Today's Favorites - Crockett & Jones

When I first saw all of these pictures, I could not believe my eyes! Not because Crockett & Jones does not make nice shoes, but they are usually on the relatively conservative side. If you walk by their shop in the Burlington Arcade in London, you will see a bombardment of black, brown and tan, with a small hint of burgundy somewhere in the trenches, but NEVER have I seen green chelsea boots and blue saddle shoes. It makes me wonder if these, like some of G&G's factory shoes, are for another market, such as Japan and the Far East?  Nevertheless, I was very impressed when I saw them, and I think that I gave C&J a couple of extra points in my book of cool shoe brands. The shame is that I will probably never see these in the flesh, as I truly believe that they will not hit the UK (nor US for that matter) market. And because of that, I still think that when I go to Japan for the first time, it's going to be like a kid going to Disneyland, with shoes everywhere in blue's, green's, red's etc.

Shoes Of The Week - Carreducker One Off's

 

There is a leather factory in Northampton, called Crack's (for short), which is considered the haven for acquiring leather in this country. And apparently, as you can see by the leather at hand, sometimes you can find some unique and interesting stuff. Now for some of you, this might not matter, but unfortunately this hide here, was extremely limited and just happened to get entirely purchased by Deborah Carre, who made these chelsea boots for herself. And when I saw it for the first time, I was thoroughly impressed, as it looked somewhat exotic, yet it wasn't, which I prefer, but also had this sequin looking print on it. I thought, I want a pair too! But being a snob, I could not justify making the same pair that someone else I know owns, and potentially wearing it on the same day as them. That would be a no-no. So....I managed to get a skin for myself, wheeling and dealing with Deborah, and decided that after I make my shoes, from my own design, that I would make this leather in a whole cut, as I think that it looks lovely when it is stitching-free. But as sad as it is, I am still chelsea boot free, and have been desperately wanting one, as I think that they make a fantastic jean shoe! 

Enjoy the weekend,

Justin, "The Shoe Snob"

Shoes Of The Week

Lately, I feel like I have been putting a lot of crazy colored shoes from French and Japanese makers on my blog and representing just a certain sect of the shoe industry. When, in fact, I am a lover of all shoes and happen to really like simple, elegant pieces such as these two pairs from To Boot New York. What I particularly like about them are the rich cognac color that they come in, which in my opinion is damn near perfect for the ultimate jean compliment. In the perfect world (where my feet are not jacked up), I would wear leather soled shoes like these with my jeans, everyday. But unfortunately, my feet need a break every now and then, and I have to throw on some Nike's or Vans or whatever that has soft squishy soles, just to give my feet a little EVA/soft rubber cushioning (sometimes my self-pity ramble's on and on unconsciously, sorry).

But yes, these two pairs are great and I would love to own either one. In reality, they are two styles, that any shoe guy should have in the closet. They don't have to be in this color but a simple loafer as well as a nice chelsea boot are two things that deserve to be occupying shelf space in your house! If you are in the market currently and indecisive about a model, I would give my recommendations for either one of these! I believe that they are both currently found at Nordstrom.

Shoes Of The Week - World Premiere

 

Brought to you first by The Shoe Snob are these incredible new bespoke offerings in a collaboration between Carreducker and Gieves & Hawkes. As part of the Carreducker's move into the G&H shop on Savile Row, was a five shoe collaboration agreement between the two companies as a way to offer something that fit the feel of G&H but gave the bespoke uniqueness and creativity that the Carreducker duo display so often in the styles that they create. This is one of those 5 and so far, my favorite!

What I love about these boots (obviously besides the color) is the fact that such a simple idea, the middle seam, created something refreshingly different. Even though I love a nice, plain chelsea boot, they are hard to make different from each other. That being, a simple middle seam separates these boots from many of the others that you will find elsewhere. What else is great is the color swatch that they have available for their clients to choose from. Not only do they have a suede swatch with about 20 different colors but there is also a nubuck swatch, as well, that has another 20 different shades. So the options are endless....

P.S. While the boots look purple in some pictures, they are definitely not. They are some shade of blue that is quite unique but has purple tones to it. The second to last picture, below, gives the best example of the true color.

A Shoe's Shape

Up until recently, I always focused my attention on design (i.e. pattern - wing tip, cap toe, color, details etc.) when deciding whether or not I liked a shoe, not ever really paying attention to the shape, even though it played a big part (if not the biggest) in my decision making process. But now, having made shoes and with my introduction into self-taught shoe design, I have come to appreciate shape on a whole new level. It's funny how one could have never come to this realization until they started to actually play around with the design or construction aspects. I could have been a shoe enthusiast my entire life having not ever attempted to get into the construction side of things and I may have never come to know, that I truly like a shoe because of it's shape, not because of it's pattern, color, style etc. 

Shoe At Top: Foster & Son
Shoe Above: Vass 

You start to notice when you begin drawing on paper, that a shoe can turn out real ugly and disproportionate if the shape is not drawn perfectly. And it is truly difficult to do so. The slightest variation in pencil movement can be a deal breaker. And the same goes in the world of last making, which is essentially design in 3-D. Every little curve on the last is monumental when it comes to the form of the final product. And more importantly than getting a nice shape, is creating the correct proportions, because if the proportions are off, then the shoe will never look nice, no matter how elegant the curves are. This being said, I have been wanting to change the shape of my last for some time now because I am growing quite bored of the shape that it is, considering that I will have made 6 pairs on that same last. So when I do finally finish my 6th pair, hopefully in February, I will change the shape of my last before I continue on with my 7th pair. Ideally, I would love for it to look like the shoe at the top of the page but I am not sure if my last-shaving/adding skills are quite that good. We shall see!

Shoes Above: Anthony Delos

If you were like me and never really thought about how important a shoe's shape is, then I am afraid that after reading this you might become a shape snob, just as I have. These days I won't even give a shoe a second look if it's shape is not specific to my standards. But I am happy that I am now like this because in the past I feel like I bought/acquired shoes based on their looks (you know what I mean) and now have shoes sitting in my closet that I wish I could tear the soles off of, take apart the upper and remake them!

Shoes Below: Gaziano & Girling

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 - Chelsea Boots

Boots Above: Vaneau by Vaneau

Boots Above: Scarpe Di Bianco

Boots Above: Helm

Boots Above: Gaziano & Girling

Boots Above: Edward Green

I look at the rain and wind outside and I am thankful for the one pair of chelsea boots that I own but now I realize that I need at least a black pair, for sure, and maybe another in some unique color like navy or gray.....