The Beauty of a Custom Patina

It's my last day in Seattle and therefore I am trying to use my limited time to spend with all of my friends and family, which ultimately meanss that I don't have a lot of time for the blog today. I will do my best tomorrow to have a long post up, but there will not be any guarantees. In the meanwhile, I will leave you with a pair of J.M. Westons' that Paulus Bolten put his magic tough to, creating a beautiful piece of art with this purple patina. While there is much to say on the subject, I think that the picture speaks for itself. No matter where you are in the world, you can take advantage of Paulus' abilities, by sending off your shoes to Paris, and having them sent back! It's worth the price and doesn't take long at all.....

Today's Favorites - Camouflage Patina by Septieme Largeur

For most of you that have read this blog before, you are probably familiar with the fact that personally, I am not a fan of camouflage, at least not on articles of clothing for the general public. But, I have to say that these are pretty damn cool. Not that I would ever wear them, because it's just not my thing, but I have to say that I definitely respect the artistry that went behind this. I talked to Mathieu (the gentleman who does the patinas for Septieme Largeur) about these and he said that it was just something that he wanted to do, in order to create a challenge for himself. And what a challenge to pick, as I can imagine that it was incredibly hard....but what a great job he did, as it looks as if it could almost be a print, but instead was done by hand. While I don't actually believe that these were for a customer, they do now represent what can be done, should you so choose to go a bit out of the ordinary. With this now in his bag of tricks, it would very much appear that Mathieu's skills seem to be progressing as time goes on and I now look forward to whatever he challenges himself with next...

A Shoe Night To Remember

Pierre Corthay, Courtesy of Parisian Gentleman

When I was younger, I used to always flip through GQ and Esquire magazines (back in the States) and wish that I could attend the events (that they love to display each month), where the cool of the cool within the style industry go to mix and mingle. Well, for the first time in my life, I was actually invited to one of those events. However, it was not one from a magazine host, but rather a collaboration between Corthay shoes, the magnificent Hugo Jacomet from Parisian Gentleman, and the Edmund de Rothschild Group. The night, albeit a celebration of both PG & Corthay, was in fact for the purpose of screening a short film, 'La Beauté du Geste', a film that followed the travels of Corthay's Excellence Run, as well as a paid tribute to various artisans throughout Europe. And while I shall not spoil the film for those of you whom read this blog and just might be attending the following screenings, I will say that there were many beautiful things said, as well as shown.

Many other things were also happening at the event, one of which was the magnificent patina artist, Thomas, showing all in attendance, the magic that he creates. Having met him briefly the first time that I went to Paris, and again when the Corthay shop here in London opened, you can say that we have built a mutual respect for each other. But this respect almost ended when I saw his shoes (above left, orange) and felt that he was showing me up, The Shoe Snob!! Only kidding there, but needless to say, that respect grew even stronger when I saw him wearing something sold bold, yet so cool. Not even sure that I would have the courage to do that....you have to admire someone who has the courage to wear what they want and not be afraid of the backlash they might receive.....But what I admire most about Thomas, is the fact that he is only in his very early 20's, has only been doing patina work for a few years, and in my opinion, is already a master! That's impressive! Another feature was the new head shoemaker lasting up a new pair of shoes, shown below. He was quire impressive, his speed and how amazingly straight his hammering of the nails was whilst lasting over the upper.

Overall, the night was a good night, full of drinks (a bit too many!), good conversation, good networking, lovely shoes and most of all, good people. It was a pleasure to be invited and I hope to go to another event like this soon! I hope that you all have enjoyed the pictures and the post, and am sorry that it was not something a bit more informative or opinionated, like my usual Monday posts, but my mind is a bit spent these days and need to think of something fresh to talk about.....if you have any ideas, let me know...

Photo below: My business partner, Ngoni the man behind the scenes, and I....
Courtesy Of: Parisian Gentleman

Today's Favorites - Septieme Largeur

I figured that while I have been pitching wholecuts quite tough for the last few weeks or so, I might as well keep on! I mean, how could I not after seeing these bad boys by Septieme Largeur? It just makes sense, doesn't it? I think so.....Nevertheless, the beauty about having a custom patina done on your shoes is the fact that you can have any shade of color that you would like, and even multiple shades of many colors if you fancy that. You see, for me, this blue is perfect. It's not too light, but it's not too dark either. It's just right and shows you that it is a blue. There would be not question about it, like navy can sometimes come across as black. This is blue, period. But you would have a hard time finding this exact color at a leather tannery or supplier. There might be something close, but not exact, and more likely than not, once lasted it would not look the same. It's amazing how far along shoes have come since their conception. I remember once going to some museum and seeing replicas of some of the first shoes made, and to think that since then we can now do what we do, having customized fit, color, shape, detail etc....it's quite amazing.....yet I feel that we are at the peak in terms of customization (not craftsmanship), because what more could we truly do to make a shoe unique? Add hovering capabilities? :-)

Shoes Of The Week - Septieme Larguer

What an absolutely beautiful color!! The complexity of it amazes me, with how many different shades of blue (my favorite color) there is. From navy, to teal, to sea blue etc. it's a array of blues that leaves one of the most amazing colors (if not the best) that I have seen on a pair of shoes. I just might have to commission one of these and unfortunately steal the idea of whomever is the owner. Don't worry, I would do a different model, as not to be an exact copy-cat! Septieme Largeur continues to impress me, particularly with how easy they make having a shoe company is, from their classic (yet unique) styles to their amazing patinas, to the lovely last shapes and finally, the wonderful prices. It's no wonder they are getting big, very quickly! My hat is tipped to the gentleman that issued this shoe, as no doubt, when walking down the street heads will turn and impressions will be left! If only more men had to courage to do this (wear bold colored shoes), as I know that they would like to!

Corthay Visit Part 2: London

Back in late July of 2011, I went to Paris for a quick business trip and happened to have enough time to pop into the Corthay shop in hopes to meet the legend himself, Mr. Pierre Corthay. Unfortunately, at the time, he was away and therefore was unable to meet him but did meet his brother, who is also very much involved in the company. While it was still a lovely visit, I knew that there would always be a 'next time' for the opportunity to meet the man himself! That being, on Tuesday of last week, I was scrolling through Facebook or something of that nature (maybe a blog) and happened to notice that Mr. Pierre Corthay was coming to London for a trunk show on the Friday of that week. I knew that this was my chance, not only to meet him but to finally check out their new shop in London that had just opened last December, of which I had been meaning to go in order to give you all some info! Therein lied my opportunity to kill two birds with one stone!

When I arrived there the shop was actually closed (it was about 9:50am). I was a bit worried (as they don't list the opening hours on the website) that maybe they wouldn't open until 11am or somewhere along that time (they are in Knightsbridge after all...). Luckily, I had my smartphone on me and utilized it to find the phone number to the shop. I quickly called and happen to get ahold of the store manager, Francois, who kindly ran upstairs to let me in. He took my to the bottom level of the store, where low-and-behold, was Mr. Pierre Corthay himself! It was a bit surreal finally meeting him and I was taken back a bit by the error in my preconceived notion of how he may have been, in the sense that most (shoe) artists (in my opinion) are a bit reserved (which can be seen as cold) when you first meet them. Yet, Pierre was extremely friendly and nice, and happened to actually know who I was (quite possibly due to my visit to the Paris shop), which was quite a surprise and a comforting feeling all at the same time. We began to chat a bit, mainly about his shoes, my goals in starting my own line and how business has been for him. While the chatting was brief (as time was of the essence, for us both), it was nice to finally be able to meet the man behind some of the most lovely shoes in the world.

After the quick chat with Pierre, a client came to visit him, so I began to talk to Francois and the young patina/shine artist (Thomas) that creates much of the magical coloring that you see on Corthay shoes. They told me that in order to give the coloring that you see on the two crocodile shoes within this post, the patina artist spends a total of 8 hours coloring in each scale one-by-one. Talk about a meticulous job. But in order to create art (as these beauties are), one must do so with precision and patience. That being, you can imagine (especially since the young gentleman was only 23) that I was insanely impressed! But when passion is involved, age no longer becomes an issue, only drive and ambition to be the best that you can.

After the quick chat with the two gentleman, I had to be off in order to not become too late for work. But I have to say that I was duly impressed with the visit and how immensely kind and generous everyone there was. That being, if you are ever in the area I highly recommend a visit, if nothing more than to admire the beautiful shoes and possibly see an artist at work....

miniature model (as long as my hand)

Paris Part 2 -- Paulus Bolten, The Patina Artist

As many of you who frequently read my blog may know, the art of the patina is something that is appreciated and practiced, as a profession, by several people in France. One of those people, would be the magnificent Paulus Bolten, who is the owner of Patine & Glacage Souliers. So while I was in Paris, I figured that even though I love all of my shoes the way they are, I might as well utilize the service to see it transform my shoes, first hand. And so it did. In reality, I did not have a shoe on me (as I left all of the crummy one's back in the States) that I wanted to change, so I bought these Edward Green's made for Gieves & Hawkes shoes (old ones) from a friend of mine who had never worn them and was looking to get rid of them. Talk about a win-win situation: new shoes + Edward Green's + 75 GBP + shoes for patina = amazing deal & timing! And thus you can see the transformation below....

It's an amazing service that Paulus has created here, as it truly can give you a new pair of shoes. I had been dying for a nice pair of burgundy loafers and never see one that I like or that cost less than 700 GBP, so I was at a loss, until I came across Paulus and his service and he was able to make my shoes not only burgundy, but customized too, by keeping the strap the original color and giving the shoe a bit of character. Since the first time that I put up this service, I know that several of my readers have been to see him or have posted their shoes to him in order to utilize the service and from what I know have thoroughly enjoyed it (pics below). The service starts at about 70 euros and goes up from their depending on what you would like done. But, as Paulus is clearly magical with the patina, you can see that it is well worth it.

To contact him directly you can email him at paulbolten@free.fr

Let me know if you do and send me pictures of the before and after so that I can put it up on the blog!

-Justin, "The Shoe Snob"