Hand Made Shoes

Most shoes, including most of the world's best names in ready to wear, are made by machine. But some makers have a different formula - handmade shoes on standard lasts.

By hand made on standard lasts (the last is the block of wood that the shoe is built around), I mean shoes made for stock or to order in standard sizes. Bespoke shoes are made on a last made for the individual customer, which adds significantly to the cost of the first pair of shoes. Most shoes are made on generic sized lasts, just as most suits are made to fit generic men, and that process offers significant savings that doesn't have to compromise fit if the buyer can find a standard shoe that fits his foot.

When it comes to the hand made part, I mean literally made by hand. Maybe the upper is stitched together by a person using a sewing machine, but otherwise the shoes are constructed with needles and thread just as they were 150 years ago. Hand stitching makes a stronger shoe, and one with more shape. There is still no shoemaking machine available at any price that can construct a waist as elegant as one made by hand.

Among hand made shoes, the differentiators are price, styling, and the degree of customization offered by the maker. Some start with a range of models in various shapes and let the customer pick the color, the type of leather and the style of sole. Other makers will also change features of the design, adding or removing punches or customizing toe medallions upon request. Still others will make anything. For the man with an extensive shoe wardrobe, more flexibility is better.

There are literally dozens of providers of hand made shoes on standard lasts, most of them very small operations. Probably the best known name, and certainly the most accessible, is Kiton. A basic set of Kiton models is available in the United States at Nieman Marcus stores in most major cities. It's a very good shoe with some machine sewing and a great finish. Unfortunately, the line is significantly over-priced at $2,500 a pair - several excellent makers of fully bespoke shoes charge less - and a customer can only obtain what Nieman Marcus carries in inventory.

Towards the other end of the hand made spectrum is Laszlo Vass of Budapest, which offers a superbly made traditional shoe starting at about $900 a pair in the United States (less if you travel to Hungary). The company doesn't allow much in the way of modification to their standard designs and it's somewhat difficult to obtain them in North America. Prospective customers either need to visit Budapest to fit the first pair or contact Gabor Halmos, the U. S. representative, to see if they can arrange to try a sample shoe.

I'm currently most excited about the demi-measure shoes of Parisian Dmitri Gomez (that's a version of his Richelieu, above). Gomez will hand make just about anything a customer can conceive on a standard last starting at about $1,600 per pair. That happens to be roughly the same price as a pair of Top Drawer Edward Green, a fine shoe whose make is not in the same class. The negative to Gomez is that you have to travel to Paris to be fitted, and, unless you have a friend that owes you a favor, travel there again to pick them up. He's too busy to ship shoes and a look at his work explains why.