This is a Chinese customer’s order to Maftei. It has been more than 10 months from the first foot measurement to the receipt of shoes. There have been 4 pairs of trial shoes in the middle, which is why it has been so long.
Unboxing
Black suitcase style shoebox.
There is the thing which cushioned the inside of the box with the velvet texture.
Shoe bags are made of cashmere. The use of good fabrics is the common practice of many bespoke shoemakers, but cashmere is rare.
Pattern
Seamless wholecut oxford.
A lot of shoemakers told me deliberately that they can make seamless wholecut oxford, but why are they still rare on the market?
Even Yohei Fukuda made a pair, and he had to show it specially.
270 degree chain Norwegian seam.
I don’t want to talk about this in craftsmanship, because Norwegian sewing is more of an aesthetic choice. The customer asked that the color of the thread should not be too different from the leather.
He is a Norwegian sewing gourmand and has played countless Norwegian sewing, so there is such a low-key choice. If I had chosen Norwegian sewing, I would probably have wanted a strong contrast.
Maftei’s Norwegian seam should be the style of Central and Eastern Europe, and I like to have this reverse fold, while many Italian ones do not.
knurled the folded part and the length was short from the stitch, giving it a neat and delicate feel.
This kind of reverse folding actually weakens the degree of eye-catching of the Norwegian sewing. Good or bad, it’s up to everyone.
Leather
Brown museum calf.
Museum leather may be a little out of fashion in Europe, but in China, it can be said that it has never been widely circulated. Only a very small number of shoemakers use it.
When I looked at the leather swatch, I didn’t feel much of it, but when it came to the shoes, this large mottled and translucent feeling was not exactly the same as the other museum calf I had seen.
I used to have a pair of MTO shoes, and there were such traces at the ankle. Someone said that leather was a bad performance, which is not really the case.
When the leather is stretched on the last, this area sustains pulls more violently, and then after it is released, the leather has a crease of loosening.
Last
Two feelings.
First, although not very strong and without elements of a banana last, is still evident in the style of the shoes. That is, this round head is relatively full and towering. Unlike today’s fashion, the front is a little sharper, and the dive is sharper.
Second, the transition and proportions from the toe to the widest part of the foot, are very smooth.
Because the toe cap is completely aesthetic and has nothing to do with the shape of the foot, and the widest part is the characteristic of the foot, so if the aesthetic and the actual foot shape are matched, it is a last-making technique.
This is especially true for shoes that all focus concentrates on the silhouette completely, such as the wholecut oxford.
The shoetree is customized according to the last, so the state after insertion is the state of the human foot wearing it.
A lot of people care a lot about whether the lace area of Oxford can be closed, and I think it’s not good to look too open, that’s for sure, but it doesn’t have to be tight. This pair is definitely in perfect condition for new shoes, and it shouldn’t be worn for long before it can be closed. But what about wearing it for a while?
You can see the feeling of his feet in this shoetree, why is it so delicate? Then a little bit of banana flavor can be seen.
Where the shoetree is hollowed out, the customer’s name is written.
Outsole
The customer requested for bevelled waist.
Bevelled waist with Norwegian sewing indeed an element that has not been seen on the market, and this pair of Bespoke can only be a little bit like that. Because bevelled waist is a by-product of the blind waist, the 270-degree Norwegian seam is obviously visible at the waist, so the sole is not narrow enough, and it can only be sanded to achieve some curvature of the sole from the center to the sides. The effect of execution is still okay.
Slightly tapped heel.
You can pay attention to the knurling on the top of the heel, which is extremely thin, which is actually useless, but art is useless (maybe).
Then the “broken heel”, the deliberate distinction between waist and heel.
Details
This is the customer spoofing Mr. Maftei. He had to have his last name written on his shoes by hand. How difficult it is to write Chinese characters by an old Austrian man.
But the customer is God and Mr. Maftei made it. I touched it with my hand, it was quite deep and dyed, which should not come off easily for a long time!
Summary
You said that these shoes are very eye-catching at a glance, very cosmic level, no, this kind of last has no such effect. But if you report the parameters, what is seamless wholecut oxford plus Norwegian seams, bevelled waist, this may be a little curious.
At the end of the day, it’s a pleasure, a thing that satisfies oneself to put on.