Shoes Of The Week

What's funny is that I used to hate red when I was younger, but now I cannot get enough of it! Living in England, I just discovered  that most men will wear conservative outfits (when dressing in suits) but will have a bit of flair in their socks, whether it's bold purple, royal blue or the crowd favorite, bright red. And while I don't ever follow any trends, I had to jump on the band-wagon on this one, and so I purchased a pair of bright red socks and absolutely love them.

Red is just a great color. While it can be bright, it is still subdued in a way especially when comparing it to other abnormal shoe colors, like yellow or teal. This bespoke pair by Koronya, is a beautiful example of the perfect red shoe: clean, simple and full of color without any distractions. If you are going bold, might as well go all of the way!

As you can see by the pictures, Marcell, the shoemaker of Koronya, added what's called a German welt which essentially is a welt with hidden stitching. I had never seen this before, but I find it quite appealing. It helps to focus your attention on the shoe and not be distracted by the sole. It is his latest creation and he plans to release it in NYC with his limited 'Color Collection' in the near future.

To see how he constructed the shoe, visit Marcell's blog, called Handmade Shoes.

Enjoy the pics and the weekend! Stay tuned for more, as usual!!!

Sole Options - To Bevel Or Not To Bevel???

As technology grows and becomes more readily available, you find that your options in obtaining things become endless. One of these things is the ability to have a goodyear-welted shoe that has a beveled waist and is ready-to-wear. This feature has only recently (several years) been available to the mass public as the machine that is able to do this was created not so long ago. Before that you could get a waist that was cut pretty close to the leather but a true beveled waist was only obtainable in bespoke/custom footwear. Now it is commonly used in British footwear companies (e.g. Gaziano & Girling, Alfred Sargent, George Cleverley etc.) and I feel like soon it will exponentially start becoming more commonly seen on the shoes of other companies from around the world. For those that may not be familiar with the term waist, it is the part of your foot where your inner and outer arch's lay, from the heel to the metatarsals of the foot.

(Click on pictures to enlarge)

Top Two: Koji Suzuki (beveled waist)
MiddleTwo: Saion (regular waist)
Bottom Picture: Koronya, courtesy of his blog HERE

There are several ways to tell if a waist is beveled or not. From the pictures above, you will notice that the top two pictures as well as the bottom picture have a waist that is not only a different width but also a different shape than the sole area below the toe box. When creating a beveled waist, a shoemaker will usually shave down the sole at the waist area as to signify this trait and to accentuate the beveled waist by differentiating it from the rest of the sole. Marcel, the maker behind Koronya, provides an illustration that shows this feature. Another way to tell is is the fact that the tool that a maker uses to 'finish' the beveled waist produces a convex shape as opposed to the squared shape that is produced by the tool that 'finishes' the sole area around the toe box. If you enlarge the top pictures, you will be able to see this example better. However, you will notice that the shoes in the middle pictures have one long sole that is the same width and shape all the way around, signifying a normal waist.

Here you can see the preparations needed for a beveled waist and ultimately for the fiddleback (v-shape) that many makers love to put on their beveled waists in order to bring out the elegance of the feature. In the left picture you will see that the lines in the arch area are drawn more inward in-respect to the lines of the toe box area (hence the tighter look of it). These lines signify where you are going to cut the wall (or feather) that you are going to sew the welt into. In the right picture you will notice that the shape of the line that I drew in the left picture is always kept tight. After applying the welt, you need to cut it down to the stitches in order to give it that narrow look.

In these pictures you can see the different options that one has when getting a beveled waist. The top left picture is just to compare and is a shoe by Silvano Sassetti that is just a regular waist. The picture to the right of that would be a beveled waist but without any extra features put on, just a flat sole. The bottom left picture has what is called a fiddleback on it's waist. This is that v-shaped curve that accentuates the look of the beveled waist and is the most commonly used feature added onto a shoe that has a beveled waist. The bottom right picture also has a beveled waist but instead of the fiddleback, I put a hump in the middle and made it a convex shape.

Before studying the art of shoemaking, I was clueless as to what a beveled waist was but now I absolutely love the look of it, especially since I have narrow feet and it only helps to convey that. In my snobbish mind, I feel that narrow is more on par with elegant, therefore I try to make the shoe as narrow looking as possible. Because of this, I hope to see more companies around the world adopting this look. Obviously, there are shoes that are better off without it, but when you need a shoe to make an impression, the one with the beveled waist is going to do the trick before it's clunkier rival!

Boots - A Man's Necessity

Whether it's one of those disgusting Mark Nason boots, a simple chukka boot or a nice dress boot I feel like every man in his right mind wants or needs to own at least one pair of boots to solidify his manhood. "Boot: The man's shoe!" Maybe it is just me but ever since ads have created something showing what a man's man looks like and the fact that in the ad, this man is almost always wearing a pair of boots, I feel like this idea of having a boot in the wardrobe has become eminent to one's sartorial completion. And I think that it is great because I am a big fan of boots, certain one's that is!! Earlier I did an article on the perfect boot (here) in which I stated that the proper dress chukka could go a long way in versatility and function but of course I also think that there are many other styles that are essential to the completion of many looks and a balanced wardrobe.

Let's go through the different types of boots:

Lace Up's

Balmoral (Closed Lacing):









Left Boots: Stefano Bemer
Right Boots: Gaziano & Girling










Left Boots: Koronya
Right Boots: Rider Boot Co. (Picture provided by Leffot)

Derby (Open Lacing):










Boots Above: Edward Green (Pictures provided by Leffot)











Left Boots: Alden (Picture provided by Leather Soul)
Right Boots: Alden (Picture provided by Leffot)    


Slip On's

Chelsea's (2 Gore Boots):










Left Boots: To Boot New York
Right Boots: Gaziano & Girling (Picture provided by Leffot)













Left Boots: Gaziano & Girling
Right Boots: Edward Green (Picture provided by Leffot)


Zip Up's:

Boot Above: To Boot New York


Chukka's -Go to 'The Perfect Boot' to see many different styles

I particularly like the Edward Green boots under the lace up derby section. The pairing between the calfskin and a pebble grain gives it a great balance between casual and dress. It has the cap toe design creating more of a dress feeling while at the same time has the nice thick sole and the copper eyelets that lends it the casual look. Although I would not pair it with a suit you could dress it up with a nice set of trousers and a button up shirt and look very presentable but could also throw on a blazer with a nice pair of jeans over the boots and also come out with a great look. It's hard to find that perfect boot that can go so many ways with different styles/occasions/looks and be affordable at the same time. I have yet to make a boot for myself but it is definitely in my line up for what I need to do next so that I can truly complete my wardrobe!

But for all those guys who buy boots such as Mark Nason, Jo Ghost, Robert Wayne etc. (Look here for examples) and wear them with your tight T-shirts and True Religion jeans that are so baggy you could probably fit my entire torso inside the pant leg of a size 30......PLEASE spare yourself the embarrassment!!! You are not cool and you look like a joke. Buy yourself some grown up boots and become a real man!!