August 29, 2013
In the hopes to maintain a balance between a beautiful suit and immaculate shoes when attending formal events, JM Weston has created their very own Black Tie Collection. Introducing 5 new models (some more formal than others IMHO), they have created what they feel is the perfect offering to accompany the immortal dinner suit. I quite like the fact that they are not all patent, as I do truly feel that this idea of having […]
August 22, 2013
I first came into contact with Masaru Okuyama’s shoes while I was in Paris visiting the Aubercy shop where they were hosting a little corner for Mr. Okuyama in the hopes to spread the name and exceptional work of this young, talented shoemaker. His shoes were simply amazing. No need to try and fluff it up but they were flawlessly beautiful in every sense of the idea, not only in make but design and detail. […]
July 11, 2013
You can always count on a patina artist to blow the socks off the crowd by creating a fire breathing shoe, and that is exactly what Paulus Bolten did just here in a recent collaboration with Ferrari (if I read the French script right). There are not too many color combinations more bold than red and yellow and while I hesitate to say that I myself would even rock these bad boys, I can certainly […]
June 16, 2013
June 14, 2013
It’s always a pleasure coming into contact with shoes that you have always seen online but never in person. I have always been quite intrigued with shoemaking from the “Eastern” part of Europe, as it is quite different than your makers here in England/France/Italy. You find that their shoes tend to be a bit more heavy looking and feeling. That doesn’t mean that they are like bricks or anything, as you can clearly see here, […]
May 24, 2013
Today is just one of those days where I am quite bored of talking about shoes and find myself a bit more inclined to talk about something that bothers me a bit, not in the sense that it personally disrupts my being, but rather makes me feel sad for society and how we are becoming (or rather how we have always been….). Like many of the people who live in London, I am subjected to […]
February 4, 2013
While I do love my wholecuts, free of anything at all, I must admit that I do think that I prefer it with a tad bit of brogueing, just to spice it up a bit. This lovely model here, made by Maftei, is the perfect example of a tiny bit of detailed brogueing just to separate the otherwise complete blank canvas that would be without it. But what I really like most about this shoe […]
January 10, 2013
There are not too many makers left that I am dying to get a pair from. I can definitely count them on one hand, with less than the 5 fingers. And as you can guess, Ivan Crivellaro is definitely one of them and not so much for his shoemaking capabilities, but more so for his out of this world patina work. However, the only problem with Ivan’s work is that he is so good and […]
October 15, 2012
A trip to Paris is not complete without me giving Septieme Largeur a visit to see what they have been cooking up! And it just so happened that a lot of their Fall/Winter 2012 product was coming in and I had the chance to take a couple of snaps for all of you to preview. I never tire of this brand because there is always something fresh to see, whether it’s a new patina color/variation […]
October 9, 2012
The thing about Xavier was that he was probably the most passionate person I have ever met. We talked for over an hour and a half and it was so clear that his shoes and the quality of them was the most important thing in the world to him. Money, mass distribution, online sales etc….none of this stuff mattered, only making the shoes to the best possible standard that he could. This was so admirable […]
