Today's Favorites - Bespoke Austerity Brogues

I have a friend who like me, once ventured outside of the US to go and study shoemaking (among other things, such as be with his wife...also like me). That adventure landed him in Germany, where he is currently residing and continuing to perfect his craft and skills, in the hopes (of which will occur) of becoming a bespoke shoemaker who offers lovely shoes to people around the world. On occasion, he gets a chance to pop over to London, of which he will usually stop in to have a chat, only this time, he brought a pair of shoes for me to also shine. While he is hard critic on himself (as one should be to become great) and feels that he is still far off from becoming a credited maker who could offer shoes to clients for purchase, I on the other hand, believe that he is not far off. The hardest part in shoemaking is what is called 'finishing' the shoe, i.e. making the sole and heel area look flawless, and it is something that takes a long time to perfect. And while he still has some work to do before it's tip top, I think that his progression is very good and wanted to show all of you, as I thought that some of you might appreciate it as well.....

Customer Finds - Old Cleverley Bespoke

One of my colleagues recently brought me two pairs of shoes that his grandfather had passed down to him. Now when this happens, it may be a really old pair of Church's, Allen Edmonds or an older label like Poulsen & Skone or Nunn Bush, but these puppies just happen to be George Cleverley bespoke shoes, from the early 1960's, and while that may not seem that old, 50 years is still a good amount of time. I asked my friend to figure out how much they cost at the time and after a little bit of questioning to his grandfather, he told me that they cost 21 Guineas. That does not sound like a lot, but when you think about the time difference and the inflation rate, I will have you know that this amount is now equivalent to about 3000 GBP. It's always amazing to see how much the value of money has changed and how much more it will change, maybe one day being worth virtually nothing at the rate that it is going. Nevertheless, I found it to be quite interesting to see a shoe that was made when Mr. George Cleverley was actually around and overseeing production. And while the shoes were relatively similar to the standard we have today, there were some small details in the stitching of the upper that seemed to stand out, as a mark of the era.

Gaziano & Girling Deco Range

While this is not really 'first to bring you news,' I figured that since you can't find the entire Deco range in colored pictures, I would put that up for all of you that might have yet to see them. And for those that might not be familiar, the Deco range is a new array of shoes produced by Gaziano & Girling that are meant to offer that happy medium between RTW and bespoke. You might wonder what that means? Well, having the intentions of giving RTW a 'bespoke' look, they had to tighten the waist of the shoe, and considering the only way to do that was to do it by hand, that is what they did. So for every Deco model available, the waist was lasted by hand, thus providing a RTW shoe that actually has handwork put into it, unlike the millions of liars in the shoe industry who claim to have 'hand-made' RTW shoes. Well, there is not much more to say other than feast your eye's on these beauties and enjoy!

My Shoes #18 - My 2nd Bespoke Pair

These were the second pair of shoes that I ever made for myself and are by far my absolute favorite pair out of every single shoe I own. What I love about them (apart from being saddles) is that they pretty much sum up 1000% my individual style: classic with a modern twist. If you were to get a preview of how the shoes of my future shoe line were going to be, this would be the top model! Not only do I find them incredible stylish, unique and elegant but they are extremely versatile. I can wear them with black suits, gray suits and even though I am against the black shoes/navy suit combo, I would even wear this with a navy suit. And the reason being is because that bit of red helps to separate the black and navy, allowing it to have some contrast between those dark colors and not looking like some bland blend. That being, it only makes me think why more companies don't come up with something of this sort: classic with a modern twist!!

Today's Favorites - Black Shoes

Two Above: Gaziano & Girling

Two Above: Corthay (Pictures Courtesy Of: Leffot)

Boot Above: Carreducker

Shoe Above: Dimitri Bottier

Today, one of my readers told me that he was under the impression that I was anti black shoes and disagreed with me on that regard. While I assured him that it was not the case, I understood why he may have been under that impression due to my recent writing as well as some in the past. So for the rest of you who may have believed the same, let me set the record straight.

I believe that a black dress shoe in an essential piece in every man's wardrobe. What I do not agree with is the heavy emphasis that many people (and societal thought) put on owning black shoes and their necessity for business attire. A black shoe is not the end-all-be-all shoe. It's not the most versatile shoe and it's not the most important in a man's wardrobe. These opinions (which some people claim as fact) are what I have trouble with. I love a black shoe, if it can set itself apart from the rest. But your average black cap or apron toe that every business man in the States, England and quite possibly any other metropolitan area in the world, is just plain boring and inconsequential.

So to back up my point of liking black shoes, I have displayed some here that I find quite appealing. I hope this helps clear up any confusion.

Holiday Parties - What To Wear??

I guess as we grow up, we stop thinking about what Christmas presents we are going to get or what's going to be under the next flap on the advent calendar and we start planning out which holiday parties we are going to grace our presence with. More importantly, we think about what we are going to wear in order to look better than everyone else at the party. Well, if your idea already involves Kenneth Coles, Steve Maddens or anything square-toed or plastic looking, you have already nominated yourself worst dresser at every party you go to! But if you are not committed to these shoe blasphemies that I stated previously, then please, allow me to enlighten on what could leave you taking the most possible compliments.

Top Row: Gaziano & Girling (both)
Bottow Row: Left - Salvatore Ferragamo; Right - Alden

What you will notice (when you get to the party) is that the most common dress shoes, purchased in America, are the standard black cap-toe and black apron-toe. These are also the two most boring shoes.....in the world! That means that if it is a dress "nice" party, most people will be wearing one of these two unless you live in Seattle where everyone still wears square-toed Kenneth Coles shoes. Because this is a simple fact, it will not be hard for you to stand out from the boring crowd. Now what I would personally do, is probably wear some dark gray or maybe navy shoes, but for the sake of simplicity, I am going to recommend that unless you are feeling bold, stick with black (or burgundy) but switch up the style of shoe. So I would say, go for either a plain toe (with or without a perforated medallion), some sort of brogue (although I would stay away from an oxford full-brogue because sometimes they can be a little 'stuffy') or a very nice dress boot (zip or chelsea). And of course, get a shine before going, because those scuff marks are not going to impress anyone!

Shoes Above: Scarpe Di Bianco (All)

Now if the parties that you will be going to are more on the casual side, there are still nice shoes that you can wear to stand out from the sneaker-wearing crowd!! For this I would say wear a dark brown leather shoe. Whether it be a saddle, brogue, boot, apron toe or even cap toe. If you can find some nice shoes that will look good with a slender set of jeans and that you could pair a sport coat, or maybe waistcoat with, you will be the best-dressed man at the party!! Good examples of this being done are HERE and HERE. Stay away from light colors though!! At holiday parties people like to get drunk and that alcohol spilled on your light colored leather, will not easily come off if it creates a stain. Now, if you think that these are all boring (dress and casual) and you would want to go a little more bold, as I might do, then try going for something along the lines of the shoes below.

Shoes Top Row: Left - Altan; Right - Markowski
Shoes Bottom Row: Left - Saion; Right - Altan

Now if you just read this, yet the type of holiday parties that you go to involve keg-stands and puking, then disregard everything I said because you are either too young or too ghetto to think twice about wearing nice stuff!