1052 Budapest V., Vaci utca 10 1/4 (tel: 317-35-58). "No synthetics!", claims the owner proudly. He says that his family has been in the business 3 generations making fur, leather and wool products by hand. Very friendly chap.
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And we head north to Warsaw to seek out Jan Kielman, maker of shoes for Cpt. Charles de Gaulle!
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And some random pictures since life isn't all about shoes..
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HORNS

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Thanks for sharing these photos. The shoes along the river bank - is that an instillation made of bronze?
 

gshen

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Thanks folks. I had great fun indeed.

HORNS - yes, I believe those are brass. They were found along the river on the Pest side of the river.
 

bengal-stripe

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Originally Posted by voxsartoria
Great photographs.
Originally Posted by HORNS
Thanks for sharing these photos.

+1


Originally Posted by gshen
.... I did not bite.

Did you bite anywhere?
(apart from biting into the Currywurst. I had no idea, they sold them in either Vienna or Budapest.)
 

gshen

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Originally Posted by bengal-stripe
+1




Did you bite anywhere?
(apart from biting into the Currywurst. I had no idea, they sold them in either Vienna or Budapest.)


Yup... but you'll have to wait patiently with me to find out what i bit. The truth will be out in only a couple of weeks!!
 

lee_44106

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That's a lot of bespoke shoemakers.

Is shoemaking a big industry in Vienna/Budapest?

Is Vass at the top of the heap among shoemakers there?
 

Siggy

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I've bought some shoes from that Abba shop before. Decent prices on Vass, but they don't carry the U or F lasts. They do have great shoe trees though.
 

bengal-stripe

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Originally Posted by von Rothbart
Any info on Kielman's pricing?

You'll find a pricelist on their website:
http://www.kielman.pl/en/index.php


The period of completing the order is 3 to 6 weeks. Should the need arise, we can shorten the period without additional charges. Prices of custom-made brogues of best Polish calfskin start at PLN 1,900. Calfskins imported from Italy, Austria, Germany and France require an extra charge of PLN 200 - 300, Cordovan - PLN 1,200, ostrich - PLN 700, alligator - PLN 2,400, shark and ray - PLN 900, snakes PLN - 400. Shoe soles made of the Rendenbach butt - PLN 200. Oak shoe trees - PLN 150, cedar wood shoe trees - PLN 190. Courier mail shipment in Poland - PLN 50, in Europe - PLN 150, other countries PLN - 200.
At today's exchange rate 1,000 PLN = 345 USD
 

JohnGalt

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Did you finish the full wiener schnitzel at Figlmueller? Hope you walked down the street to Plachutta too
smile.gif
 

bengal-stripe

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Originally Posted by JohnGalt
Did you finish the full wiener schnitzel at Figlmueller?

Yes, and he was still hungry. Then he had the Currywurst!

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