Film Friday – Shoe Repair Shops: Part 1

I am a sucker for a fine pair of shoes or boots. I love to go into a shoe shop to watch the cobblers work and smell the leather & dye. I have a pair of Justin Roppers ™ that have been with me since I was 17. I have had them half soled more than 5 times and full soled twice. I have had cuts stiched up and new heels nailed on. They fit my feet like a pair of bespoke calf-skin gloves. I wish all my shoes fit and felt like they do. I have Al’s Attire in San Francisco building my dress shoes and boots now and I hope to have that sort of relationship with their products as well someday.

First Rate Shoe and boot repair in the Great State of Texas:

Austin Shoe Hospital:Craftsmanship from Mosaic Media Films on Vimeo.

A part-time cobbler making shoes in his garage:

The Shoemaker from Pete Stone on Vimeo.

Western boot builder:

Lisa Sorrell from Tiana Jade on Vimeo.

SUPER DEAL on the interwebs!

in December of 2013 Stamps-With-Foot and I were in San Francisco and visited an awesome shop called Windtip, which is in the shadow of the Trans-America Building.   They are in a former Art Nouveau bank building (Originally the Bank of Italy) that the store has preserved – including the vault.  As you might imagine, they have lots of fancy men’s shoes that made me tingle, But are more than a shoe store: “… a “one-stop shop” for the modern gentleman…  the store features a custom clothing department, professional & casual clothing, cufflinks, pens, leather goods, barware, cigar accessories, a barbershop, and shoe shine stand. And that’s just the store. A private club for our best customers houses a bar & lounge, private parlor rooms, a boardroom, golf simulator, and a wine cave.”  In short, a VERY cool place that any gent or his loving wife SHOULD check out if in the city.

Anyway,  while there I fell for a black leather Moore & Giles document portfolio that I considered, if only for a flash of an instant, plopping down some hard earned cash for.  Although perfect for my work life as a European-dwelling engi-nerd that prefers to more fast and light through airports, I came to my senses and walked away.  I have longed for it ever since and have asked for one as a gift for every anniversary, Christmas, birthday, and a few random Tuesdays and Thursdays since that first meeting.

I checked the other day on it, more to torture myself than anything else, and the manufacturer has discontinued the product.  Wingtip had bumped the price up and had it marked at $450!  Crap…  I started sketching it up so that I could get my cobbler (that sounds SO much more pretentious than it is…) to see about making it.  I needed a detail and did a image web search this afternoon 15 minutes before I had a super important call for my J-O-B and BAM!  There it was at Sierra Trading Post for CRAZY CHEAP!  I have bought hiking clothes from them for years at deep discounts, but had no idea that they would have something like this.  I double checked the item, looked if they had the black one in-stock, and called their customer service right then.

Yes they have it in black, yes they accepted my 4 year old 30% off coupon and just like that I got a $450 portfolio for $110.40 delivered free to my house in Seattle.  Done and done.  I was so excited that it made the work call after a pleasure and I have been dreading it for two days.

AM SO STOKED!!

Matt Talley _ Mand G_ SCORE 2015

MandG Port Matt Talley -2015 Origional Price copy

Matt Talley _ mandg_new price 2015 copy

What I want Thursday

I love wearing overalls , a leather apron, and work boots in the wood-shop.  During the summer, I spend my time at home in flip-flips and t-shirts, but I do clean up fairly well.  My J-O-B requires me to spend a good deal of time in front of customers and I have to look good: be well dressed, properly groomed, and present appropriately. Along those lines, there are a couple of things that I would like to add to my work-related accouterments:

A Moore & Giles Portfolio
Porsche Design TecFlex Fountain Pen (F or EF Nib)
A few pairs of two-tone wing-tip oxfords: brown and tan,  tan and green, brown and black, etc… 
Brooks Brothers grey or subtle pattern sport coat – slim cut.
Filson Medium Travel bag.
Rimowa Carry-on
A fine set of Cuff-links
Cobalt blue, Tiffany blue, purple, orange solid and patterned silk ties.