Anyone Know a Good Cobbler?

I was having a set of keys cut in a local cobbler yesterday and couldn’t take my eyes off the guy resoling shoes. He banged in the nails on the new shoe with abandon, filed off the edges of the leather while barely looking at it and then threw (yes, threw) the completed shoe onto the shelf above him.

It landed on a mound of similarly maltreated shoes, a few ladies’ heels sticking out from between a dozen black brogues. It looked like a mound of stricken corpses. You could almost hear the pain inflicted by his whining machinery.

These high-street cobblers barely deserve the name. (They certainly are nothing close to cordwainers – the old English term for makers of shoes.) But then what should you expect from someone who is equally adept at cutting keys, dry cleaning and resoling?

But there aren’t many other options. If you want a good pair of shoes resoling or reconstructing, your only choice is a high-street butcher or the original manufacturer. And the latter is likely to be prohibitively expensive – possibly involving the shipping of the shoes to France or Italy (it’s even worse for US readers, who might have to send them to Northampton as well).

This service is undoubtedly worth it if you want the shoes reconstructing, with new welts and linings etc. But it’s a little excessive just for a new sole.

I asked Steven Taffel of Leffot in New York for advice on this but without any luck. Apparently the problem is similar in the US – nothing in the middle ground.

Steven suggested I try Dean Girling (of Gaziano & Girling) to ask his advice. Dean’s best suggestion was to send them to his team, one of whom would be happy to reconstruct a shoe. This is useful and more local, but doesn’t really solve the problem.

“The problem is there just aren’t any high-quality cobblers out there any more,” said Dean. “My father still does a lot of that work but he’s in his sixties now and has more work than he can handle. It seems there isn’t the volume of retail demand for high-quality work.”

So this is a request for recommendations from the readership. There must be some good cobblers out there that I can feel confident giving my JM Westons to for a new heel. It doesn’t matter where you live, any recommendations would be gladly received.

[I also need to find somewhere that sells tongue pads that you stick to the bottom of the shoe’s tongue – it helps tighten the top of the shoe when the leather has expanded over time.]

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The Shape of Your Feet

Different types of shoe will fit you better than others. This has nothing to do with the material or the design. It is the last.

You will occasionally hear people, deep in sartorial conversation, say something along the lines of: “Well, you see I’ve never found anything to quite fit my feet ever since Edward Green discontinued the 202 last.”

They are referring to the shape of the sole of the shoe, how pointed, chiselled or rounded it is at the toe, how wide through the ball of your foot and how tapered at the waist. This is the last. At a basic level, it is the footprint the shoes make, and it is the most important thing to fitting you well.

[By the way, do not panic EG fans, the 202 is live and well! It was just an example. Think of the summer sales and calm down.]

Now, I have no idea what last suits me in Edward Green, John Lobb, or any other shoemaker for that matter. But over time, largely through chatting to friendly staff in shoe shops, I have discovered a few things about my feet.

I have very wide feet across the ball of my foot. I know this because, whenever I put on a shoe that is too slim or too pointy, I have to try it in a bigger size to avoid pinching down either side of my toes.

However, I also have a relatively high in-step and narrow bridge across the top of my foot. I know this because when I try this pointy shoe in a bigger size, I cannot do the laces up tight enough. My heel slips at the back, which is never a good sign.

The lovely co-owner of Hardrige shoes, just off Bond Street, taught me this, during a long consultation. (I recommend Hardrige for custom made shoes. For around £250, 20% on top of the ready-to-wear price, you can customise the lining, piping and colour of the leather itself. www.hardrige.com)

Now I know this about my feet, it doesn’t mean I know which last to pick. But I do know that a chiselled toe fits me best, something that can be wide yet still elegantly slim at the toe. I know that I need to be able to tighten the shoe effectively, often to extremes. An oxford shoe (one piece of leather split into a V where the laces are, rather than two pieces tightened from either side – a derby) needs to start with quite a lot of space remaining in its V. Even when the leather has expanded and the V narrowed, it must tighten well. A monk-front shoes also works well in this regard, as an extra hole can often enable it to be tightened further.

It also means that if I ever walk into John Lobb to pick a pair of shoes, I’ll be able to give a fairly good description of the last I want, if not the number.

Go find an accommodating sales person. I recommend glancing through shop windows and finding one that looks a little bored.

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How to Put Darts in Your Shirts

I used to have a few shirts that I really liked but which did not fit especially well around the waist. They were bought in the days when I knew a lot less about fit and cloth (hard to imagine, isn’t it?), and while the neck, shoulders and sleeve were fine, the cut was simply too full from the chest downwards.

Such were my frustrations, I may have thrown them out. So instead I decided to try and sew my own darts into them, to narrow the waist. If I messed it up, I could just throw them away anyway.

My first attempt went surprisingly well, but there were a few lessons learned. I should have tried a couple of variations on the shape and size of the darts before I sewed them in. I should have been a little less cautious on their length. And while they held up very well in the wash, I learned it was worth sewing as tight stitches as possible.

I think I’ve now got a pretty good system, and all those shirts have been darted, worn and washed several times, to pleasing effect. I could have had it done at a tailor, but not being in essence a practical person, it is very satisfying to master a skill such as this. And it probably saved me £100. Here is my step-by-step guide to putting darts in your shirts. It is not that hard, and very satisfying when completed.

1. Lay out your shirt on an ironing board. Pinch the material in two places, roughly where your waist would be and a couple of inches in from the seam on either side. Start with a fold of a couple of centimetres, folded out towards the seam. Iron that patch flat and then fold the material above and below, pulling the material away gradually so it forms a crescent.
2. Pin both folds with three pins or needles each, to keep them in place.
3. Try the shirt on, being careful that none of the pins point inwards. Assess how suppressed the waist is by pulling the sides away from your skin, and try sitting down, stretching etc.
4. If the fold needs adjusting, take it back to the ironing board and fold the material more or less. Also, if you feel the dart could or should be longer, narrowing more of the shirt’s body, then extend the crescent above and below.
5. Sew the fold in place, starting with a few stitches in one place (on the inside of the shirt so it doesn’t show) and then sew smallish stitches, in and out up the fold, and finishing in the same way.
6. Use white thread unless the shirt is one block colour – and look closely, most colours are a mix of a darker colour and white.
7. Don’t worry if the stitches seem far apart. They will hold up well – and they don’t have to be as tight as the ones that construct the shirt itself. (You could of course do this on a sewing machine as well if you have one. I don’t.)

If you find it hard to iron the crescents (I found it the trickiest part) you can always start the fold halfway down the back of the shirt and just carry it on off the bottom of the tail. This will create a flap on the bottom, but if you have your shirt tucked in most of the time, this won’t be a problem. I found this particularly useful on a Ralph Lauren blue oxford, which although “custom fit” was still far too broad. The thicker material made it hard to fold accurately.

I’m sure some of you are proficient sewers, and all this is the equivalent of teaching your grandma to suck eggs. I’m sure others are horrified at the idea of amateur tailoring. But I found it very satisfying (a step up from hemming my trousers) and I encourage you to have a go.

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Coverage Models - The Business of Appearance

On a trip to South Korea several years ago I came across an ad on television that gave me pause. It featured then soccer phenomenon Ahn Jung Hwan, more famed for his flowing locks than his soccer prowess, walking down a white hallway, his face bathed in a heavenly glow. Another man, Korean actor Hyun Bin, walks towards him and their eyes meet in the most inexplicably homoerotic scene since Tom Cruise played beach volleyball in Top Gun. As they pass the one man remarks that Hwan has beautiful skin. Hwan replies that he is simply using a different lotion. They gaze lovingly at each other as the commercial fades to a close.

More remarkable than two heartthrobs enjoying each other’s complexions–imagine Brad Pitt and George Clooney in a similar exchange–is the product itself - Color Lotion, a foundation for men. In another commercial for something called Beauty Credit Coenzyme Q10, Bin and Hwan are repeatedly poked in the face by a group of surprised, and white, scientists. At the end they poke each other in the face and smile at the camera (I’m sure the ability to read Korean would not make the commercial any less confusing). The key to Q10’s astonishing, face poking power? It is a “whitening formula.”

While flipping through the girlfriend’s latest copy of Vogue Girl (the Korean version of Teen Vogue) I came across an ad that reminded me of that discovery.

Whitening foundations are nothing new in Asia, where dark skin is equated with field work and therefore lower status. However, I had never seen the products marketed so directly at men before I visited South Korea. It seems South Korean men are no stranger to beauty aids; Barbara Demick, writing in the Los Angeles Times, points to a CEO in Korea’s cosmetics industry’s memoir, “The CEO Who Wears Make-Up.” It’s safe to say the rest of the world, and especially North America, has yet to catch on. While men are no longer ashamed to buy 3-step cleansing products, and companies such as Baxter of California and Jack Black are doing a brisk business in grooming, few men outside of emo bands and Ryan Seacrest are venturing into make-up.

A few companies seem to be banking on that changing. I still remember the Hard Candy boom in the early nineties when Nuno Bettencourt appeared in the Extreme video for More than Words wearing black nail polish, and Gavin Rossdale, then of Bush and not yet Mr. Gwen Stefani, started painting his pinkie nails yellow. This time around more traditional lines like Clinique seem to be noticing that men are becoming, well, a little obsessed with the way they look.

Clinique offers the M Stick, a “natural looking cover [which] hides dark circles, blemishes, [and] shaving nicks.” While not meant to be applied as liberally as a foundation, the instructions do recommend dabbing it on your face and smoothing it into your skin.

Writing in Salon in October of last year, Kibum Kim notes that major drugstores around the world are starting to carry men’s lines, perhaps in response to stars such as Zac Efron’s suspiciously matte complexions. He also cites a GQ survey from 2005 where 92% of respondents indicated they would never wear make-up even if it guaranteed an improvement in their sex lives. However, designer John Varvatos’ experience describes a different story:

John Varvatos, whose skin-care line aimed at men includes a concealer, commented to American Way magazine, “During the market research, the concealer was the most talked about and most requested product. You’d be surprised how aware men are of their skin flaws.

Those looking for tips on application can even find the process described in video.

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6 Tips for Clearing Your Skin of Acne

Getting acne, especially when you’re in your 20s and beyond, can be frustrating. If you are trying your luck in the dating scene or looking for that next big break at your job, try these tips to get things under control.

1. Consider Retin-A, especially if you live out of the country. You can find this product over-the-counter at pharmacies everywhere but the U.S., and it will keep your skin soft and perfectly supple. You’ll find that acne spots dry out and your skin can be easily sloughed and smoothed.

2. Sleep on it. You’ll be amazed at how much better your skin looks when you sleep. Try to reduce the all-nighters just to one day a week—you’ll see a dramatic change in your skin over just a few days.

Tip: Already get enough sleep? Be sure to change your pillowcase every few days to avoid grinding dirt and oil into your skin.

3. Go natural. It doesn’t hurt to try out new products, and you may actually make your skin worse if you try too hard to “cure” it with harsh products. When you strip your skin of oil, you’ll notice that your skin works double-time to produce extra oils to balance things. Instead, wash your face at night and apply your usual products, but then only rinse your skin with tepid water in the morning. You’ll find that your skin won’t act up during the day if you treat it nicely at night.

4. Get your blemish bomb on. Buy on-the-spot acne treatments that work overnight. While there are plenty of OTC products like Neutrogena’s On-the-Spot acne treatment, you may find that they can be difficult to remove in the morning if you don’t shower in the morning. Use a high-quality natural clay face mask to dry out larger pimples and draw out impurities—this will wash off fast without hurting your skin.

Suggested Products: Clinique Deep Cleansing Emergency Mask 3.4 oz and Burt’s Bees Herbal Spa Clay Mask are perfect choices to heal your skin quickly.

5. Invest in a cover-up. Don’t think of it as makeup. . . it can be a necessity, and if you buy the right product and match it to your skin, you’ll feel pretty confident. If you buy one cover-up stick for emergencies, I recommend choosing a heavy-duty “stick” of three-in-one color from the drugstore. Check the back to be sure that it is labeled “non-comedogenic” and save it for serious emergencies.

6. Avoid acne washes if you usually get spot breakouts. Your skin could be getting worse because of it! Acne washes can coat your skin and cause buildup, which could lead to trapped oil and yes—more breakouts! Break your ties with industrial-strength acne wash and go for something gentler, like a foaming face wash from Olay or Connie Elder.

Even if you find just one tip here on this list, you could improve your skin dramatically. Why not give them a try? It could be a good way to start of 2008—without any of the boring resolutions.

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