Hello to all, and happy new year! I hope that the holiday season treated you well. I do not typically make new year’s resolutions, but in my case, I will endeavor to be better about posting twice a month – I’ve actually been quite busy and have had a few commissions completed, but most are similar to what you have seen before. The below is no exception, although I particularly like the cross decoration on the vamp.
A couple of new things to look forward to in the coming months – I’ll be deconstruction a reproduction shoe made by one of the shoemakers at Williamsburg. Then, I’ll reproduce it based on that technique and instructions from Garsault, so that will hopefully be illuminating! I also have a commission for a new pair of pantofles which will be interesting and fun to make. Looking forward to 2014!
Hello, all! As I mentioned in my previous post, American Duchess and I have collaborated to bring you “Stratford,” an Elizabethan/Jacobean shoe now available for pre-order. These come in both ladies and mens sizes! You can find full details and pre-order here!
Additionally, I am happy to offer silk satin, double faced, shoelace ribbons perfect for any kind of simple tie-closure shoe. This is real silk, not polyester like many ribbons out there. At the end are two handmade brass aglets or tips, into which the ribbon has been inserted and kept in place with a little bit of glue and a gentle crimp. They come in 1″, 1.5″, and 2″ widths, and a variety of colors, and make an excellent addition to “Stratford.” You can find them on my Etsy site, and the silver 2″ wide ribbon is pictured on the right.
I did allude to some news a while back, and now I can let the cat out of the bag – American Duchess and I have collaborated to bring you a truly remarkable shoe! “Stratford” is a reproduction 1600s shoe, suitable for both men and women from about the 1580s through to the 1630s. We both worked very hard to bring you this piece, and we’re terribly pleased to offer Stratford to you, designed by yours truly, and produced by American Duchess. Below, I provide some interim design stages and background about the process, but first, let me give you Stratford!
I feel a need to demonstrate to you all that although October has been an incredibly busy month, and although I’ve made progress on several projects that have not yet been completed (but look for some candy-posts in November =), I did finish up this pair of 1550s shoes for a friend of mine – my apologies for the poor shot, but I was in a rush to get it shipped out. Flat sole, wool sock, pinking and scoring on the vamp and quarters, whipped in stiffener. I tried to curve the sole of the last to pull the treadsole stitching in underneath the shoe, but I suspect that it needs to be much more extreme than I made it in order to be like some of the period examples where the upper (the toe especially) overhangs the treadsole by what seems to be a good quarter inch.
Dedicated to the Research and Construction of Chopines, Pantoufles, Zoccoli, Shoes, Boots,and Other Raised and High Heels.
