What I Am Wearing

The Astaire by Gaziano & Girling is hands-down my all-time favorite spectator (co-respondent). Every different part of it was designed perfectly, particularly the facing, with all of it's beautiful curves. When I decided that I was going to get it, I was almost a bit nervous in deciding what colorway that I wanted it in. Not that it was frightening or anything, but as I love the shoe so much, I wanted to enhance it as best as I could with my color options. At first I thought a bit crazily, and wanted to do some strong contrasting, but in the end, I decided that having the two different leathers was all the contrast I needed. Therefore, why not pick my favorite color in two different shades? And I am sure glad that I did, because the end result has turned out to be better than I would have imagined and has created a shoe that I absolutely love! And if you are like me, as in you love a beautiful spectator, but have never found one that really did it for you, then look no further than the Astaire. After all, it is named after my all-time favorite style icon, Mr. Fred!

Shoes: Gaziano & Girling
Zip Sweater: Intimissimi
Trousers: H&M
Undershirt: Primark
Tie: Drakes

The eBay Experience

I have never been someone who has had a whole lot of patience, unfortunate as that may be. This downfall has prohibited me from taking part in many things...like learning how to actually hit the ball in golf, reading a book past the first 10 pages (it better grab me), and last but not least, taking advantage of the wonderful creation called eBay. Some things are obviously more important than others, in terms of helping my intelligence (like the reading bit, that would help me write and speak better) but none could have probably saved me more money than, being a smart eBay shopper could have. I mean, I have wasted tons of money in my life from things that I bought, and then never wore or wore just once or twice and then gave away. It hurts to think of that sunk cost that I cannot regain.....But let's now dwell and move back on to the subject.....I can't even begin to imagine how many amazing products have been sold on eBay for next to nothing: millions. And to think that I have missed out on all of them! But, apparently I have reader that has done the opposite of myself and has completely taken advantage of this brilliant creation and by doing so, has acquired around 75 of his 150 pairs of shoes. (Makes me look like a chump!) And by doing this, not only has he been able to purchase very nice, high-end shoes, but has also probably been able to save tens of thousands of dollars, which I am sure has helped him buy more clothing! :-)

What's most amazing about this, is the eclectic array of shoes that my reader now owns. I mean, it ranges from those Florsheim looking cream slip-ons (which for me don't match the vibe of the others) to the most amazing suede Lobbs. But that's what happens when you have the ability to get a shoe for $20-$30. At that price, you just might buy anything. It's like when I used to work in retail, made loads of money for a 22 year-old, and had a discount. I frickin' bought everything, even things that I hated after one wear. It was stupid....but that's what happens when things are too cheap to pass up, which is why eBay is brilliant. Someone literally came up with the idea to have people pretty much swap crap that they don't want and then the company makes loads of money from fee's. Simply amazing! And while it sounds like the owners of eBay are having all of the fun, its actually people like my reader who (if they are diligent enough) are able to profit off of this concept and build a wardrobe (or whatever product they are after) on basement bargains!

Some of the shoes that he has gotten are simply beautiful. The suede Lobbs (above) are most likely my favorite, just because I love the uniqueness of the design, so French, yet so elegant! Next up, must be the Berluti wholecuts in a pebble grain. It's funny because I have never seen that before, nor have I even thought of it, but to me, it looks brilliant. It's the only way to tone down the dressiness of the whole cut, and make it a bit more casual. Great idea! And last, but certainly not least, are those yellowish/tan Bontoni wholecuts with brogueing. Those are simply beautiful! And for those 3 shoes, that probably retail upwards of about $4000, it would not surprise me if he got them for about 1/4 of that price. How can you beat that? You can't really and that's why the eBay experience is so genius. I tip my hat to the owners and to those (such as this reader who owns all of these amazing shoes) whom have actually been patient enough to take advantage of the sheer brilliance in trading crap for bottom dollar prices!

Today's Favorites - Ivan Crivallero Tassel Loafers

This is a fun pair of shoes. And even though I can't say that I am the biggest fan of the pattern and colors of that fabric used (if it was on its own), I think that it is great on this pair of shoes, especially with those green tassels. I absolutely love the idea of this whole shoe and am very pleased that Mr. Ivan Crivallero, not only designed them, but made them too! It takes courage to offer shoes like this, because they are not for everyone...in reality they are not for many, mainly just the shoe freaks like me! But what's great about it, is that it represents the depth of which design can be taken, yet still be fun and relatively practical. Not that you would wear these to the office, but with a pair of chinos or jeans, they would go just perfectly! This is exactly the type of thing that I would love to design and make but know that if I did just this, it would be hard to stay afloat. But do expect to see this type of flair every now and then released in my collection, because hey, what would a shoe line be without a little fun?!

What I Am Wearing

Before coming to England, I can wholeheartedly admit that I did not have a clue about suits and good tailoring. I used to even work in a place that sold (what I believed to be) nice suits but after seeing the quality of the cuts and tailors here on the Row (as we snobs like to call it), I now realize that what I used to see in the States was like a top sirloin from the grocery store and now I am dabbling in the Kobe beef from a 5-star restaurant. It's absolutely amazing what a good tailor can not only do for your figure, but for your whole image, and here at Gieves, we have someone who is rumored to be among the best and considering some of the things that I have seen him do, I don't doubt it! And in this new found passion of mine (whereby I am selling my personal shoes to buy more suits), I have come to love a nice double-breasted suit. Something about it just really appeals to me even though I am quite sure that I may not have the stature for them, as I am not the tallest of guys. Nevertheless, I don't care and will continue to pick up more and more of them, in every color I can! I must admit though, that my next order of suiting, is unfortunately not a DB, but rather a lovely navy flannel, peak lapel, single button suit and I can't wait to get it!!

Shoes: J.FitzPatrick design, Gaziano & Girling produced
Suit: Gieves (older label)
Shirt: TK Maxx
Tie: Robert Talbott, Best Of Class

Foster & Son: An Ode To Archaic Bespoke Shoes

I am a firm believer in the thought that technology, albeit amazing, has made society as a whole, a lot lazier. We don't have to work nearly as hard (or at all in the case of some production) to create the same things that our forefathers did. And in many industries, this change in quality of production is very obvious. Let's take the shoe industry for example. In my opinion, the quality of production has taken the form of a giant U, when put onto a graph of where X represents the year in time (e.g. 1941,1942 etc.) and Y represents quality of production, although we have not actually reached the top of the right side of the U, more so that we have just passed the all-time low and are now working ourselves back up. That being, to me, shoes +80 years ago were made a lot better than they are today, with a whole lot less stuff to work with from materials to tools to comfortable working environments. This is not to say that shoes today are not well made, only that I believe that they were made better before. Attention to detail was higher, shortcut taking was less prevalent and probably the most important of all, is the fact that people were proud (very proud might I add) to actually be making the shoes, whether bespoke or in the factory. For many, these days, it's just a job that pays the bills. Don't get me wrong, there still are passionate people out there, and I have met them, some beyond passionate, but still, there is a difference to the way it used to be.

As you might be able to tell from the title to the pictures, the reason that I am on about this subject was due to my recent visit to Foster & Son, of which I was fortunate enough to be able to take some photographs of the amazing shoes that are presented in their archive of old bespoke shoes. It's something that I have been wanting to do for awhile, for all of you that might not ever get the chance to come to London, but just have been too lazy (if I must tell the truth) to do so until last week. But having this opportunity gave me the chance to inspect bespoke shoes that were at least 50-80 years old (and maybe older), in order to see and appreciate the level of craftsmanship that went into them. While it might be hard to tell from the pictures, the things that set them apart are definitely not far and few between. The closing of the upper leather (stitching it together) was beautiful. Every line was damn near perfect. The stitching of the welt to the sole was superb. I think that you might find that these days, a standard procedure is 10-12 to the inch, where they commonly did 14-16 to the inch (if not more). It may be hard for you to fathom that, having never done it, but let me tell you that getting 16 stitches to the inch is very hard, as each hole created by the awl must be very close together, and done so without breaking the welt. But probably the most impressive thing to me, is the way in which the upper leather is connected to the welt. Usually you will find that there is a little gap here, but if you look closely it's as if they are one piece, flowing from upper to welt without any space in between. To me, that's simply amazing!

Another reason that I write this post, is that I feel that Foster & Son is tremendously underrated in the shoe industry, yet has amongst the richest history out of all of the makers to this day. From Henry Maxwell, to Peal & Co., to the legendary Terry Moore (lastmaker), Foster & Son has been associated with great names for over 50 years and remain to this day one of the oldest bespoke shoe firms still standing. And considering their history, with their shoemaker Mr. Foster having been killed by a bomb during World War II in 1940, I would say that it is quite impressive that they are still around. Not taking into account their rich history, they make beautiful shoes nonetheless, yet I feel as if one were to think about bespoke shoemakers, the Foster & Son name might not even get mentioned, for reasons unbeknownst to me. But tell me if you have ever seen a full brogue in suede that is nicer than the one above? I sure haven't! And the illustrious saddle loafer that is making a nice come back.....this too I believe stems from the archives of one of those greats mentioned above. But aside from all of that, it's not often that you are able to see shoes whose age might triple yours, and I figured that it would be lovely to share this with all of you that have never been to London. But I must say, that if you ever manage to get over here, seeing these in person is ten times (if not more) better than doing so on my blog.....

Happy Monday to all!

-Justin, "The Shoe Snob"