Taken from my background in shoemaking, I have added to London, with the help of Gieves & Hawkes, what we believe to be fairly uncommon: the opportunity to get a shoe-shine in the artisan/military type of way. When I first learned how to make shoes, my first 2 weeks were literally just polishing finished shoes by hand. Not only did this teach me the art of patience and discipline, but it helped me realize that the polishing of the shoe, is one of the most important parts of the shoemaking process, yet is also a part that may go frequently overlooked and unappreciated. However, few people seem to realize that leather is not naturally shiny, nor beautiful and it takes a good 1-3 hours (depending on leather and state of shoe) of hand-polishing to give it that $3000 mirror-looking quality.
So for those of you who truly care about your shoe's lifespan and looks, I thought that I would inform you that as well as offering my services to you as a writer on my blog I am also now offering them as an artisan shiner for your shoes. So if you ever happen to be on Savile Row in London, come pop in to say hello and possibly leave your shoes for a great mirror-like shine!
On some of the pictures, you will notice before (out of the box) and after's (when I am done shining them), like the black cap-toe and cognac colored derby's.
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