The Bespoke Shoes Thread

[jerrybrowne]

Thanks Nicholas! Sounds exciting. Yes, getting back into the swing of things. When are you back in Boston? Have some ideas for new things we can work on.

 

[ThinkDerm]

Great to see you back jerrybrowne, it’s always been a pleasure to make for you! I’ve actually got that belated replacement pair under way for you at the moment - found a guy who does that pie crust stitch and sourced the right leather to match 88 aniline. I’ll keep you posted

nick, can your guy do pie crust with cordovan leather too?

 

[ntempleman]

He did it once and wasn’t very happy about it. I wouldn’t be very happy about offering it, either

 

[ThinkDerm]

He did it once and wasn’t very happy about it. I wouldn’t be very happy about offering it, either

how did it come out? is this the same guy that does the cordovan pie crust for ascot/chu?

 

[ntempleman]

Think I mentioned it when I last saw you in nyc, but it looked pretty much how you’d expect it to look on cordovan - a bit rough. Cordovan isn’t really the right material for anything like that, and just because it can be done doesn’t mean it should

 

[DWFII]

just because it can be done doesn’t mean it should

Bears repeating...

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Here's another nugget for you to ponder--heels...as we know them...do not appear until the late 16th century. No records, no paintings, no descriptions exist to support heels...as we know them...before that time.

I’ve had this in my mind for a while now and I’ve been consciously trying to stumble upon earlier examples from paintings where heels could be found early 16th century and prior. Today I was at a museum, a couple actually and I still had this in mind. It really seems you’re correct and I find it fascinating. Where did the heel begin? Was it functional? (Stirrups, lift out of the mud) or aesthetic? (Lengthen the leg, add height)

 

[DWFII]

I’ve had this in my mind for a while now and I’ve been consciously trying to stumble upon earlier examples from paintings where heels could be found early 16th century and prior. Today I was at a museum, a couple actually and I still had this in mind. It really seems you’re correct and I find it fascinating. Where did the heel begin? Was it functional? (Stirrups, lift out of the mud) or aesthetic? (Lengthen the leg, add height)

AFAIK, the heel developed from a need to control the foot in the stirrup. We do have examples of what look like heels from Persia and the Middle East, but they are fundamentally pieces of horn and not really suitable for walking. And there is a somewhat famous painting of a medieval European clergyman(?) astride a horse wearing what looks like stacked leather heels but which, according to historians who've studied the work, are actually metal (probably brass) affixed to the shoe much like the Persian horn heels.

And there is also some (spurious?) evidence of red heels being worn by Mongol hordes sweeping into Europe in the 13th century, which turn out to be blocks of wood...again used to control the foot in the stirrup.

Then too, 'pattens' (a type of elevated sandal usually made of wood, which was strapped to the thin soled shoes of the time), appear fairly early on to keep people out of the mud and ordure in the streets.

And as shoes with heavier, thicker soles began to appear, sometimes several layers of sole leather would end up at the heels if only to repair the most vulnerable wear spots.

In all of the above, however, and again, nowhere in the literature or artwork prior to the third quarter of the 16th century, do we see anything that looks like, or is used like, what we know as a heel.

I suspect, like all things that evolve, it wasn't one thing but rather a combination of all of the above factors that led to a deliberate stacking of discreet layers of leather to produce a real heel.

After that, the only real issue was how to prevent the waist of the shoe from sagging downward with a higher heel.

 

[daizawaguy]

Bespoke by Kiyo Uda

 

[willyto]

Kirby made a video about the George Cleverley lasts:



I wonder why when searching online for bespoke shoes for sale (for example on Ebay) the ones that mainly appear for sale are a lot of George Cleverley and John Lobb Saint James. Many pairs even unused, the customers never pick them up or just leave them in the shoe closet unworn I guess. I can imagine it has to do with the volume produced too though.

 

[takashi78]

I almost never see any JLSJ being posted in the forum here.

 

[ottmt89]

One of the latest works. A derby in leather suede and some workmanship. More updates soon.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

I'm surprised I don't know the answer to this question. How long does it take to make a pair of shoes on average?

 

[Texasmade]

Most makers say 6-9 months for the first pair which includes at least 1 trial fitting. I’m usually told this is about 80 man hours in total which includes making the last.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Hours is what I was asking about specifically. 80 hours seems right in my mind, but I have never made a shoe...