My 7th Self-Made Bespoke Pair

As many of you may know, I have been away for the last 3 days, making a pair of shoes for myself, hence the long time without posting nor replying to emails (for those that have mailed me, I promise that I will reply). Sorry for that delay in writing, but I had forgotten that the B&B that I stay at does not have wireless internet access, go figure... Anyway, not even sure I would have had time to post as I was slaving away trying to crank these bad boys out in that 3 day time period. But alas, they are done and looking better than ever!!

So evidently shown by the pictures, you can see that my new green shoes did not start as they look now. In fact they were a rejected upper from G&G (the Rothschild) that was cream colored, which had a couple of blemishes here and there and a few stains. Not really wanting that as my upper, I had been struggling with what I wanted to do with them. At first I was thinking the purple route, but quickly botched that idea as I decided that I wanted something that I would probably wear a little bit more often. As I have literally captured the entire color spectrum in my shoe collection (with the exception of pink and orange, real orange that is), I have now come to the point where I am doubling up on colors. I have been keen on the idea of green shoes for awhile since I have been without my Sassetti's for quite some time now, as they are sitting in a storage box just screaming to get out. Therefore, I decided to give it a go as I saw that the local cobbler was selling green leather dye and the rest is history...

Being that this was my first real patina that I was going to create (with dye and all), I wanted it to be fun and unique. I decided that as I had made the sole black, I was going to use black as the background color, to give it somewhat of an antiqued look. I started this by blacking-out the perforations in the upper with a sharpie (permanent marker). This ended up being great and looked so good that I was almost tempted to just shine it, leave it cream-colored and call it a day. But my urge for green got the best of me, and I decided to push on.

So, I took out my dyes (green and black), mixed them and began applying it with a sponge, rubbing it in circular motions to not get any blotching going on. I emphasized the toes and heels by actually applying too much, which left it black looking from the effect of the leather getting too wet. After spreading it around, I began to use the little applicators that they provided with the dyes that I purchased. There were actually two different ones, which ended up being perfect as one was good for spreading around and the other good for getting in small places, like underneath the gimping (piranha tooth like design on the brogue detailing) and in the welt area. After I had applied the dye and it was done, I let it sit awhile before I started to add my navy shoe polish to it, to really bring up the colors and darken it a bit. And boy, did it work. For being my first time ever doing a real patina, I was quite pleased with the way it turned up. Those 3 days work and 30-something hours, now paid off....

READ MORE - My 7th Self-Made Bespoke Pair

What I Am Wearing

Today, I felt like wearing my new green brogues. They are somewhat hard to match with so I decided to just wear a predominantly blue outfit, as I feel that the green brogues blend well with these colors. As always I apologize for my pictures, as they are not of the caliber that a proper blogger should have. I am pretty rubbish when it comes to getting good at using cameras, but promise that soon, I will have not only a more clean look to my blog but also better quality photos. Just bear with me. On the note of plugging ahead, I am actually going to be heading on a short business trip. A trip that will have my shoes designs coming to life as tangible products. I am going to bring my computer with me, just in case I have enough time to let you all know what I am up to, but if you do not hear from me until Friday night, this is why.....Big things are happening and all of my talk about starting my own shoe line, will soon materialize!

Shoes: Bespoke made by me, with G&G 'Rothschild' upper
Jacket: H&M
Trousers: H&M
Knit Tie: Gieves & Hawkes
Shirt: Primark
Watch: Nixon

READ MORE - What I Am Wearing

What I Am Wearing

This is an older picture, when I was using my sub-par camera, but I wanted to show you a little bit more of how I sport the green shoes, as well as give off my Gordon Gekko, Wall Street look. On that note, there is yet another thing that I have become enamored with since arriving on Savile Row: the braces (suspenders), particularly these cotton one's that we sell at Gieves & Hawkes. Since working here, I have purchased all four of the colors that they come in: black, navy, light blue and red. While I tend to get the most use out of the navy, I still enjoy having my options and am looking to get them in green, purple and gray, when I can.

I have yet to venture off pairing my green brogues with anything other than navy, but there are an array of trouser colors that would suit a pair of green shoes. As I move into my new flat in London (as we speak) and finally have ALL of my stuff in one place, I will be able to pick my outfits a lot better, putting together concoctions that I have to imagine up!

Shoes: Bespoke, made by me, using Rothschild upper from G&G, and hand dyed by myself.
Trousers: H&M
Shirt: Primark
Tie: Hardy Amies
Braces: Gieves & Hawkes

READ MORE - What I Am Wearing

Bespoke Making On A Whole Other Level

Most of the time, people buy bespoke shoes because they have feet that are hard to fit and therefore need a last to be made up to accommodate such feet. But every now and then, you get a gentleman who goes for bespoke simply for the fact that he wants something that no one else is ever going to have. This shoe presented here, represents just that, and even more. I found this on Saion's site and because it is in Japanese I unfortunately cannot understand one single thing, but looking at the pictures, I am almost positive that the stitching of the upper was done by hand, which is simply frickin' amazing!! Imagine how long that would take? AGES!

I look at this and even though I would probably not wear it simply for the fact of the decoration on the strap, I can't help but like and appreciate it. I only wish that there was a side view to look at, in order to get more of an appreciation for the entire shoe, as the top view only gives you so much. But I must say, that this is shoemaking purely at it's finest. The upper is unique, the stitching is hand-done (and contrasted), the design is out of the ordinary (the counter's are quite different) and the color combination is mind-blowing!! Overall, I give this a 10, not for the fact that it's the coolest shoe ever, but simply for the fact that it breaks all of the norms and enters the realm of art for the sake of making something that is beautiful and not necessarily practical....

READ MORE - Bespoke Making On A Whole Other Level

The Green Machine

The thing about green is that when you are able to create the perfect shade of it (think a mix between emerald and forest), it can become one of the most stunning colors there is. While I won't say that the color that I created on these bespoke brogues is perfect, I will say that it is lovely shade that I happen to find extremely versatile. Not only does it pair well with this light gray POW, but I also enjoy mixing it with my navy three piece. And the best thing is that while this green might have been a bit bright for some people, I feel that because of all the brogueing, it tones it down a bit and separates all of that green. Then again, it does so because I blacked out each hole with a permanent marker....Anyway, back to the subject: green brogues = cool, but what's even better is the idea of creating an entire range of brogues in every color that would be appropriate for smart, casual wear. In particular, a full blue brogue...now that sounds appealing!

Shoes: Bespoke, made by me (with Gaziano & Girling "Rothschild" upper)
Suit: Readjusted bespoke by Chittleborough & Morgan
Shirt: Primark
Tie: Tie Rack

READ MORE - The Green Machine

Shoes Of The Week - Saddle Monks by Saint Crispins

These are hands-down among the nicest shoes that I have truly ever seen in my entire life, and I mean it! Even though Saint Crispins shoes are incredibly expensive for RTW/MTO standards (please read comment below to understand why), I have to say, that from the looks of things, they are worth every last penny. Not only do the leathers look superb, but the pattern-making and minute detailing are without a doubt, top-notch! I really can't help it but there is not one bad thing that I can say about this shoe, except that I am truly and utterly envious of the person who owns them! The apron stitch is perfect and this is one thing that really ruins a shoe for me. If the apron stitch is not spot-on, then the shoe is ruined, which is reason why I don't particularly like apron toed shoes. The fact that they added a saddle on a double monk just makes them go up 100 points in my book as many of you know that I am a saddle freak! And to top it off, the coloring of the leather is phenomenal. It may not be to everyone's liking, but you can't deny that the patina applied was nothing short of amazing, as getting an olive green like this, is very hard to do....Anyway, enough of my praising, I think that the shoes speak for themselves. My hat is tipped to the owner of these lovely beauties!

Picture Courtesy Of: Rugged Old Salt

READ MORE - Shoes Of The Week - Saddle Monks by Saint Crispins