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.....

Unique Shoe Designs

Shoe Above: J.FitzPatrick

When talking about designing shoes, I commonly hear the expression, "Everything under the sun has been done." And while I generally tend to agree with it (on a grand scale), I still believe that there are little tweaks that can be done to a shoe, here and there, that will minutely (and yet immensely) separate it from all of the rest. For instance, the shoe above which is another one of my prototypes, has a penny strap that extends all the way back to the heel. This was something that I had never seen before, yet had always wondered what it might look like, being that I like to use multiple materials in my shoes. I wanted to be able to mix it up somehow, having the strap be a different material than the rest of the shoe. At first, I wanted to hold this close to my chest, as it was a unique design and did not want anyone ripping me off before I could release my line, but as I have been blabbing for 2 years now about getting this line off of the ground, and doing so has been slower than I had anticipated, I couldn't help but show this to all of you to let you know that things are truly still in the motions.....slowly but surely!

Clearly I am not the only one that has done a unique design. Almost every maker does one in some way or another whether it is with a row of stitching and how it is positioned, the colors and/or materials that they may use, or how one might change the aesthetics of one of the pieces of the pattern (cap/quarter/vamp etc.). You will find it in the subtle details that will define that makers style. Sometimes these things can be hard to spot, sometimes they are quite obvious. Nevertheless, they are always nice for me (so long as it's not overbearingly ostentatious) as it then represents a new way to do a shoe.... I remember back in 2006, the first time that I ever saw a Gaziano & Girling shoe, in Robb Report magazine. I can't say for sure, but I think it was either the Gable or the Regent, and it was the first time that I had ever seen that pointed (^-shaped) toe cap. Back then, I wasn't so knowledgeable about shoes, as it was really the beginning point for me in the fine footwear industry, so you can imagine how blown away I was to see something so unique when all I had previously known was the Allen Edmonds Park Avenue, as it was the end-all-be-all shoe in America. And even though I can't pinpoint the exact model that it was, the moment was still so vivid for me, as it represented the day that I truly chose to go after my dreams, telling myself that I wanted to emulate G&G by making good quality shoes that stood out from the rest (in terms of design).

Corthay - Unique stitch design on facing & bottom hole punch

Jan Kielman - Unique stitching leading to back of heel

Imai Hiroki - oxford like slip-on

Marc Guyot - stitching and strap unique

Along with dress boots being something that I predict will be big in the next year or two, I also predict that you will see more and more makers trying their hardest to come out with designs that separate themselves from the rest. Clearly this is obvious, because you could not just come out with a line doing shoes that simply look like everyone else's (and be successful) but more in the way that designers/makers, I feel, will more and more try and give little twists to existing classics. Classics are classics for a reason but that does not mean that they are already perfected....little minute details could make a classic better than it already is...of course, this will always be in the humble opinion of the eye of the beholder. But nevertheless, for me, it is always extremely fascinating to see how a designer interprets a shoe with his unique design. That my friends is (to me) the most interesting thing about the shoe industry....seeing how interpretations differ. Hence the reason why each country has their own individual look when it comes to their shoes!

Saint Crispins - All around design is unique

Saion - design on facing/coloring the sole

J.M. Weston - all around design, many things mixed together

Altan Bottier - Point on tongue of shoe

Today's Favorites - J.M. Weston

I know that I usually will do a full post on Mondays, but today I moved the majority of my stuff from Brighton to London and am simply too tired to write a 2-3 hour post. I promise, though, that tomorrow I will be back on track with a full post on driving loafers, so be on the look out!!

That aside, I wanted to share with all of you this beautiful spat boot by J.M. Weston. It's not everyday, or any day really, that you see one of these in a store's window, or in the store period for that matter. I mean, obviously, they are not really practical in today's work environment and most people don't have the gumption to walk down the street in a pair of these, so I can't really blame most makers for not actually producing some for their collection. That's why it's nice to see that J.M. Weston, albeit did not commission a line of them, will at least make one on a MTO basis, as they did for the owner of the boots in this top picture.

It's a shame really, that we do not see more dress boots on a normal day-to-day basis, as they used to back in the Edwardian/Victorian era. I do think that they are slightly coming back, but I am still awaiting the day that every shoemaker has a pair in every single fall/winter season that they produce. They can be just as elegant as a regular oxford yet can be even more versatile, as they might go better with your average pair of jeans or more casual outfit where as some oxfords are simply just too dressy. For that reason, I am awaiting the day of their return, and will promise to at least try and make them more popular with my line. But in all honesty, it will only help if there is demand, so if you, the readers, want to see more of these, be vocal about it and it will happen!!

Cheap Shoes - Don't Kid Yourself

One of the truest statements I ever heard before was from one of my high school friends who is currently a bed salesmen and tells his customers this: "There are two things that you should never go cheap on. One is your shoes and the other is your bed because if you are not using one you are using the other!" When I actually thought about it, he was dead on and I had never realized that. And now I cannot wait for the day that I can buy a memory foam mattress to have heavenly sleep on. The problem is that most other men don't think like this, but they should. 

(For statements made down below I have added pics of nice shoes vs. cheap shoes just to show how easy it is to tell the difference. That same difference is just as noticeable when they are on your feet!)

Top Of Page Picture Courtesy Of: Leffot

Above Top Row: Left - Cheap Shoe; Right - Gaziano & Girling

Above Bottom Row: Left - Cheap Shoe; Right - Barker Black

I never understood why most men are willing to drop thousands of dollars (or pounds or euros) on a suit but right after go to a shoe department and not want to spend more than 200 dollars. They then look like an oaf because the intelligent eye can see the contrast between a Zegna suit and a China-made Hugo Boss or some Kurt Geiger shoe. Yet, it is always like this and I cannot comprehend why? I want to understand the point in history where it came to be that most men decided that shoes were the part of the wardrobe to go cheap on. You don't know how many times I have heard men say, "I would never spend 400 dollars on a pair of shoes," scoffing as they say it. What's funny is that most of those men were rich and could easily crap 400 dollars. And when I heard this I thought three things: 1. This guy is a cheap bastard, 2. He is a complete idiot and 3. He is sadly naive. 

Above Top Row: Left - Cheap Shoe; Right - J.M. Weston

Above Bottom Row: Left - Cheap Shoe; Right - Lodger

As I have said before there is a health issue at hand when it comes to cheap shoes. Not being properly supported can affect your posture, your spinal alignment and can create feet problems like bone spurs. The only difference between wearing cheap vs. expensive clothes is how you will look. Chances are that if you are one of my regular readers, you don't fall under this category but if you just happen to be visiting for the first time, ask yourself if this sounds like something that you would do. And if so, stop being cheap! People can see and smell it a mile away and it's not attractive to anyone. If you have the money, invest it properly. And believe me when I tell you that a good pair of shoes will be one of the best investments that you will ever make. It may not do so in a monetary gain, but it certainly will in health, looks, and perception of yourself from others as well as from yourself.

You are only kidding yourself when you try to justify that shoes should not be something you spend wisely on.