The Bespoke Shoes Thread

[ntempleman]

They’re horse front leather (or “front quarter horse hide” if you’re familiar with leather jacket parlance) throughout, but when you make a boot you need to “block” the vamps to get the curve up the leg - stretch the leather over a shaped wooden block. This smooths leather out a lot as you can probably imagine, and the effect is most noticeable on this kind of rustic leather while a smooth shiny calf can’t get much smoother and shinier. It’s only slightly noticeable now while they’re brand new, once they’ve been worn everything will fall into place like the shoulders on a brand new bespoke jacket

 

[jiredell]

There's a guy from Oregon hanging 'round here, which I've been told knows a thing or two about bespoke shoe/boot-making.
Maybe @DWFII knows him ...

I have seen this gentleman on the forum before. Thank you. My sister and her family live in Dundee, OR, where my brother-in-law is the winemaker for Alexana. I wonder if Mr. @DWFII is a fan of fine wines.

 

[DWFII]

Just for clarification.(and I thank @Luigi_M and you for thinking of me) I am more or less retired. I am still working--finishing up old orders and making shoes for myself and my family, still teaching (although the virus has put that on hold) and available for consultation, but I am no longer taking orders.

And neither here nor there, I would offer this observation--FWIW: One of my favourite personal pairs of shoes is a pair of full cut chelseas. And I have a fair stock of heavy, wide elastic. But from a makers POV, if anyone is looking for an ankle high shoe, I wouldn't recommend either chelseas or zipper boots. Both the zipper and the elastic are seriously problematic for high end shoes.

The elastic will inevitably, invariably stretch out over a relatively short period of time (compared to the expected life of the shoe) and end up looking like crap.

And the zipper--I've never seen one that didn't jam and or break or rip. Again, well before its due date.

Both these aspects are difficult for the maker to repair cleanly, with any precision or grace (much less a shoe repairman) simply because they are mounted in the shoe when the leather is flat and the edges / seams are easily accessible.

And they are both open to the world and all the accompanying dust, debris, and detritus.

The better option is a Jodhpur. IMPO...

PS...can't drink wine, anymore--too acidic. Love high end single malts with good peat reek and/or a good Amber or Porter.

?

 

[Guccinski L.V.]

Thank yo for your note on this. I was just considering Chelseas vs. Jodhpurs and for some reason Jodhpurs from exactly the same leather is slightly cheaper. Cannot understand why (simple to make?) as it is better looking boot imho. (talking about Carmina shoemaker from Spain)

 

[benjamin831]

First pair of tan shoes ever. I've always found the color a bit repulsive; very first year analyst. But here we are.

 

[acapaca]

Ooh, baby, Who made those for you?

 

[jiredell]

Just for clarification.(and I thank @Luigi_M and you for thinking of me) I am more or less retired. I am still working--finishing up old orders and making shoes for myself and my family, still teaching (although the virus has put that on hold) and available for consultation, but I am no longer taking orders.

And neither here nor there, I would offer this observation--FWIW: One of my favourite personal pairs of shoes is a pair of full cut chelseas. And I have a fair stock of heavy, wide elastic. But from a makers POV, if anyone is looking for an ankle high shoe, I wouldn't recommend either chelseas or zipper boots. Both the zipper and the elastic are seriously problematic for high end shoes.

The elastic will inevitably, invariably stretch out over a relatively short period of time (compared to the expected life of the shoe) and end up looking like crap.

And the zipper--I've never seen one that didn't jam and or break or rip. Again, well before its due date.

Both these aspects are difficult for the maker to repair cleanly, with any precision or grace (much less a shoe repairman) simply because they are mounted in the shoe when the leather is flat and the edges / seams are easily accessible.

And they are both open to the world and all the accompanying dust, debris, and detritus.

The better option is a Jodhpur. IMPO...

PS...can't drink wine, anymore--too acidic. Love high end single malts with good peat reek and/or a good Amber or Porter.

?

I was wondering if you'd decided to "fully retire." Your website at the moment says that you started making dress shoes in your "retirement"--presumably, for something to do--and that your order backlog is 3 years deep. Good to know that you're not taking orders, so thanks.

Do you--or does anyone on this thread--have any familiarity with Reid Elrod's work? He's based in Portland, and as I said, I have family just outside of the city, so more than one reason to make a trip for shoes. His website has not been updated in a few years, so there's that . . .

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reidelrodbespoke.com

 

[DWFII]

I was wondering if you'd decided to "fully retire." Your website at the moment says that you started making dress shoes in your "retirement"--presumably, for something to do--and that your order backlog is 3 years deep. Good to know that you're not taking orders, so thanks.

Do you--or does anyone on this thread--have any familiarity with Reid Elrod's work? He's based in Portland, and as I said, I have family just outside of the city, so more than one reason to make a trip for shoes. His website has not been updated in a few years, so there's that . . .

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reidelrodbespoke.com

That info on my website was created a hundred years ago. I started making high end men's dress shoes 10-15? years ago.

Here's Reid's IG page.

 

[BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes]

First of all, how the hell is everyone here doing? Been a while since I got unto this thread.

Doing a little cross post here from one of the other threads to see if we can ramp up some interest in English/Italian shoe but made by a Japanese artisan.

His name is Seiichi Yoshimoto of the brand Perticone. He's a shoemaker based out of Rome, Italy.

The man trained under Gaetano, one of the Italian master shoemakers.
He's also worked with George Cleverley for 10+ years.
Which means he has both Italian and English shoemaking skills under his belt. From the pictures, you can see that that is reflected in his style. Structure of English styling, but with a touch of Italian flair.

Anyways, I am attempting to persuade him to come to New York. He doesn't seemed convinced that there would be much interest from us Americans and Canadians. We need to change that!

Important details of note, and a bit of persuasion for you all.
He offers Bespoke shoes at 2500€ which includes 1-2 fittings and shoe trees.
The 2nd pair would be less (I didn't receive a quote about that price).

If you can fit his trial shoes or you don't have crazy feet, his MTM prices start at 1450€. Unfortunately for MTM, he will not entertain doing them without in person measurements and examination of your feet.

He does all his own work (he has I believe 2 ppl working directly there with him). No outsourcing past that though! Hand-lasted, Hand-welted, Hand-sewn soles. He uses leather toe puffs, leather counters and leather side linings.
He uses German, Italian, and French insoles and outsoles.

Here is some visual shoe Appreciation which hopefully will further persuade you.

View attachment 1402405 View attachment 1402406 View attachment 1402407 View attachment 1402408 View attachment 1402409 View attachment 1402410 View attachment 1402411 View attachment 1402412 View attachment 1402413 View attachment 1402414 View attachment 1402415 View attachment 1402416 View attachment 1402417 View attachment 1402418 View attachment 1402419 View attachment 1402420 View attachment 1402421 View attachment 1402422 View attachment 1402423 View attachment 1402424

Just let him know Bryan sent you ?.

And no, I get no special treatment, discounts, etc etc. Perhaps a firm handshake, maybe a fist bump if Covid is still around ????. Just figured I throw my name in there to let him know I wasn't blowing smoke up his A$$ about interest in his shoes.

Perticone-Bespoke (@perticone_official) • Instagram photos and videos

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[Encore]

Not sure if this is the right place to post these, please let me know if i should post it somewhere else.

I am wondering if it is possible to adjust the fit issue by insoles? If so, how difficult it is?

The reason is I just received a pair of RB shoes today and the instep is way too high for me. My first impression is to resell it, but taking a second thought, there are not so many RB shoes left, if I am able to make this pair work, I'd really want to keep it.

The fit looks like this:


I tried to shaved a half insole, and it seems to improve the fit a bit. But I think it's still not ideal and not sure if it can be further improved.


I tried to curved it more and stack thicker on the arch area, but it didn't improve at all.


Wondering if there's anyway to do it better?

 

[Encore]

Hi @ntempleman @DWFII,
May I ask for your input?

 

[j ingevaldsson]

Not sure if this is the right place to post these, please let me know if i should post it somewhere else.

I am wondering if it is possible to adjust the fit issue by insoles? If so, how difficult it is?

The reason is I just received a pair of RB shoes today and the instep is way too high for me. My first impression is to resell it, but taking a second thought, there are not so many RB shoes left, if I am able to make this pair work, I'd really want to keep it.

The fit looks like this:
View attachment 1402998

I tried to shaved a half insole, and it seems to improve the fit a bit. But I think it's still not ideal and not sure if it can be further improved.
View attachment 1402999 View attachment 1403000 View attachment 1403001 View attachment 1403002 View attachment 1403003

I tried to curved it more and stack thicker on the arch area, but it didn't improve at all.
View attachment 1403005 View attachment 1403004

Wondering if there's anyway to do it better?

If it's instep that is the problem, the best easy solution is a self-adhesive tongue pad, they work very well. A cobbler can do a similar thing more neatly, but takes more work of course.

Now, looks like the instep is much too high there, so not sure if it will be enough. Heard of people who have inserted double tongue pads though

 

[Encore]

If it's instep that is the problem, the best easy solution is a self-adhesive tongue pad, they work very well. A cobbler can do a similar thing more neatly, but takes more work of course.

Now, looks like the instep is much too high there, so not sure if it will be enough. Heard of people who have inserted double tongue pads though

You have no idea how many tongue pads I have lol!!!! (I probably bought more than 15 pairs in the past.)

Yeah I tried tougue pads first, unfortunately it doesn't work for this case. And yes, I did try to stack 2 tongue pads, and it's not working.

 

[dieworkwear]

I think you should sell the shoes. Guys who post on this forum eventually have more shoes than they know what to do with. If something doesn't fit well, you're always going to end up reaching for a different pair.

Also think it would be hard to wear that style in a classic outfit, or even something more casual.

 

[j ingevaldsson]

You have no idea how many tongue pads I have lol!!!! (I probably bought more than 15 pairs in the past.)

Yeah I tried tougue pads first, unfortunately it doesn't work for this case. And yes, I did try to stack 2 tongue pads, and it's not working.

Agree with die, probably better to just sell them off.