If I were a guy, I'd be broke. At least that's what I think each time I look at websites selling beautiful, handmade/handsewn leather shoes for men like Leather Soul Hawaii, Ben Silver, Alden Shoes of Carmel, Harry's Shoes and even Sierra Trading Post. For the most part, there's a radical absence of decent shoes for women not made out of molded rubber, hemp canvas, nylon webbing, patent leather, metallic leather, nubuck or other synthetic leathers.
Actual text for a close-out style of Tevas for women from STP: "Female touches include colorful shoelace eyelets and decorative lining."
Since I have relatively small feet, I'm unable to order men's shoes which typically start at size 7 (I'm a men's size 6 or 6.5!). Shoe sizing effectively restricts my footwear selections to a few choice vintage/ebay finds and a rotating platoon of Sebago loafers (which size down to circus monkey numbers).
What I want to purchase is a lovely, rugged oxford or brogue made out of scotch grain leather with a double leather or dainite rubber studded sole. If I had untold sums of spending money, I'd just order up a custom made loafer or derby from JM Weston. But Weston, with it's French pedigree and Madison Ave storefront, is so elitist that I'm not even sure they would post me a catalog.
Several years ago, I stumbled on a Manchester Guardian article about the UK footwear firm, Tim Little. At the time, Little was selling no compromises, scaled down versions of their men's style shoes for women. For several years, during the Tim Little Christmas sale, I would purchase a pair of Littles (one time it took the shoes three months to make their way from London to Oregon since I had requested the cheapest, "ground" shipping option). Now, for some reason, they've dropped their women's line and erased its presence from their website (perhaps because shoes without colorful eyelets or decorative linings no longer sell well).
I understand that at least one of the Tim Little storefronts has some women's shoes in stock. I recently purchased a pair of oxfords on steep discount. I encourage you to contact Little and inquire about this phantom line of shoes. Mention the Mockingbird or Road Runner II styles so they know you're not nuts or making things up.
6 comments:
I just thrifted some pretty cool old Bass shoes. Not as ornate, but good.
At least Sebago provides shoes with such enticing style names as the "Cayman", "Spinnaker" and "Matinicus".
Of course, they doomed themselves with the "Schooner", "Castaway" (possibly the only one I'd sport) and the entire atrociously named "Performance Marine" series.
The end is nigh if I catch you in a Brittania Wrap.
Awesome!! I always looking for pure leather shoes. I have 3 pairs of handmade/handsewn leather shoes.
Thanks for the blog and I like it very much because it is very interesting but I also want to share a link about the O'neill shoes where you can find the new and latest styles of O'neill and many more.
Thanks for the blog and I like it very much because it is very interesting but I also want to share a link about the O’neill shoes where you can find the new and latest styles of O'neill and many more.
My husband will surely like these shoes!
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