Hi,
it's not really "DIY", but it's also not ready to wear, so I am posting it into the DIY-section. This is the story of how I "designed" my own boots, with a strong influence by Rick Owens, and got them made by a local shoemaker.
I've been following the famous Rick Owens heels for a while now, but wasn't really sure whether I liked them that much. The RO boots are based on the platform boots that were common in the 70s, with a little less platform, but still very visible. They have a 10 cm heel, which is quite high, and depending on the model, the toe can be more squarish than round.
I had tried to find RO boots in a certain leather and with a certain seam placement for 1 1/2 years now, but they were always sold out in my size.
When I visited my local cobbler to get some boots resoled, he started talking about how bad my Christian Dior shoes were made from a quality perspective, and that he would do this, and this... and this... different, pointing to the different areas of the shoes. I can't really repeat what he said, but he obviously knew what he was talking about, as he could explain to me how these were built, and where the weaknesses of the design were.
You could feel that he likes what he does for a living, and that the custom made shoes he makes are built with a high quality standard - even surpassing those of the designers we know and love.
In his store, he got a shelf with all the wooden lasts he has made for customers - that's when I got the idea to design my own boot and let him make it.
I based my initial design on the Rick Owens heels, but with a little less plateau, less heel height, to achieve a more refined, less clunky-type of look.
I put together some charts that showed how I wanted the boots to look like, what I liked (with green arrows) and what I didn't like (with red arrows).
Then I went to said shoemaker and showed him my designs:
He was quite surprised to get such a request, as he normally only makes standard men's shoes, like Derbys or Oxfords. Still, he liked that I came up with the design - he seldomly has customers that have a very clear idea of what they want.
We discussed my design, and he explained to me the changes he would recommend to make it easier to walk in the boot, add stability and make it more durable.
As a first step, he took a "print" and measurements of my feet:
That was back early October. It took around four weeks, till he had made a wooden last and a pair of test boots (made from some plastic material, sorry - forgot to make a photo) that could be used to try on and see whether the measurements fit.
We had to change one of the measurements, as the instep was too narrow and definitely wouldn't have fit well if we kept it that way.
At this point, we selected the leather, the type of leather lining, how much heel I exactly wanted to have in the end (height), and how tall the final boot should be.
Then for another 4 1/2 weeks, he worked on the boots till he called and asked to come in for a first try-on. The upper half of the boots was nearly finished, just the soles were missing.
Although the fit was perfect (better than any boot I've ever worn), at this point I wasn't sure whether I really liked the outcome. The boots looked rather feminine, and I couldn't imagine how the sole alone would change that. With the boots being much more expensive than Rick Owens RTW, I thought I had wasted my money.
When I mentioned this to my shoemaker, he asked me not to judge the boots yet, as the sole would change the whole boot quite a bit.
We discussed how thick the sole should be, what type of sole I would like, how the connection between the heel and the sole should look like, and whether I wanted him to finish the work or leave it in a state so we would be able to add more layers to the sole, giving it a thicker appearance. I opted for the first option, as I was pretty sure how thick the sole should be.
Today, about 2 1/2 months after the initial sketch, he called again to tell me that my boots were ready.
Well... he was right. The sole did change the boot quite a bit, and I am quite pleased with the result. The boots come with their own custom made shoe-tree, that is based on the wooden last. This way, creases will be reduced to a minimum.
The outcome is superior to what one can buy from a designer. Simply because even designers will use (albeit in low volumes) mass-production technologies to get their shoes produced. Some of the things that are sewn together by a traditional shoemaker are simply glued together in mass production, and according to the shoemaker, he has seen lots of designer shoes that looked nice, but weren't worth the markup once he saw how they were constructed. "You are paying for the design, not for the quality". I guess I got both with his boots. "If anything breaks or needs replacement because of wear&tear, it's replaceable. The whole boot can be dis- and reassembled." He looked at me, smiling, "I hope you don't want to take it apart right-away, but if you want to, you know where to find me."
I had considered pre-ordering the RO that are available on luisaviaroma.com right now, but with the boots I got today, I think Rick has lost a customer for his boots.
Here are a couple of pictures of the finished boots:
it's not really "DIY", but it's also not ready to wear, so I am posting it into the DIY-section. This is the story of how I "designed" my own boots, with a strong influence by Rick Owens, and got them made by a local shoemaker.
I've been following the famous Rick Owens heels for a while now, but wasn't really sure whether I liked them that much. The RO boots are based on the platform boots that were common in the 70s, with a little less platform, but still very visible. They have a 10 cm heel, which is quite high, and depending on the model, the toe can be more squarish than round.
I had tried to find RO boots in a certain leather and with a certain seam placement for 1 1/2 years now, but they were always sold out in my size.
When I visited my local cobbler to get some boots resoled, he started talking about how bad my Christian Dior shoes were made from a quality perspective, and that he would do this, and this... and this... different, pointing to the different areas of the shoes. I can't really repeat what he said, but he obviously knew what he was talking about, as he could explain to me how these were built, and where the weaknesses of the design were.
You could feel that he likes what he does for a living, and that the custom made shoes he makes are built with a high quality standard - even surpassing those of the designers we know and love.
In his store, he got a shelf with all the wooden lasts he has made for customers - that's when I got the idea to design my own boot and let him make it.
I based my initial design on the Rick Owens heels, but with a little less plateau, less heel height, to achieve a more refined, less clunky-type of look.
I put together some charts that showed how I wanted the boots to look like, what I liked (with green arrows) and what I didn't like (with red arrows).
Then I went to said shoemaker and showed him my designs:
He was quite surprised to get such a request, as he normally only makes standard men's shoes, like Derbys or Oxfords. Still, he liked that I came up with the design - he seldomly has customers that have a very clear idea of what they want.
We discussed my design, and he explained to me the changes he would recommend to make it easier to walk in the boot, add stability and make it more durable.
As a first step, he took a "print" and measurements of my feet:
That was back early October. It took around four weeks, till he had made a wooden last and a pair of test boots (made from some plastic material, sorry - forgot to make a photo) that could be used to try on and see whether the measurements fit.
We had to change one of the measurements, as the instep was too narrow and definitely wouldn't have fit well if we kept it that way.
At this point, we selected the leather, the type of leather lining, how much heel I exactly wanted to have in the end (height), and how tall the final boot should be.
Then for another 4 1/2 weeks, he worked on the boots till he called and asked to come in for a first try-on. The upper half of the boots was nearly finished, just the soles were missing.
Although the fit was perfect (better than any boot I've ever worn), at this point I wasn't sure whether I really liked the outcome. The boots looked rather feminine, and I couldn't imagine how the sole alone would change that. With the boots being much more expensive than Rick Owens RTW, I thought I had wasted my money.
When I mentioned this to my shoemaker, he asked me not to judge the boots yet, as the sole would change the whole boot quite a bit.
We discussed how thick the sole should be, what type of sole I would like, how the connection between the heel and the sole should look like, and whether I wanted him to finish the work or leave it in a state so we would be able to add more layers to the sole, giving it a thicker appearance. I opted for the first option, as I was pretty sure how thick the sole should be.
Today, about 2 1/2 months after the initial sketch, he called again to tell me that my boots were ready.
Well... he was right. The sole did change the boot quite a bit, and I am quite pleased with the result. The boots come with their own custom made shoe-tree, that is based on the wooden last. This way, creases will be reduced to a minimum.
The outcome is superior to what one can buy from a designer. Simply because even designers will use (albeit in low volumes) mass-production technologies to get their shoes produced. Some of the things that are sewn together by a traditional shoemaker are simply glued together in mass production, and according to the shoemaker, he has seen lots of designer shoes that looked nice, but weren't worth the markup once he saw how they were constructed. "You are paying for the design, not for the quality". I guess I got both with his boots. "If anything breaks or needs replacement because of wear&tear, it's replaceable. The whole boot can be dis- and reassembled." He looked at me, smiling, "I hope you don't want to take it apart right-away, but if you want to, you know where to find me."
I had considered pre-ordering the RO that are available on luisaviaroma.com right now, but with the boots I got today, I think Rick has lost a customer for his boots.
Here are a couple of pictures of the finished boots:
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