The Bespoke Shoes Thread

[Crispyj]

Without them I chew right through the sole at the toe into the welt. I have some shoes that are longer and shorter in the toe and it is all of the same. I think it has a lot to do with, well, how you wear your shoes and the amount and location of your walking. As a New Yorker I walk more daily than a lot of people and this isn't shuffling from a car to a carpeted office. It is pavement and in most cases very crappy pavement. Furthermore, I walk very fast. You think you walk fast? Oh, I assure you I walk faster. I will speed walk anybody on here, even on wet pavement. Challenge me and be doomed!

I have the same problem with my leather soles

Where do you get your toe plates in NYC? Any cobbler recommendations?

 

[DWFII]

Without them I chew right through the sole at the toe into the welt. I have some shoes that are longer and shorter in the toe and it is all of the same.

Well, YMMV but there are a number of factors that influence toe wear...little or no toe spring can be a major one and again, that's the trend these days. I know you probably don't want to hear this but gait could be another.

The whole purpose, the whole raison d'etre of shoes...and the reason and way they evolved as they did...is to provide a beautiful, protective, flexible, repairable covering for the foot. Armour ain't in it. Armour is another Trade.

But only partially tongue-in-cheek, if it's such a problem why not mount hobnails (you might get three years out of an outsole even in your environment) and/or Tricounis? For a lifetime of wear even in NY, even on granite.

?

 

[DWFII]

And again, let me reiterate...my objection is as a maker. If toe plates are the only way a person can cope...well, let the devil take the hindmost.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

If I walked fast enough to generate toe off like that, I would be pouring sweat. Then again, my sweat response accelerates like a Ferrari...

if I even think about sweating I sweat. I am with you!

I have the same problem with my leather soles

Where do you get your toe plates in NYC? Any cobbler recommendations?

Recently I have been buying shoes from makers that install them from the start, but in the past Nick V. @ VIP Shoe Service Plus has done them for me.

Well, YMMV but there are a number of factors that influence toe wear...little or no toe spring can be a major one and again, that's the trend these days. I know you probably don't want to hear this but gait could be another.

The whole purpose, the whole raison d'etre of shoes...and the reason and way they evolved as they did...is to provide a beautiful, protective, flexible, repairable covering for the foot. Armour ain't in it. Armour is another Trade.

But only partially tongue-in-cheek, if it's such a problem why not mount hobnails (you might get three years out of an outsole even in your environment) and/or Tricounis? For a lifetime of wear even in NY, even on granite.

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?

I definitely think gait is part of the problem, you're correct, but I did say I walk with purpose. So much so my shoes wear out in multiple places. The ball, the big toe, and the tippy tip. Take a gander...

just to note, these are very old shoes that have cracked in the camp and I’m just wearing them into the ground as rain shoes (bad weather today).

 

[DWFII]

Do you go upstate or to Vermont to "camp?"

 

[patrickBOOTH]

No, why?

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Here, I am thinking I am going to get brownie points for DW for using my shoes into the ground before scrapping them and he left hooks me! ?

 

[DWFII]

No, why?

Well, you said they "cracked in the camp."

And aren't "Brownies" a version of Girl Scouts? And don't they have Jamborees and campouts, and such? Maybe that's where your shoes cracked?

Here, I am thinking I am going to get brownie points for DW for using my shoes into the ground before scrapping them and he left hooks me! ?

shhhssss--the sound of desert dry western wit falling on a "NY state-of-mind."

Seriously...no worries, I appreciate you, sincerely.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

I didn't realize I mistyped vamp! I'm sorry!

 

[DWFII]

I didn't realize I mistyped vamp! I'm sorry!

I know--the Great and Mysterious macSuibhne always knows.

 

[Nick V.]

From my experience we do between 50 and 70 pair of metal toe plates per week. We've been doing them for years. I don't recall one instance where a customer brought a single shoe back with damage to the inseam or welt. I can only speculate if a cobbler is damaging shoes when he installs metal toe plates that he doesn't know what he is doing.
The screws we use can't be found in a hardware store. At least not around here. We source them from a specialty hobby parts outfit located in Fort Worth TX and they still have to be modified (as well as the toe plate) for the correct fit.
Many of the competitors in the World Championship Shoe Making Competition were praised by many on this forum. I saw quite a few of those competitors using metal toe plates on their entries. Why would they enter a damaged shoe for the competition let alone win it!!!

World Championships in Shoemaking - All competition shoes pt.1 - Shoegazing.com

30 black oxfords, made by shoemakers from all over the world. Here's a substantial review of all the competition shoes that entered the World

shoegazing.com

Also, FWIW re-welting a hand welted shoe (for a repair shop) is no different that re-welting a GYW shoe.

 

[BomTrady]

Some more info and pics on Daniel Wegan's new Catella Shoemaker project in this article here. A few photos below, taken by Neus Benavent:

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Beautiful footwear! Interesting....no or very little toe spring. I have a pair of SB with a small toe spring like this and I don’t quite know how I feel about it. Does anyone have an opinion about what it does to a shoe’s silhouette? I think I love it, but I may also hate it? I dunno.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

I think the little toe spring is a function of the heel height. Could be wrong.

 

[DWFII]

I think the little toe spring is a function of the heel height. Could be wrong.

Theoretically...according to foot mechanics...the lower the heel the more toe spring it needs. Or perhaps better said, the more a shoe profits from toe spring.

 

[ntempleman]

have you considered roller skates