Paris Part 1: Septieme Largeur Store Visit

On a relatively quiet street (Rue Saint-Lazare), just 10 minutes walking distance from the famous Galleries Lafayette and a spitting's distance from Saint Trinite' square, lies the wonderfully simplistic shop of Septieme Largeur. As I have become such a huge fan of the brand, since their introduction on my blog, it was definitely a place that I needed to visit, get some product from, and do a nice write up for all of you. That being, please enjoy what is about to come....

There are several things that set apart Septieme Largeur from the rest of the shoe brands of the world. One is that they offer a patina service for the shoes that they sell. So if you see a model that you would like but would rather have it in a non-conventional color, or maybe just one that they do not offer, it is not a problem, as they will do it for you for just an extra 50 Euros. Below, you can see an example of how a customer purchased a shoe in natural and gave it an aubergine patina. The other aspect that sets them apart would be their Allen Edmonds type pricing, in which they offer good quality leather and goodyear welted construction from a price range that starts at 245 Euros and ends at 295 Euros. It's not the lowest of the price scale but for what you get, leather and construction wise, it's a great deal for sure!

I was not able to be there for the beginning process of the patina which involves the application of the dyes to the shoe, but you can see that once it's on, they use this special brush machine to add the burnishing (dark areas) to the shoe. You will notice that in the top right picture (in this set of 6 above) has a before (left) and after (right), from the use of the machine and the special waxes that they use. And while you may think that a patina must be done by hand, surely it does not as you can see. The wax used on the brush burns onto the leather from it's friction, thus making it stick into the pores of the leather, remaining there as if it was the dye itself.

From this point on, as you will see above, they will add the shine to the shoe, in order to enhance the patina. I learned something new by going there, as they told me that using whiskey is actually better for the shine, due to the fact that the alcohol content will keep the liquid from becoming too humid (as water apparently seems to), which in turn makes it so the leather will dry quicker and absorb the polish better. I better go get a bottle of whiskey to keep at my shine stand!





































As you can clearly see, there were many beautiful shoes there, and I was literally like at kid in a candy shop, wanting to have everything there. I also really liked the simplicity of the store, not having any real fluff going on, just the shoes, some seats and the accessories. It was just how a shop should be: clean, simple and straight to the point. Now that I think about it, the only form of fluff, was actually something that corresponded to the shop and it's products and that was a bespoke shoe model, as well as some lasts, that were dated back to the early 1900's, and the model (shown below) had never had it's last taken out. This model, may I say, was absolutely exquisite! It was literally perfect, without any blemishes and the straightest lines I have ever seen.

But the real treat was this prototype that they had, which was the 'Miro' loafer with a forest green patina, pictured below. The only problem is that my camera could simply not capture the color in the way that my eyes were seeing it, due to my flash (or maybe because it only cost 90 GBP, which might be considered on the cheap quality side!). I must say that it was one of the nicest patinas that I have ever seen as it was simple yet extremely bold in coloring. Not that it was bright or ostentatious, but the green was magnificent and there was no mistaking what it was. It was lovely, and I will aspire to have it.....

Well, I hope that you have enjoyed the post. Going to Septieme Largeur and meeting the lovely people there was a pleasure and I will definitely recommend that if you are ever in Paris, and have some spare time, make a point of dropping by, as I can guarantee that you will not be disappointed, and may even leave a few euros lighter. Stay tuned for my future posts on Corthay and Paulus Bolten, the patina artist, who made a fine makeover of my shoes!

READ MORE - Paris Part 1: Septieme Largeur Store Visit

Paris Part 3 -- Corthay Visit

For my last and final installment of my Paris trip, I present to you, my visit to the legendary Corthay shop on Rue de Volney. While there were so many places that I wanted to go, there is only so much you can do in a day in a half, especially when it's your first time in a city that you don't know the language. But thanks to my friend Mattieu, who so kindly took out a spare couple of hours of his day, I was able to see not only Corthay, but also the famous Les Galleries Lafayette as well as a little bit of the city itself.

Upon arriving to Corthay, I was almost under the impression that it was closed, as there was only a window with some shoes displayed, but no signs of a main entrance. Now, being American, you may not be used to the way that Europe sometimes works and that is, it's not always as it seems. Not far from the display window of shoes, there was another window open with some workers who were 'finishing shoes' (i.e. applying the patinas, finishing off the heels and making sure that the end result of the bespoke shoe is tip top!). I knew that they must work there (not hard to figure out), and so I asked Mathieu to inquire.

They said that they were open, let us in (through these big doors that led to a courtyard-like entrance) in which the shop was on the right and the rest of space belonging to various sectors of the company, all of which were part of Corthay. One of the workers escorted us to the shoe shop part of it and allowed us to look around. I asked if it was okay to take pictures, as I was a shoe blogger, who of course, they had not heard of! Surprising though, as I put so many of their shoes on my blog, and have quite a following in France. But nonetheless, he did not know whether or not it was okay and went off to grab the president of the company. After the worker had told him who was there, and him checking my blog in the quick second that he had, he came to meet me and agreed that the picture taking was okay, in part because at that current moment, the 'Arca' shoe was at the top of my blog.

He was a very nice fellow, who was explaining to me the set up of the shop as well as giving me a guided tour through the entire compound. While I know that the ready-to-wear shoes are made in a factory just outside Paris, it seemed that everything else was done here, from the marketing, to the bespoke shoes, to the accountacy etc. It was actually quite a nice set up that they had, in which they all seemed to be one big, happy family, working together to create products and maintain a company that produces some of the most beautiful works of shoe art in the world. After the tour, I asked (as I had to) whether or not Mr. Pierre Corthay himself, was on the premises. But, as he was off promoting his Excellence Run event, I was left to the unfortunate fact that he was not there. His brother, however, was. So, I was able to meet him and introduce myself, as not only an avid fan, but also a blogger who promotes his work. To be quite honest, he did not seem impressed, but then again, I am no Sartorialist, not yet at least!

It was a very pleasant visit --as you can imagine-- because like you must be now, I too was mesmerized by all of the beautiful models of shoes. Some of the nicest parts were, in fact, the artistic pieces, such as the shoe with the teeth, the melted shoes, and my personal favorite, the lasts with the brogueing (pictured below, but altered by me to show effect of brogues). If only I could have afforded to leave with a pair in hand -- that would have made it the perfect trip. But, we all cannot be so fortunate.....oh well!

If you find yourself in Paris, and have some spare time, make it a priority to at least pop by for a visit. Just tell them that I sent you, that way they will remember me the next time I go! I hope that you all have enjoyed the post. Until next time, have a great day/night...


-Justin, "The Shoe Snob"

READ MORE - Paris Part 3 -- Corthay Visit