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The height above the ground of the tip of the toe, so called toe spring, has a large impact on the look of a shoe. A common perception is that lower toe spring looks more exclusive, and this has done that sometimes it’s taken too far. This shoe is a clear example of this.
As has been known for a while the Swedish store Skoaktiebolaget has decided to stop selling Edward Green, and now they have an outlet of all models they have left from the brand. It’s in most cases a 15% discount, in some cases even more, so for those who’ve had their eyes on a pair from the British premium manufacturer may find that the time is now. Also tips about final sales with 50% discounts at both J. FitzPatrick Footwear and A Fine Pair of Shoes.
Hiro Yanagimachi is one of the pioneers of the new wave of Japanese bespoke shoemakers which established themselves in the last 15 years. He offers MTO, MTM/semi bespoke and full bespoke, and with a newly developed international last and planned visits to Europe and the US, he is one of the Japanese makers who is of the most interest for us over here. I give you a large buyer’s guide to the brand, with a pair of MTO split toe derbies that I ordered as a framework.
A classic topic of discussion is the difference between Goodyear welted and hand welted shoes, and the function and importance it has. Usually the sustainability in terms of numbers resoles and so on is highlighted as the main difference, and there is of course a difference there, but in most cases there’s nothing that affects the actual life for the owner. There are many other aspects of the difference between the construction types that in my eyes are more interesting, and here I highlight several of these in the form of a series of pictures that compare shoes from Gaziano & Girling and Hiro Yanagimachi.
Last week I was in Japan and Tokyo, where I visited several bespoke shoemakers and shoe shops which in one way or another will be featured on the blog. First up is a report from my visit to Clematis Ginza, the alias for Keitaro Takano who is one of relatively few completely Japanese schooled bespoke makers.
Articles continued:
British premium manufacturer Edward Green has just launched a new webshop. It contains almost 100 different models, from all their classics to more odd models in daring colors.
The second Shoegazing Super Trunk Show was once again a great success, which we organizers are extremely happy about. 900 people visited the event in Stockholm last Saturday, and over 160 pairs were sold for a value of approximately €75 000 (and even more orders are placed by visitors in the coming weeks now). Here’s a summary of the whole event with a lot of pictures.
London is one of the best cities in the world for those interested in classic quality shoes. The capital of England contains a large number of shoe stores and bespoke shoemakers, basically an excellent selection of almost everything you can be looking for. Shoegazing guides you to it, and for those who have no plans of visiting the city there’s hundreds of pictures which hopefully can act as some inspiration.
