March 30, 2020
A sole is a shoemaker’s blank canvas. A part of the shoe that they can truly express themselves. While uppers are somewhat ‘standardized’, in the sense that there are expectations of what they need to be/look like, the sole is the part where creativity can run wild and a shoemaker can truly show their talents on their blank canvas of art. As a blogger and an advocate of shoes, it is often that we just […]
March 27, 2020
Altan Bottier, of Paris, France, just recently decided to use the current state of the world to introduce something new on their Instagram page. One positive thing about facing adversity is it often causes one to question their direction, and see if they can either improve or offer something new/different as a way to ‘think outside the box.’ And so, like most retailers are facing at the moment with the decline in orders, it would […]
February 3, 2020
Atelier Dutranchet has recently made several pairs of their version of a double strap monk, one in black and one in brown. They are not the first to markrt to make this pattern but I like their version more than any other that I have seen. In reality, I didnt actually like this model until now. There are several details on their version that set the model apart. Lets look at them. 1. Notice that […]
August 8, 2019
Following yesterday’s roast of Berluti’s RTW atrocities, is the upside post about their Bespoke Program and the amazingness that comes out of that. I recently saw this photo on the Instagram account of @sole_preacher and was immediately impressed with all that was going on. Now, don’t get me wrong. This is not a ‘normal’ shoe. This, for me, is not necessarily a wearable shoe either (i.e. I would not wear it) but the detail, making, […]
July 17, 2019
***Pics of shoes have nothing to do with the post, just for your eye candy*** There is a lot of confusion in the consumer’s eyes on what you should expect from a pair of shoes and I was hoping to clear that up for some of you as it is important to know what you will get from what you will pay for in a pair of shoes. So let’s break it down. I have […]
July 1, 2019
Parisian shoemaker, Aubercy, makes a very awesome shade of green leather. One that they in fact, use a ton and that I love to see. It’s a very deep, dark Emerald like green that is more vivid than most green shades out there. You don’t often find so many box calf skins in green (pre-dyed in the tannery) so what you tend to find is it being dyed after the fact on a crust leather. […]
June 5, 2019
For those of you that haven’t heard of him, there is a new bespoke shoemaker in town (of course, when I say new, I don’t mean literally) that is of French origin but set up with operations in Dubai. And his name is Morgan Papin. I don’t recall how I came across him. For sure on Instagram. But what got me was the shoe above. We all know that I am a huge sucker for […]
May 14, 2019
This is part two of the massive walkthrough of all competition shoes in the World Championships in Shoemaking 2019. Here position 11 to 40 is reviewed with comments and pictures.
May 13, 2019
40 dark brown full brogue oxfords, made by shoemakers from all over the world. Here’s a substantial review of all the competition shoes that entered the World Championships in Shoemaking 2019. Info, comments, pictures of the shoes and in some cases also the manufacturing process.
March 25, 2019
Just a quick email of the winners of the competition for the World Championship in Bespoke Shoemaking 1st place – Daniel Wegan of Gaziano & Girling 2nd place – Christophe Corthay 3rd Place – Eiji Murata of Main D’or A longer blog post will follow but for those of you eager to know and see the winners, here is a small teaser! Stay tuned for more! -Justin FitzPatrick
