Marcell,
I think I'll have to modify that to "This is bespoke business, madame" seeing as most of my early clients have been women.
Tim,
You say you echo Marcell's sentiment--- but how long did it take you to develop the correct attitude and mindset for the bespoke world?
DW,
I have read...and read again those essays. I'll agree with the philosophical standpoint you carry and in many cases I try to impliment traditional approaches to shoemaking. I wasn't by any means questioning traditional approaches to shoemaking, I guess what I'm asking is at what point you learned to slow down and what did it take to get you there. I am fighting a heavily ingrained cultural mindset and military training...I can hear the Chief in the background yelling at me to get the work done (now!). I know that with 5 1/2 months into shoe and bootmaking I sometimes feel that I am playing catch-up to the rest of the crowd.
Look at it like this: RTW shoes - fast food. Go to the counter, and you get your food with the coins. Bespoke - fine cuisine, 3 michelin star restaurant - you are happy, that you could book your table. I will tell you a secret (I hope no customer will read it ) - part of the service is the waiting list. Being on a waiting list to a luxury product is a privilege.
Jeff, When I started almost twenty years I worked 12-15 hours a day ,rushing jobs because I needed the money. I realized quickly I was getting nowhere fast.My skills were not improving, and I could not raise my prices because I was not delivering a product that warranted it. I am a quick study however and each day repeated the montra "slow is fast and fast is slow".I enjoyed the work more ,got more done and my work improved every day.I could charge more, which made me want to deliver more ,which allowed me to charge more ,which inspired me to deliver more ....and so on........Customers waiting is a good problem to have .Some makers get stressed out with a long list of customers waiting.....and we don't want any customers to walk away....its easy to quote an unrealistic deliver date under these circumstances ,which adds more stress. Alot of good long term customers will walk away if they have to wait to long. I'm one of those who ,the more I spend on something,the sooner I want it......What I did from the very start of my career may be some what controversial to some makers,but it has worked for me......When ever I get to 12 pair of boots back ordered I raise my prices, at least 10% .I usually have at about 12 pair on order all the time ......I'm not sure how long this will work but, its worked for me almost twenty years.I get paid more which inspires me to be more ,and the process repeats its itself with every pair.....Yes most customers will not pay what I ask,but thats ok because I can't make enough for everyone anyway......Thanks for letting me express my opinion , I appreciate you guys....and gals.
My story is similar to John's above. Sometimes I would put up prices 2 or 3 times in a day if they were ordering the same thing, but that was a long time ago, and once I had learnt to make better shoes, (I had no teacher after I left college until I met George Koleff, so was teaching myself), I started putting prices up properly. It took a lot of years before I could do that. Once I did it though, it meant that I could spend more time doing the little details that sometimes get left out or rushed.
People don't seem to mind waiting, and if they do, tough. You will make better quality shoes when you have some space, but it is good to have orders ahead of you, that also takes pressure off. It's a balance thing, and relies on you continually learning and not becoming complacent with what you think you know.
When you are at a stage that you feel your work is worth more, put your prices up and see what happens.
John,
I took a peek at your website -- the blue ostrich oxfords make me smile, my kind of thing. I imagine that the wincing caused by a knife slip on a pair of full alligator boots would be a slow-motion close-up with magnification of the slip-up I'd have on a mid-grade calf. One of the things that I've noticed is that as I've 'graduated' from mid-grade materials and have started to integrate some exotics and higher grade materials is that I tend to slow down---for pocket book's sake. Truth be told, I should learn to treat everything as if it was the last hide on Earth.
Tim,
As a student who's been doing this for a hot minute compared to you (and a lot of other folks 'round these parts), I'm far ready to be open to the general public. With that said, I do like to compare my work with others... it gives me an idea that if I want to command X as a price, then the level of craftsmanship needs to be on par. Being able to put a price tag on a boot or shoe is a good way of keeping track, I think. As of now, I have a reasonable waiting list of a relatives and close friends, and intend to keep it at that until I finish school and a few other apprenticeships that I would like to have under my belt. Part of the 'blessing' of being disabled from military service is that I am not under the financial pressure to earn money (now!). It's been a struggle to teach myself to live stress-free in my civilian life and not pressure myself to be in a hurry.
When I read your question I immediately identified with it. And the voices in your head to "get the work done NOW", are the same ones I've had to quiet in mine, telling me the repair work must be done by 4:00 this afternoon for Mrs. Jones and all the others to pick up.
In addition to those years of service work driving me to work fast, I spent five years working in a factory environment working production leather, doing holsters, belts, bags etc. Time was watched closely, and there were days when I literally worked like a madman all day long.
So, I really know what you mean. Calming and quieting myself to the level necessary for bespoke work, has been a challenge. But I can really tell you, if you work at it, it will come. It takes time to make room for it in your self perception, to think of yourself as careful and deliberate. Being patient with the process and focusing on the task at hand comes from experience. You'll come to see how the quailty of each operation contributes to the quality outcome of subsequent operations, and, therefore, how the quality of the whole job is affected.
For some steps in the process, I tell myself, "this is the only thing that I'm doing right now". I am single minded focused on the bristle going into the hole made by my awl, and I'm looking to get the second one in and pulling the thread tight. No other pair of boots on the bench is on my mind. I'm not thinking about the materials I need to order, or person I need to call next. Only one thing is happening right now, and I just take a breath and work the process.
I'll be honest, from your enthusiasm I worried you might have this problem to deal with when you showed piles of uppers on the bench waiting for next steps. I can see how that might be good exercise for training on cutting out and sewing. But in general, as you're finding, it's too much to think about. Too much about what is next on each pair, rather than what is now on this pair.
We say in short hand that bespoke means 'this pair is spoken for'. Think of it like your mind is spoken for also. Quiet yourself with deep breaths, or whatever else you do to calm your mind. It takes practice, but you can do it. And the wonderful part, as DW has said, sometimes you might even contact the divine.
Find an axiom, or repeatable phrase, that works as a trigger for you to use when you find yourself all balled up like that. Works for me.
I know you can work through this phase of your learning curve.
I know this is redundant but it all comes back to that "factory mentality," it really does. At some point you just have to reject that as a viable paradigm for living. Or at least exclude it from everything to do with shoe or bootmaking. If nothing else there has to be...for all of us...some refuge from the desolation of of a landscape dictated by the urgencies and constraints of machines.
Ask yourself...who are you making shoes or boots for? The customer? Really?!
I don't think so.I think you have to make shoes for yourself...and maybe, in an odd sort of way, for all the "dead guys" who bequeathed the Trade to you. The customer may dictate the outcome but not the process.
And if you make shoes for yourself...to nurture and cater to the impulses that you sense inside yourself...then it has to become nearly self-evident at one point that the freneticism that is driving you now is not only self-defeating but is an expectation/goal that is imposed by external forces--by social and cultural pressures that are not natural to human beings.
The very fact that you recognize the downside of continuing as you have been, indicates that you're ready to find another way.
To come back to my previous essays it may come down to simply cahnging focus--to decide to make shoes instead of money...or hay while the sun shines.
Paul,
Maybe my maxim will be WWPKD (What Would Paul Kemp Do?) . I do tell myself throughout the day--- or rather, I've begun to tell myself throughout the day that "there is no rush," I think I just need a stronger maxim and keep in mind some of the advice given here.
"I'll be honest, from your enthusiasm I worried you might have this problem to deal with when you showed piles of uppers on the bench waiting for next steps."
That in part is an attempt to get the ideas from "Air Boots" to real leather. I've narrowed my pile down quite a bit...but admittedly I'm still to scattered. I've been trying to use an a.m./p.m. approach, meaning: work on say inseaming in the a.m. on a pair of shoes then stitching tops in the p.m. as opposed to my previous helter skelter pace of squeezing in everything I can into the 7 1/2 hour school/shop day.
So again, I intone WWPKD?
DW,
I'm not arguing against having a factory mentality--- I guess I just call it the military mindset or production driven mind. Any way you phrase it, I think we're all working against a post industrial revolution cultural mindset that has become stickily ingrained in our behaviors---whether natural or not, productivity has been long been determined to be output driven, not quality determined. In short: I need to refocus, and know I need to refocus.
Get a drawing pad and soft lead pencils (#2) and eraser, sketch your designs.
I have drawings that have been waiting for years.
I understand the attempt at time management. I'm not sure it's not just folly, but it's good to think about
But truely, I believe if you're going to do bespoke work, you must see each shoe/boot as an individual project, two of them matching, being for the same customer.
The thinner you spread yourself, the more your advancement in service to the customer and yourself will be held back.
All that said, the place you're in right now is where you need to be. School, or under instruction from whatever source, is the place to learn, in all it's forms. Risks, mistakes and bad choices included. What you are doing right now is what you should be doing. Have fun and observe, and benifit in the future.
I wholly agree with Paul saying in his last paragraph,"School" should be where you learn and take notes and not to burden yourself with rushed orders and demands,The journeyman-ship for shoe making is 7 years to learn the gentle trade from sources, makers and than another twenty years to well-master what your shoe master showed you,so what i am trying to say is that it is a long process to learn thread making,pattern making,sewing, stitching,sharpening and on and on and you are not competing with any one just yet,but yourself,the higher you set the standards,the slower you begin to work to achieve it,In all honesty I myself have to remind myself of that calming down you spoke about.
Your brotherly two cents worth.
Nasser,
In the publishing world, they say you "have to get out your million bad words" before you really craft quality writing. Perhaps I was just trying to get out my million bad stitches.
I don't think there is a problem with setting high demands and high standards---providing they are achievable...and in truth I've bitten plenty more off than I can chew trying to emulate some of the folks' works here that I look to when I set that professional standard. I think at this point one of my frustrations is having the design idea, but not necessarily the skills to translate that into a functional pair of footwear.
While I may not necessarily buy into an exact quantification for journeyman and mastery levels (5 yrs, 7 yrs, 15 pair, 75 pair etc...) I agree that this is something that takes time to achieve any level of respectable mastery. I feel very lucky though to be able to have the digital eyes and ears from several of our 'giants' and 'rising stars.'
One of the things that I find odd, and I have said this previously, is that because of service connected disabilities, I am for all intents and purposes "retired." You'd think with three years out of the service I would have learned to relax...especially after discovering cordwaining. I am in the somewhat enviable position that I can devote time and attention towards mastery---and perhaps I should adopt DW's philosophy of 'owing it to myself and to the "dead guys"' to pursue this craft with steady intensity, without the hurried impulsiveness that has driven me.
Paul,
Appreciate the advice on keeping a sketch book handy. I actually keep three: one at the school/shop, one here at my desk, and one by the bed. You always have to be prepared for those sneaky Air Boots.
Thank you all again, shoe and bootmaking has been a very personal journey for me with a lot of self-discovery involved. I'm glad to have others with mountains more experience who are willing to share and guide.
I have been away from the computer for a week so this is really late. I used to make a template outline of my lasts, about 8 or 9 cms long (I guess around 5inches), ladies, low, med, and high heels, mens, shoe and boot lasts. Draw a series of 3 or 4 on a piece of paper. All the same on a page. Then do a few photocopies of each. Put them in a folder and when you have an idea, just draw in the pattern lines on the appropriate page.
Then look at the design and whatever strikes you as the best features, or the lines you like best, and go to the next silhouette and just put those lines on it. Then play with any other lines that come to mind.
As time goes by, what you started with may not be what you end with.
You may find that you move to a completely different last and the design has a life of it's own.
It's a good way of being able to follow the changes, and even being able to go back through the changes to the original, and maybe starting again.
Tim,
One of the positives about having so much work on the table is, for example, being able to come back to a pair of boot tops that I stitched a month ago and being able to look at them objectively with an 'improved eye.' There are always things that I want to do better, things I will no longer accept as 'good enough' for craftsmanship, and different approaches gained (and in truth, gained primarily from peeling through the forums)...
...I like your idea, I think I may borrow your template folder practice.
...and there is no need to apologise for being away from the computer for a week---if I were on your side of the pond, I'd unplug too. The last time I was in the AUS (Brisbane and Esk), I didn't touch the digital interverse once.
in Hungary you can find plenty.. Seriously. This things are easily accessibile, so if you collect an order, I can send you plenty and you can share.. if no one knows any sources there
Thanks Marcell. Ana has been sending me wonderful drawings of women's flat shoe construction for me to work from & I had completely forgotten about topline tape! I would like to order some if nobody in US carries it.
On another note, I have acquired some of the Yes glue, and it is indeed quite a lot like Hirschkleber. A great find!
Topline tape keeps the contours of the shoe topline from stretching during wear. On women's sandals and mules, it stabilizes the vamps so the fit is maintained and open toe styles don't let the foot slip through. It can also be encased down the middle of straps for women's shoes, again to strengthen and prevent stretching.
Rick, is the tape lined up just below, or just above, the raw edge that has been folded down? It almost looks like it's overlapped to me, but I can't quite tell.
the tape is put in either under the folded edge or like Rick has done, but it can be a bit higher if you want. It has to do with the topline, no other part of the fold. You can put topline tape on a raw edge too.
My two pennies: Rick's tape is a bit wide for topline tape. That should be 2 mm to follow the curves, and that type should be attached under the folding to make its job: give strenght to the skived leather and to the folded line.
To make the topline shape stable we have some other tapes, as we use at least 3-4 types for a shoe.
Thanks for comments, Tim, Marcell, etc. Georgene contacted me & she carries 3 widths of tape, but none as narrow as 2 mm. Is the tape something I could divide without weakening it or would it start to fray if I did that? And what about the tape that is sold over here as 'seam binding' or 'bias tape'--some of that might be available in narrow widths.
I was imagining something that did go right inside the fold, up against the topline, with the skived and folded edge covering it. Clearly it can be done in more than one way... and I am wondering if omission of this tape (in the shoe I posted recently) is the explanation for a topline that does not really hug the foot? It seems to turn out just a bit, and I don't think it should do so.
) - part of the service is the waiting list. Being on a waiting list to a luxury product is a privilege.
