Bespoke is a word very few get to call their items of clothing let alone footwear; traditionally bespoke items were only available to those worthy of the price commanded such as kings, lords and famous politicians. To have an item specifically made for one’s particular shape and body is an honour in itself knowing that the garment or accessory is literally one of a kind and like no other in the world. The word bespoke oozes exclusivity and pride knowing that you are the only person it fits hence why the price of these items can skyrocket into the tens of thousands.
Thankfully we are all different and unique and thus this creates the market for these uber exclusive goods, obviously bespoke garments have been around for centuries and are the more publicised area in the industry but what many overlook is bespoke footwear. Evidently custom made footwear isn’t exactly appealing to 99.9% of people due to the fact the majority of off the shelf footwear fits and looks just fine but the key to having your shoe game at it’s highest is to aspire to want more than just “fine”. The key to pulling off almost any look is to emanate confidence in your stride and aurora, as they say you put your best foot forward in any situation but the way I see it is to make sure that foot is wearing a shoe that shines with sophistication.
Any shoe which has been meticulously handcrafted through many man hours will always stand out next to your average pair of brogues from off the shelf; the key with bespoke footwear is that your imagination can run wild with style and those thoughts can be formed into a gracious formation of leather, stain and wood.
Saint Crispins is a shoe manufacturer situated in the hills of Romania, in a tiny factory they roughly output around 1,000 pairs of shoes a year which is a pretty good effort seeing as each pair can take up to 45 hours to make. The shoes that are produced are 95% handmade and constructed using leathers and materials mainly sourced from only the best producers in Europe; and of course they offer a made to order service completely tailoring the shoe to your foot, although it will cost you around $2000.
“A truckload of money for a pair of simple shoes” is what most people would think and yes, that’s exactly right but the difference between these shoes and your average Windsor Smith’s is that these are built to last, and built to be rebuilt. Unlike your normal off the rack shoes, these are able to be resoled upon the original last so that once the heel wears out you can simply get the shoe rebuilt and have a new sole put on so that they can last even longer, compared to buying a new pair every year or so.
Although these may break the bank for the majority of people, they are considered by most as an investment rather than a purchase, similar to a Rolex which will run for years and be handed down in a family for many generations; handmade shoes are of the same calibre and will last extended amounts of time given the right care
Below is a video outlining the entire process behind constructing these works of art which will definitely put the price warranted in perspective for most.
