It’s not too often we see new books about classic men’s shoes – for us shoe nerds it’s always a thrill when it happens. The latest and greatest of these is the book Shoes – The Art of Male Footwear by Hugo Jacomet and Sonya Glyn. Shoegazing have read it.
FACTS:
Title: Shoes – The Art of Male Footwear
Authors: Hugo Jacomet, Sonya Glynn, photography by Andy Julia
Publisher: Olo Èditions
Number of pages: 240
Format: Hardcover
Price: €85 /$99 (available to order via mail at hugo@parisiangentleman.fr or through a few retailers)
Shoes – The Art of Male Footwear is a huge book, in terms of size. It would go by the term coffee table book, but is so large that it could almost be a coffee table itself. It’s not something you carry with you for some beach reading, or casually lay down on the bed to read. You have to sit with it in your knee or placed on a table, which means you also have to give it attention. And all the amazing photos of loads of lovely shoes that this book is filled with sure deserves ones attention. The given pro of the book’s size is that you really get to see the shoes up-close. And when you handle books like this, you realise how superior sharp, high-res photographs in printed format are compared to viewing them on a computer screen – not to mention on a mobile. This way you get as close to the shoes one can possibly get without handling them in person. You can really see the details of the materials, the small creases, the edge treatment, every stitch and every pore of the leather.
This book is full of beautiful photos of beautiful shoes.
Hugo Jacomet and his wife Sonya Glyn are likely known to many, they run the website Parisian Gentleman and the YouTube-channel Sartorial Talks, and have published a number of books on men’s style. This project is the first book dedicated to the topic shoes, it was published in French in 2019 and then the English version came late last year. The book covers a number of bespoke makers and RTW brands, with relatively short texts with info and the background of each brand, one specific model highlighted, and a description of each brands house style. Most focus is on photography though, and as mentioned the images really gets to shine here. It’s divided into the English, French and Italian schools of shoemaking, and then a section about brands from other parts of the world. At the end there’s also a longer interview with the French bespoke shoemaker Stephane Jimenez, which surely is an interesting read.
The main text about each brand looks like this.
Personally I would enjoy even more text, but I can see the thought behind a book like this, and even if I consider myself knowing quite a lot I surely gain a bunch of new info here, especially about the history of some of the brands. They have done a good job with research for the book. What could be better though is the fact check, maybe they only have had the brands themselves fact check the texts about them, which results in a number of things that come out a little bit wrong. For example they state that JM Weston is the only RTW-brand who offer penny loafers in seven different widths when a brand like Allen Edmonds have them in ten widths, that Gaziano & Girling should be unique with doing up to three fittings when many bespoke makers do this (or more) if necessary, that Saint Crispin’s should be entirely handmade when they in fact have machine stitched outsoles, etc. It would have benefitted with a sort of unbiased fact check by one or more persons with good shoe knowledge, since the info from brands can be a bit tendentious or that they just don’t know the full picture.
It’s a well written book, easy to read and in almost all cases the correct language is used also for quite technical shoe terms, which isn’t always the case in books about classic shoes. The language is quite pompous in the same manner as Hugo and Sonya usually talk and write about things, the texts in the book are extremely superlative packed. Everything is presented as “amazing”, “famous”, “unique”, “intriguing” and so on, and it doesn’t matter if it’s factory-made Goodyear welted RTW shoes or the finest fully handmade bespoke shoes, it’s all just as “magical” and “immaculate” and “magnificent”. I would have preferred a more toned down and balanced language, but it’s a matter of personal taste (I mean, they are French, and I’m a Swede… plus I know they also want to attract people outside this world, where this might be more needed, so to speak). More of how the final chapter with Stephane Jimenez is, this is refreshingly honest and open (although some of his criticism is a bit off, for example his critique on shoe factories and bespoke makers for not repairing their own shoes, since a lot of them actually do just that, he is on point with the importance of this work and how one should use this to improve the product though).
You really come up close with the shoes.
These are only smaller things though, overall I surely enjoy Shoes – The Art of Male Footwear, and it’s definitely a book that I will leave out in my living room. I can see how guests not knowing anything about shoes can pick this up and browse through the pages a bit, and perhaps understand a bit of the reasons that I find this type of shoes so fascinating. It’s a book that should be of interest both for newcomers who wants to get a good overview of a number of famous bespoke shoemakers and some mainly premium RTW brands, but also those already in-the-know should enjoy it. A nice addition to the relatively recent books we’ve seen on bespoke shoemaking, Gary Tok’s Master Shoemakers (reviewed here) that came a few years ago and the German Bernhard Roetsler’s Herrenschuhe – nach Mass which I hope will also be translated to English soon. We can never have too many books about classic shoes!
TYE Shoemaker, one of all the great shoemakers covered.
Thank you for reviewing this fantastic new book.
I ordered one of the first editions, in English, and
have enjoy it immensely.
Marcus: Cheers! It’s really a great book.
Well… I’m not that happy with this book. First I was shocked about its price… however after I felt it in my hand I was more understanding with it. Still, when I started to read the actual book, I was so disappointed about the text (or actually the lack of text and infos). Also I have to realise there are only a handful of brands in the book, and half of them are so famous, that no new information can be found on those “half a page” comments. I hoped that I will find some knowledge about general things like: making, polishing, how to wear, how to handle, some history of shoes etc. No nothing. It is just a heavy, big, short catalogue. And not the free type.
However, I agree that, the size makes it astonishing, and to see “close to real size” shoes is very good thing… but the quality of the pictures are just poor. Of course the printed media is always better than the online version… but visible background? Blurry pictures? Don’t get me wrong, it is not that bad. But like average… and in a book that is so big, and so pushes to be “nice” this is simply not enough.
Just to put this in perspective: I got so angry about this book, I bought the Vass – Handmade shoes for Men… and… like ten times cheaper, more photos, more quality photos, and WAY MORE useful text. Of course it is older, and you can feel it. But you get so much more for so much less money.
The only thing I can now accept (from your review) if you put this book into a different perspective: from the “book for pros, who want to read and know more” to the “try to have blink-blink, awesome decoration piece, so beginners can see this world”. Okey I can understand this. But still I think it was a total waste of money.
Sorry
Numudal: Sorry to hear you are disappointed. If you were expecting a book similar to the Vass book, I can see why you are disappointed, but it’s two totally different things. I don’t agree at all with your statement that you would get more for the money just since there’s more text in the Vass book, if the amount of text is what counted Jean M. Auel would be considered the one to get to get best for your money, but it’s not really the case… It’s a bit like saying that a high boot would automatically be better than a low shoe, just because it’s more of the latter, but it’s two different things with two different purposes. Sometimes you want to wear the high boot, sometimes the low shoe. And some don’t like one of them at all, but it doesn’t mean it’s wrong per se because of that.
Also don’t agree with your statement on the photos, to choose visible background is just a matter of preferences of photography, not quality, and the use of shallow depth of field in selected images does not mean that they aren’t sharp, it’s a different way to shoot images. If all were like that would be one thing, but they mix those in for a more artistic feel, again, because the book is the type of book that it is. There would be many who would say that the images in the Vass book are much worse than those here, but they would also be wrong, it’s two different things with different purposes.
You have to judge things based on what they are intended to be, not what you thought they would be, since to be frank the latter is only on you.
Formidable!!!! Bravo!!! Please keep up.
Dmitrious Chatzoudis: Cheers!
Step into the world of sartorial mastery as Shoegazing unveils the artistry behind male footwear, intricately reviewed and celebrated, where every pair becomes a brushstroke in the canvas of timeless style Embark on a journey of refined elegance with Shoegazing’s insightful review of male footwear, where craftsmanship meets character, creating a symphony of fashion that resonates with sophistication and enduring allure