Shoes Of The Week (And Possibly Of The Year)

I have to say that Japanese men are hands down the most bold when it comes to creating bespoke shoes, at least from what I have seen. This pair by Stefano Bemer, which I borrowed from some Japanese person's Flickr site, has to be one of the coolest designs that I have ever seen. While the shoe is relatively simple itself, the coloring and detailing of the leather is just amazing and incredibly unique. This, to me, is what defines the beauty of bespoke. Getting a great fit is wonderful and all but creating a shoe that is going to be 1 of 1, is another feeling in itself, especially when people approach you and ask where you got your shoes. Well, this post brings 2010 to an end and I wanted to thank all of my readers and say that I hope that you have enjoyed my site as much as I have enjoyed writing it for you. May you all have a Happy New Year!!!! See you in 2011!

Photo Courtesy Of: Chickalot06

My Shoes #11 - Gray Ferragamos

Being a big fan of Salvatore Ferragamo shoes, here is another one of my many. I particularly like this one because of the color, a deep, dark gray. Loving this color, I never understood why gray-colored shoes did not become more popular in society. In reality, it's a very conservative color, much like brown and black and is easily paired with suits that you find most businessmen wearing. Yet, as I have said before, they are hard to come by. Come to think of it, I don't think that I have ever seen a gray whole-cut. How amazing would that be? I guess it's just another thing to add to my checklist of shoes to make/design/dream of.... But seriously, I never understand why things are the way they are. Who decided that brown should be the alternative to black? Not that I don't love brown shoes, but it just makes me curious as to who decided all of these rules and why certain colors are generally nonexistent when they should really be just as readily available as anything else! The shoe industry needs some big changes.......

Random Thoughts - Sartorial Blunders

I was just realizing that I have not really been a 'snob' in quite awhile and I think it's about time that I got back into the role, being a big part of the reason I started this blog. I love giving shoe porn to the masses but, in reality, I especially love talking about all of the terrible, terrible sartorial choices that I witness in everyday life. Thankfully since I moved to Europe I have not seen this atrocity so much but just this last summer while I was home in America, I was so appalled that the major stores still sold boot-cut jeans as if they were still the high fashion. What's worse is that guys still wear them as if they are the coolest thing and to top it off they couple their boot-cuts with square-toed shoes, GROSS!!

Sometimes, I feel like it's not the fault of these d-bags, for dressing the way they do but really the fault of the buyers of America who, unfortunately, still buy this crap!!! Because really, if the buyers can't move on, then neither can the public. Thankfully though, there are European stores like Zara and H&M -- which have more proper fitting silhouettes -- that are sprouting up everywhere and can appeal to the masses (considering that nice stores like Barneys sell t-shirts for $150 and we are not all rich). Bottom line though: We Americans need to move on. Let's break free from these disgusting sartorial atrocities!! Baggy, boot-cut jeans are not cool! Affliction t-shirts are retarded! And more importantly, square-toed shoes are just outright horrendous. Get with the times, people!

Picture Courtesy Of: Details Magazine Article

French Patina Artists

Have you ever looked at your shoes and thought, 'I am really bored of these'? Well, I have. And when these occurrences came about, I would do one of three things: 1. Leave them in the closet to collect dust; 2. Try and sell them; or 3. Give them away. The act of giving them away to somebody who truly needed them more than I did was nice and made me feel good but selling them and letting them rot away in my closet really did not give me any satisfaction and more importantly, was a waste of my initial investment. It never occurred to me (mainly because I never knew) that I could re-dye them to a completely new color, thus making them appear to be a new shoe and possibly something more tailored to the style of clothes I was wearing at the time.

Shoes At Top & Above Done By: http://paulus-patineschaussures.blogspot.com/

Part of the reason that I never realized about the act of re-dying them was due to the fact that this concept is not something made readily available to those living in the USA nor is it something that many people know how to successfully do there (the States) either. Yet after creating my blog and involving myself in countless hours of shoe-porn research, I have come to discover that this is an art as well as quite a thriving industry in the country of France. In my minimal research of this sector, I have only found two companies (whom you will see on this post) that will take your shoes and create a patina of any color that you would like but I am quite sure that there are many more in France who would also do the same.

Shoes Above Done By: Glacage Chaussures

It is quite an exciting discovery for me, considering that I easily get bored of what I have and find it rare that shoes are made in the colors that I would like to own. So unless I make the shoes myself in some crazy color, this is really my only other option to customizing the color of my shoes. The only downfall is that I need to either go to France or possibly pay a pretty penny in shipping costs. And while some of you in the States or anywhere outside of Europe may be reading this and thinking 'thanks for getting my hopes up but will they really deal with customers outside of Europe,' I am pretty sure that at least the company at top (& below) will ship around the world and I am convinced that the one right above will as well considering that, on their website, they claim to speak 4 languages. The contact info on both sites is relatively easy to find but if for some reason you just can't manage, shoot me an email and I can send it to you.

Shoes Above Done By: http://paulus-patineschaussures.blogspot.com/

Today's Favorites - Band of Outsiders

While most brands are making boat shoes that all look the same, the collaboration between Sperry and Band of Outsiders finally gave the world some other options to choose from, and better one's for that matter. While you usually find your average boat shoes in leather uppers, what's cool about these Band of Outsiders remixes is that they are all made with something other than your traditional leather ranging from wool, nylon, suede to even corduroy. And while I have not really displayed it here, they also produced shoes in an array of colors that are different than the norm, as you can see by the top shoe in that dark teal type of color. Since writing this blog I have really began to notice the amount of cool shoes that are created through collaborations and I am curious to see how far this goes in the future, whether or not collaborating will become 'the thing' that every shoe company does.

Shoes Of The Week

It's always interesting to see what another animal's hide would look like on a pair of shoes. Never seen or even heard of being used before, this pair here, bespoke by George Cleverley, offers the skin of a mountain ram. It looks surprisingly similar to elephant hide (which I had the opportunity to handle while with Stefano Bemer, shoes here), yet only less coarse. It clearly makes the shoes more casual but the contrasting effect that is produced when pairing the mountain ram hide with a calfskin creates quite a pleasing look, at least in my mind. Given it's casual qualities I would think that this pair would look quite sharp with a nice pair of jeans, but at the same time look nice also when paired with a more casual suit. While these shoes no doubt cost a pretty penny, the fact that they are so elegant and can be worn with the majority of pieces in your wardrobe, is priceless!!

Pictures Courtesy Of: Leather Soul

My Shoes #10 - Asics Onitsuka Tiger

I guess to continue with my 'love for sneakers campaign' (and because it is too damn cold and nasty to wear my dress shoes), I will enlighten on my daily wear of casual shoes. Here is one of my many sneakers, the Mexico '66 by Onitsuka Tiger (Asics). Being one of the most recognized and oldest sneaker designs still used to this day, the Mexico '66 got it's fame from the 1968 Olympics in Mexico. For those that don't know, Asics was the company created by Mr. Onitsuka, after a merger of three companies (one of those being Onitsuka Tiger) in 1977. The stripes that you see to this day on every Asics shoe were designed for the 'Mexico line' used by the Japanese team in the 1968 Olympics. Therefore, these classic stripes go back further than the actual existence of the company Asics. Regardless of all of this history, they are a great casual shoe for knock-around type activities and I enjoy them very much!!

Today's Favorites - Random Sneakers

 

Top Shoe: Vans
Middle Row Above: Left - Kris Van Assche; Right - Salvatore Ferragamo
Bottom Row Above: Left - Kanye West for Raf Simons; Right: Dior Homme

Top Row Above: Left - Marc Jacobs; Right - Vans
Bottom Row Above: Left - Adidas/Ransom; Right - Lanvin

Shoes Above: Adidas

Needing to remember that my love for shoes ultimately came from my love for sneakers, I feel the need to pay homage every once and awhile to those that I find intriguing. Before my appreciation of fine dress shoes came about, I was always one to have the latest and greatest sneakers and was even known to always keep two pairs of one particular model so that I always had a fresh pair waiting without any hiccups in my daily wear! Call me crazy, but when I say that I am a shoe lover, it is not limited to bespoke dress shoes. The majority of my 100 or so pairs are sneakers (or casual shoes) ranging from Vans, Converse, Sperry's, Adidas, Nike, Superga etc. So to show my appreciation of these types of shoes, I have added some of my favorites from 2010. Enjoy!!

Today's Favorites - Bontoni

I have never had the actual pleasure of owning a Bontoni shoe, but I have also never heard bad things about them and of all of the times that I have seen or held one in person, they always looked beautiful and felt well constructed. In America, they are quite popular with the higher-end boutiques that carry the $3000-$5000 suits and considering that Bontoni's themselves are never retailing below $900, I guess that it makes sense that you would find them there. What is strange though, is that I have never seen them in Europe, particularly in Italy. Apparently because of all of the other options that you find in Europe, it's hard to be a top contender. But because of their beauty and the fact that they feel like a great shoe (construction and comfort wise), I have always been curious about owning a pair, but never curious enough to make that kind of investment. As I become more affluent though, I just might have to take a dive, especially since they are so intriguing!

The Whole-Cut Loafer

When you think about traditional English shoes styles, what usually comes to mind are brogues. But what I just noticed not too long ago is that the majority of British shoe companies almost always offer a 'whole-cut' loafer. And when I say 'the majority,' I mean it in the sense of the classic companies who hold traditional shoemaking standards to a high level and maintain (to a degree) the quintessentially British appeal when creating their shoe styles. While I never noticed this before, it makes perfect sense in my mind when I think about who wears this type of shoe: British dandies and the Aristocracy, the gentleman who love to dress up and wear fancy attire and bright colored-socks that are easily displayed in this type of loafer. And while that is a generalization, it holds relatively true, because really, outside of shoe freaks like me, who else wears this type of shoe?? Certainly not your regular 9-5'er.

Shoes Above & Shoes At Top: Gaziano & Girling 

 






Shoes Above: Edward Green, Picture Courtesy Of: Leffot

Although it is a commonly offered style of shoe in classic British footwear companies, it is not a style commonly worn, when it comes to the masses. It usually takes a person with a little more pizazz and guts to pull off this type of shoe. I feel like they are usually regarded as being a bit on the bold side, when compared to a more casual loafer that has stitching. It's a shame too that they have not become more popular in America. With the amount of lazy people who can't be bothered to lace their shoes -- so they buy loafers instead -- you would think that a shoe like this would be a great offer. You would also think that this model would have caught-on with the crowd of men (in the States) who make up a majority of 'business professionals,' in their 40-60's, who travel a lot and therefore wish to only buy slip-on models. But as contradicting as it is, the idea of not having any stitching, makes for a less business-professional type of shoe (due to it's boldness) and when needing to make a 20 million dollar deal, you apparently don't want to offend anyone by being too stylish!! How crazy is that??

Shoes Above: Alfred Sargent

Owning a pair myself, I quite enjoy them. Honestly, I never would have chose to make that model for myself but when I made it I had no other option. When you are apprenticing for a shoemaker, they will usually give you uppers that are considered scraps, uppers that have a defects on them or were no longer wanted by the customer etc. So for my first pair, this whole-cut loafer upper was what I had to work with. But now that I look back at it, I am glad that I was given that or I may have never owned a pair and after wearing them several times now, I am quite fond of them. I have paired them with my suits but generally like to wear them with my jeans and if you are a person who likes to show off the socks, then they are the best model for that. I wish that they would become more readily available but much like the whole-cut oxford, this model of loafer is generally limited to only being offered by high-end shoe companies, particularly the British ones!

Shoes Above: John Lobb