April 22, 2019
My favorite shoe of the Bespoke Shoemaking competition was actually the one that took 9th place and was made by Russian Shoemakers, Per Nobile. It is the shoe highlighted and the one that blew my mind away in terms of pattern making, which I feel often goes overlooked in this contest as maybe the direction of the discussion is often more heavily weighed into looking at details like how narrow the waste is and how […]
December 27, 2018
There is a new outfit in town and when I say ‘town’ I mean Milan, Italy. You might see the boot above very reminiscent of Riccardo Bestetti’s gladiator pattern and well that is because Calzoleria Oscura is comprised of the makers that used to work for Riccardo himself before his passing. Deciding to move on, the new company went out and started their own venture taking with them what they learned from the late, great […]
October 19, 2018
The more that I see this model by Stephane Jimenez the more that I appreciate it. He basically blended a saddle oxford with a swan neck and really took shoe design to another level. And its funny because changes like this are really quite simple yet no one ever does them. All too often to oxfords look the same and its really quite boring. So seeing something somewhat different like this is always appreciated, at […]
April 25, 2018
Post written by Jesper of Shoegazing Blog 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 Championships in Shoemaking. Info, comments, pictures of the shoes and in some cases also the manufacturing process. Brace yourself, this is the largest post ever posted on this blog (and there’s been some really long ones, as many know), so large that it […]
November 21, 2017
I recently wrote a piece about lies in the industry and how the terms ‘handmade’ and no-middlemen and the like were tossed around like confetti and that they meant nothing as were both used incorrectly. Of course, you have people that love to be blind to reality and want to believe in pure bliss like denial that their factory made shoes are ‘handmade.’ That being, as I am on a quest to really educate the […]
October 11, 2017
Pulling off an aggressive line in a classic shoe is a hard thing to do. And when I say aggressive I don’t mean it in negative way but rather something as drastically different to what a classic shoe normally (and with strong standard) entails. The facing is done with very sharp and well thought out detailing. The harmonious point in which the curve of the facing parrallels with the wing cap is very subtle […]
June 16, 2017
As many of you know, I am a super fan of the saddle oxford, ever since I saw the iconic bespoke sample in the workshop of Stefano Bemer back in 2008. It is not often that you see a saddle oxford that is strikingly different than the original design, but Stephane Jimenez (who also trained under Bemer) made one that is quite amazingly different than the iconic model. And it is dashingly handsome to say […]
April 11, 2017
There are handmade bespoke shoes and then there are Handmade Bespoke Shoes. Guess which one Yohei Fukuda makes? You see, anyone can learn to make shoes, but few can learn to make them to the level that this master shoemaker does. When you see his shoes in person you see complete, flawless perfection. They are literally jaw-dropping and it makes me wonder how much time he puts into one pair. Nevertheless these have to be […]
June 23, 2016
There are not too many saddle oxfords out there, but an even more underrepresented oxford is the swan neck oxford, which for me is among the most elegant of oxfords. It goes back to the whole idea of being afraid of what we are not used to, like dark blue, dark green or any color leather outside of oxblood, black and shades of brown. I actually find this shoe to be more elegant and formal […]
June 21, 2016
On our Savile Row Style Part 2 I am going to introduce to you STOWERS BESPOKE. Stowers is a part of the so called “new generation” of bespoke tailors that has made an appearance on Savile Row, as the company was only established in 2006. Although the founder had previously worked in Gieves and Hawkes for 25 years (where he was also head of bespoke for some time). Their offering includes an elegant line of […]
