I’ve been attending Costume College (held in Southern California) for a number of years now, and in the past few years, I brought along my shoemaker’s bench and did some work in the hallways to teach people informally about historical footwear. Although I do teach some formal classes, I can reach a larger audience as people come in and out of the classrooms. I normally bring a pair of shoes to finish, and, in fact, you can see me cutting out the woolen insock to be pasted in the strapped shoe that has just been completed. Forgive the modern last, again, my very impressed photo-mate is Amanda S., and the image is courtesy of Breanna M.
Apologies for not getting to take a close-up of the finished pair, but they’re very similar to these. I was able to get them a lovely forest green which was not my original intention, but I’m very pleased with the color. Thing is, I didn’t get to take any close-ups, because there were so many other things going on! Continue reading Costume College and 1580s Shoes→
I hosted a small workshop a couple of weekends ago, and both students came away with some beautiful shoes (that also happened to fit, the more critical part). One was a 1560s pair of pumpes, and the second was a pair of shoes based on the 9-10th century finds at York. You can tell from the smiles that both were very happy with their work!
I’m starting to experiment with making the insole of the shoe smaller than the last itself so as to prevent the welt from sticking out so much. A lot of the 16th C. welted period examples have the upper essentially larger than the treadsole (and insole) so that when the shoe is worn, you don’t actually see very much of the treadsole. In many cases, the treadsoles were truly tiny compared to the actual size of the shoe, and the toe actually overhangs the sole by a goodly amount. In this case, I made the insole about 3/16″ smaller all around than the last. The effect may be hard to see, but it is important for achieving the proper look (but so are the right lasts, and I’ve dragged my feet on those!). I think for the next pair, I’ll need to cut the insole 1/4″ smaller, or more in order to get the kind of profile I’m looking for.
I keep on worrying that, at some point, someone is going to say, “Hey! You made a pair of shoes exactly like that back in 2011!” To that, I would inevitably respond, “No shoes for you!” =)
There are, actually, some differences in this pair. The sole is pasted in and there isn’t a heel stiffener (I’ve found that the stitching itself acts quite well as a stiffener).
Dedicated to the Research and Construction of Chopines, Pantoufles, Zoccoli, Shoes, Boots,and Other Raised and High Heels.
