Bestetti hand coloured Derby

Master Riccardo Bestetti does it again, in the below pictures we see the transformation of  raw leather shoe to a very beautiful piece of art, hand painted shoe. Here again, it is probably the collaboration of a patina designer and the shoemaker artisan putting movements and energy into the leather, handled as canvass. No words needed, let the pictures say it all. Very well done Master Bestetti.  

Master Bestetti hand painted Derby.

The Bestetti hand coloured Derby transformed from raw colourless to a beautiful swan. Amazing process to follow.

Photos sourced from Master Bestetti

GJ Cleverley - The Whole cut oxford

For the day I have sampled an elegant shoe in black, a classic whole cut Oxford with a stitched cap toe and seamless from the GJ Cleverley establishment. My understanding is that whole cuts, whether be oxfords or loafers are difficult to make, as one has to deal with one single piece of hide and get it correct from start. I suppose that is the challenge for any shoe artisan.
The below straight cap toe has two rows of very close stitchings and it is seamless at the back, because as said, it is made of one single piece of leather.

The stitched cap toe whole cut Oxford as renditioned by GJ Cleverley, a beauty, a classic, a formal shoe and timeless.

Photos sourced from GJ Cleverley

Master Yohei Fukuda - Balmoral cap toe Oxfords

While on the theme of Japanese bespoke shoemakers, I for the day sampled a very good rendition of a Balmoral cap toe oxford with a very nice antiqued patina worth any conservative gent. The creation is from Master Yohei Fukada aka Marquess, whom I did mention in this blog a time ago.

Master Fukuda's rendition of Balmoral cap toe Oxford with medallion in honeyed brown antique colour, chisel square toe last.

Rendition of a Balmoral punched cap toe with medallion Oxford in black colour, chisel squared toe last.

 A rendition of a stitched Balmoral punched cap toe Oxford in brown, chisel square toe last

Photos sourced from Master Yohei Fukuda

GJ Cleverley - baby calf and ostrich Adelaide

GJ Cleverley the London based bespoke boot and shoemaker never stops amazing me with their ingenuity, classical designs and combinations of hides when making their so beautiful shoes from start. The latest creation being a combination of baby calf and ostrich leather based Adelaide Oxford shoe, well executed and the leather combination very well done and appealing even to the most conservative gents. 
Another classic from the hands of the GJ Cleverley team.   
The GJ Cleverley web site has also been revamped, looking very great. Congrats with the new site Gents. 

Adelaide Oxford made from baby calf and ostrich hide from the leg. This shoe needs no comment(s), it speaks for itself. Very beautiful, aesthetic, elegant, a classic and timeless from birth.

Photos sourced from GJ Cleverley

Bespoke shoemakers in Poland

Central Europe or Eastern Europe in particular the former Eastern block, has a handful of bespoke shoe artisans unknown to us in the West. These artisans have kept the trade alive and survived the communist era, which is an achievement in itself. For today's blog, I praise the honourable, humble Shoe Masters from Poland who managed to keep this art alive even under hard conditions. These true artisans, loyal to the trade, can now offer bespoke shoes for a reasonable price and the pieces are elegant, classical, stylish and hand made.


Warsaw (Poland) has more bespoke shoe artisans than Copenhagen(Denmark), where the trade has slowly died out and almost vanished. 


The Polish gents and shoe lovers in Poland must be very lucky to have at least three well reputed bespoke shoemakers, whom I am aware of at this time, that being Mr. Jan Wieladek, Mr. Tadeusz Januszkiewicz and Mr. Jan Kielman (he has a web site). 


The first two gents are elderly gents (way over the 60's, I assume), and probably non English speaking too, but Jan Kielman does speak English. I would strongly recommend to pay these shoe masters a visit, if and when visiting Poland or the nearby countries.


Kindly look at these great pieces of art from the Polish shoe masters and judge for yourself.

Shoes by Mr. Jan Wieladek

Customer feet measurements taken by the shoemaster

Some shoe pictures from the window display

Mr. Jan Wieladek at work

The client's feet after measurements taken

Mr. Tadeusz Januszkiewicz and his work

 Mr. Tadeusz display from the shop

Last

 A pair of oxford punched cap toe

A monk for a client

A suede full brogue

Jan Kielman 

Jan Kielman shoes below

A reptile bootie

 Two tone adelaide oxford

 Two tone brogue golf shoe

 A black and white full brogue oxford

Pictures sourced from, Macaroni Tomato blog, Style Forum and Jan Kielman

The GJ Cleverley Shoes - The best shoe maker in London

"There's two things in life you should spend money on: your bed and your shoes, because if you're not in one, you're in the other." Said Mr. Glasgow Sr. below

The Legend himself below,  Mr. George Cleverley, who first set up his own shop on a street round the corner in 1958 - having already established his name during his years at nearby shoe-maker Tuczek, where he'd developed the flatter-toed Cleverley style that Nureyev, Churchill and Bogart soon made famous.

The Cleverley chiselled square toe, a trademark/dna of the Cleverley house.

Below is GJ Cleverley bespoke shoes for a Japanese client: Note the square & chiselled toe of the shoes. Outstanding. A true fingerprint/dna for the GJ Cleverley house.

The Japanese gent who owns these shoes has something like 20+ pairs of bespoke shoes from GJ Cleverley, some creations from WS Forster & Sons and other bespoke shoe makers around the world. A true collector and a very sartorial Shoe AristoCat. 

Above pictures sourced from http://homepage2.nifty.com/cobblers-web/

Below is a bespoke mid night blue side-gusset pair with false laces, leather and croc.
Photos sourced from the internet, can not recall the site.

Below pictures sourced from :http://www.gjcleverley.co.uk/mobile/shoes.html

Bespoke shoe models

Below bespoke Adelaide Mountain Ram Leather, a beautiful piece of work

Photo sourced from "Leathersoul Hawaii"

Below a picture of the late Baron De Rede's shoe wardrobe sourced from the internet.

Baron Alexis De Rede had his shoes made by GJ Cleverley.

 Below GJ Cleverley's "Anthony Cleverley" line suede tassel loafers, sourced from: http://www.leathersoulhawaii.com

Below De Rede loafer from the "Anthony Cleverley" line in pigskin, made for "A Suitable Wardrobe"

photo sourced from "A Suitable Wardrobe" 

 The GJ Cleverley house, has four lines of production:

1) Bespoke, 2) Semi Bespoke, 3) Anthony Cleverley Line and lastly 4) Ready To Wear Line.

The Ready To Wear Line is based on the Crockett & Jones 337 Last and 348.

Above is a punched cap toe based on the 348 last. A beautiful shoe.

Picture sourced from "Leathersoulhawaii"

I prefer the RTW line from the 337 Last. My own pair of side gusset in black below.
GJ Cleverley's shoes are extremely light, very slim in construction and  comfortable from the first day of wear.

For the money spent on the RTW, you get a very good product. Gents, if reading this, and building a shoe wardrobe that is good, elegant, stylish, go for them.

RTW shoes from Cleverley come with shoe trees and very reasonably priced.

They are my favourite foot wear for special days or evenings. I am still adding to the collection.

Note the spit shine. Below shoe pictures are mine.