After a summer break we’re back with our first autumn issue. Alongside our regulars, Bespoke Shoe of the month, In the Workshop and Tool of the month, in this issue we’re

• Premiering our Heritage Clog lifestyle photography, shot by Barney Cokeliss and modelled by the wonderful community at Oxo Tower Wharf

• Showcasing a pair of bespoke sandals thataccomodate a leg difference

  Enjoy!

  Deborah & James

Our heritage clog kickstarter is nearly there, just a few more additions to the pledges and it will go off to be approved before we go public next month (October).

We couldn’t have done it without the help of award winning film maker and photographer, Barney Cokeliss

and the community at OxoTower Wharf. They generously gave up their time to be lifestyle models in front of Barney’s lens

Here’s a glimpse of the shots from the day….

Don’t they look great? Keep an eye out when we launch the kickstarter next month.

This is the first pair of boots that we made for Shirley and they’ve become her firm favourites.

Our next challenge was to make a pair of elegant sandals for the summer months / when Shirley is on holiday.

They took a number of fittings so that we could position the straps accurately

and to give the high platform just the right curvature.

All of Shirley’s footwear has to be made from vegetable tanned leather as she suffers from eczema and it is the only material that doesn’t cause a flair-up.

This pair are made in a beautiful natural oat coloured leather with a simple velcro strap fastening. The platform is sculpted in cork to keep the sandals light and then covered in leather to blend in.

And now we’re fine tuning Shirley’s third pair of sandals, a T-bar evening wedge. Again, they’re taking a few fittings and iterations to get the position, material and shaping right.

But we’re nearly there - a glossy mix of polished vegetable tanned goat leather and snakeskin!

This month we’re doing a deep dive into…

THE WOOTON CHELSEA BOOT

This a pair of Bespoke Handsewn chelsea boots, hand lasted; hand stitched and hand finished in house.

LASTS

The lasts are an updated version of a pair of vintage lasts we picked up on our travels. We loved the “suspicious square” toe shape and the narrow waist

STYLE

The style is a chelsea boot, but within that there is a lot of scope for variation. It all depends on the aesthetic you are aiminmg for. The customer wanted elegant and dressy, so the choice of last was key. Luckily he had long narrow feet so, as long as we kept the design simple, we could achieve the desired look

UPPERS

The leather is a mid brown burnishing calf from Italy. This means that it is not fully dressed in the tannery which gives us the ability to colour it and give it the finish we want

For simplicity, we made a “wholecut” pattern with a single backseam at the back. This requires the leather to be blocked or crimped which means it is soaked and stretched over a speacial wooden block. This allows the leather to stretch in 2 opposing planes on the instep. Leather is an amazing material!

The elastic is a very dark brown which contrasts well wit hte warmth of the leather. We like to drop the elastic just below the topline of the boots.

For simplicity and elegance, we did not add any tugs. The boots are low, so easy to pull on and off.

The lining is our classic straw veg tanned calf.

MAKING

The Wooton is made with the following features:

• 1” heel height

• Regular, square welt

• 1/4” sole thickness

• 10 SPI

• Dark natural finish throughout

Bespoke shoemaking is rarely straightforward but one of the most critical things, to get right at the start, is the measurements.

This is how we take measurements. It’s not very graceful; it’s a test of the knees and eyesight; and neither low cut tops or low rise jeans are recommended!

We’d love to have the client standing higher up so that we can sit on a stool comfortably to take the drawings and measurements.

What cunning stool, step or table do you use / have you seen to take client measurements that isn’t on the floor?

We’d love to see what you use or your ideas for one! There might even be a prize for the best suggestion.

New In The Toolshed

Reading: The Cordwainers of London, Jennifer Lang

Watching: Slow Horses with Gary Oldman

If you know someone who would enjoy The Journal please copy and share the link below with them.

We promise to publish once a month, not to share your details with anyone and to try to make sure that there’s something of interest for you whether it’s new shoes, tools, materials, events or projects.

And if there’s something you’d like us to include, please email us with your suggestions [email protected]…what would you like to hear about?

Many thanks

Deborah & James