Flashback Friday #81 – Make my own Pair of Shoes

Flashback Friday -  #81 – Emelda Marcos Meets Jimmy Choo. Sort of.

 

As a girl who rivals Carrie Bradshaw for her love of elegant footwear this dream had long be thrown about as a family joke. It was a way for me to save money on my shoe addiction which had started the day I said my very first word “Shoe” (no, this part is not a joke). My mother knew she was in trouble when the prancing in high-heels began as a toddler, then as a teen I was already an avid collector. My brother was ready to stage an intervention after moving my 200 pairs to my 5^th share house ("You only have two feet"!). So was born the idea to make at least one pair all on my own, so I could at least appreciate the artisans who make my feet so happy.

CJ starts the shoe obsession

I’m short course addict (not so crash hot at the longer ones!) and a regular Community College brochure reader. Always keen to become a golf pro in 12 short weeks, or learn how to properly taste my wine, I had never seen a course on making shoes. Investigating this a little deeper, it turns out the reason behind this is that making shoe by hand is actually quite complex and the equipment very expensive. Much more economical to ask the friendly factory folk at Ruby Shoes Factory to do it by the trillions.

Not long after my declared “Year of Action” I was Googling shoe courses and finding some fabulous options in Milan and Paris (I could be the next Manolo Blahnik!) when my local college brochure turned up on my doorstop with one tiny little class listed all the way at the back. The class was to be with a man named Darren Bischoff, who had a workshop in Leichhardt, and no more than 4 people. Sign me up!

Walking in that first Saturday with my coffee and croissant in hand, it was like stepping back in time.  Huge old machines with names like “Koala Bear Man” and rusted cogs filled the room with the smell of leather and yesteryear.

As novice shoemakers our assignment was to be a pair of sandals (a cinch) and our first class saw us madly working on our designs. Bringing our inspiration from magazines, I was certain I could replicate a Gucci or Dior Gladiator Sandal. Hello, I’m a shoe EXPERT! Upon actually drawing our patterns, perhaps not.

I settled on a simplified version and we started on our practise pair. Good Plan. I was starting to think I may not be a natural. Using the lasts, negotiating proportions, fighting with leather machines, battling buckles, inhaling neoprene (the stuff the  kids get high on these days –yikes!), and trying to remember my year 10 sewing skills just for a pair of sandals I’m starting to think the few hundred dollars I spend on my peep toes might be a bargain. 

So practise pair complete (orange is So Hot Right Now!)

 It was time to get serious and make my Real Metallic Bespoke Handmade Leather Sandals. Bespoke people!! See final stages below.

 

And finally, no fashion enterprise is complete without a photo shoot. We all know if it wasn't photographed it didn't happen.

 Final product and #81 off the Big List complete!