Of interest...

[das]

Wegan's back, #1 in 2019 with hand-closed uppers, rockin' the "shell heel" of ancient prize work fame: http://shoegazing.se/english/2019/05/12 ... hoes-pt-1/

[SharonKudrle]

I'm sorry to be so contrarian, but don't horses wear similar shoes? Will they award prizes to blacksmith's next? Is this for faun feet?
Eiji Murata's ranked #3 is the first normal shoe in this lot.

I google searched George Cruikshank images on "shoeing" and "ballooning"

The level of skill and workmanship from ALL the entries in the contest are quite obviously EXTREMELY high. Why were the very highest awards given to the oddest and perhaps least wearable shoes?

[dw]

Danial Wegan's First Place Offering is truly a marvel (at least for this Age).

I was impressed by the handsewn upper at 21 spi. I was impressed and delighted by the braided topline. I was impressed by 23 spi on the stitching. And all of this extremely well executed and clean.

But what impressed me the most...because it has been a theme/meme that I have harped on(and gotten a lot of negative feedback about) and returned to over and over again...is the fact that he did all of this himself. No outworkers, no machines. There is no doubt who the shoemaker is and what his level of skill is

.And no doubt...in my mind... that he deserved the win--head and shoulders above his competitors.

[das]

Sharon,

Personally I'm not too keen on the use of metal bits, especially the toe piece that seems ubiquitous these days--on heels they're just slipping hazards/hardwood floor destroyers IMO. But to see the traditional "shell heel" revived for this was astounding, because it's not something one makes often enough to get that good at, which was probably the point.

DW,

Point taken, however I doubt Wegan puts that many hours (solo) into shoes he makes for customers to actually wear. Comparing prize work for competitions to wearable footwear is apples and orangutans

[das]

An interview with Wegan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... L-CYj94L1c

[dw]

DW,

Point taken, however I doubt Wegan puts that many hours (solo) into shoes he makes for customers to actually wear. Comparing prize work for competitions to wearable footwear is apples and orangutans

It has ever been thus, has it not? What does 53 spi have to do with what customers wear?

Point is, I'm sure that the Elder Shoe Gods who did 53+ spi on tops, and on outsoles, didn't do that for everyday customers either.

And As Wegan says...some of what he did for these shoes, he had never done before. But you can be sure that having done it once, the skills he acquired in the doing will bleed into his daily work...for ever.

I agree whole-heartedly, prize work is for competitions and exhibitions--it is quite literally is for show. None of it was ever intended to be worn. It was intended to demonstrate that no machine could come close to what a skilled shoemaker could do. Now as then, no machine could duplicate Wegan's work. And when you really get down to it, no group effort (outworkers) could, either...simply because it doesn't just take skill, it takes vision.

"Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp...or what's a heaven for?"

As for the metal bits, I don't like them either but again it's for show, for exhibition, esp. in this cultural environment. People, nowadays, like them and it adds visual interest. Not all that different from the violin scroll trees of last years winner. [Which, parenthetically, were theoretically not part of what was being judged...but which we all know had an influence, if only subliminally.]

Someone once told me "presentation is everything"--not entirely true but true enough.

[das]

DW,

Maybe I was too vague, I guess. My point was, prize work solo is a fun thing, but "historically", commercial viable shoemakers had multi-worker shops

[dw]

No doubt. And the outworkers system is not going away any time soon either.

But for me, such set-ups always beg the question--"who is the shoemaker?" Is it the bottom man? The closer? Or the forklift driver? Or is it just some theoretical entity standing in for the group? In which case, the forkilt driver might indeed be the, or 'a', shoemaker.

More to the point, who gets the recognition or the award in a competition such as this when outworkers are used?

In fact, I raised just that issue with the people who organized the Shoemaking Competition last year. I was glad to see that some makers responded even if the 'rules' themselves weren't (AFAIK) changed.

[dmcharg]

G'day All,
Trying to work out where to put this, and not sure if this is the right place. It's a copy of a post I put up on my FB page last week, going into the reasons I'm winding up shoemaking for the present, and will explain why I've been absent from posting up here. Things have been too hard going and subsequently too slow.
Anyway, here 'tis.
Cheers and a Happy New Year to you all.
Duncan
"Slightly odd thing coming up on Monday, The better part of six months ago, the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation for the international readers) came to our home town of Clunes, for the program ‘Back Roads’. They interviewed a whole bunch of crafts people that live here, and it should be a very interesting episode.
But here’s the odd bit, and is being quite hard to write about: they do a bit on my shoemaking, and they’ve been using excerpts from it as promo spots on the TV, which has led to locals congratulating me, and pointing me out in the street to friends they’re with.
But I need to stop shoemaking.
We have several, immediate and extended, family members who are long term unwell, and the stress, mental and physical, has meant that I’m finding it very hard getting the current/last two orders finished. The two people in question have been waiting over 3 1/2years for their shoes, and that is completely unfair to them both. Once completed I have to stop. The stress is too much. A few years down the track I may be fit enough to re-commence, or I may not.
I don’t know.
So, as I’m about to get the biggest promotion I’ve ever had of my work, I’m saying I won’t take any orders.
The director knew these were my circumstances, but they really wanted to do a spot on me, and they have said that they got across that I was actually finishing up, so hopefully it’s clear enough in the finished episode.
But it’s been a fair roller-coaster ride of emotions since the promo spots started airing.

As part of my mental health support I’m learning about historical horology; the way watches and clocks were made 100-400 years ago. Sandra and I know a couple of watchmakers who are encouraging me to learn the craft, and are passing on knowledge and tools. But this is to help with staying on an even keel with the other stresses around, not with a focus on ‘a business’, or earning an income. Just to quietly tinker away, on my own projects, and try and relax in between the ‘urgencies’ that regularly crop up.

So, that’s where I’m at, and why the FB page is close to abandoned, with no regular updates, and why I haven’t put anything up on Youtube for ages, because things are going so slowly. Once these two people finally get what they’ve been waiting for I’m shutting up shop, and this page will just sit here as a sort of archive, waiting for some possible time in the future… maybe.
Take care everyone, especially if you’re in fire effected areas, and hope this year goes well for you.
Cheers"

[dw]

Newsflash!!

John Lobb, Ltd to sue John Lobb Paris/ Hermes


Thought this might be interesting to those who regard English Bespoke, John Lobb, Ltd, in particular, as highly as I do... if only as a standard bearer and repositiory of knowledge and Tradition.

[nickb1]

Sounds a bit like David picking a fight with Goliath, on steroids, financially and legally speaking. It's true that John Lobb St James St. has a risible web presence, the shoes always looked awful on there, in do way doing them justice. I wonder what else the new managers are looking to change. Hopefully not much when it comes to materials and making. Paying the shoemakers a bit more might be welcome too, from what I have heard.

[nickb1]

The next UK independent shoemakers conference will take place 19-21st Feb online: https://www.shoemakersconference.org.uk/, registration is £20. I see from the program there are at least two HCC posters on the schedule.
Nick

[tjburr]

Free virtual shoe simposium....If you haven't seen the announcement, I follow the Bata news, yet there looks like an exciting free virtual symposium this Friday December 3rd, 2021. I'm looking forward to seeing Elizabeth Semmelhack and others.

https://www.fitnyc.edu/museum/events/sy ... posium.php

[nickb1]

So the "super trunk show" shoemaking championship 2022 was judged yesterday. The event is covered here https://shoegazing.com/2022/05/07/live- ... show-2022/ Unfortunately the video stream goes blank when they get onto the shoemaking judging and there are no pics yet of the winning shoes from a maker named Shimamoto. The top judged entries were all from the far east and Japan, which reflected the entries also, though there were a few from Europe and even one from the UK. It was interesting to me to see lots of pinpointing on the soles and heels coming in. (Sorry about the quality of the pics from my luddite Nokia phone). They had to make a longwing shoe in red-brown leather with a natural finish on the sole. The last pic also shows some interesting "bunking" on an overstitched sole.

Photo0495.jpg

Photo0496.jpg

Photo0497.jpg

Photo0498.jpg

[nickb1]

Some better pics and a write-up of the top 3 entires now available: https://shoegazing.com/2022/05/10/pictu ... king-2022/

[dw]

test test test #7

[GalvinLW]

test test test #7

I can see it.

[dw]

Here's test number 10.... again in the wrong thread