The idea of doing a red shoe has always been appealing to me. The execution of doing it is the hard part. Here Carreducker goes to show that it is in fact not that hard at all. You just have to do it! And boy is this one bright red. There is no mistaking that for burgundy or the likes. And while I have an attraction to it, I must admit that I would find it terribly difficult to wear. I mean I even made my own red shoe with white piping and while I think that it is extremely beautiful (as a piece of art), I find myself never wearing it, partly because the weather here rarely calls for it and the other part is because people start at me like a clown when I do. I have never been one to care much about what people think, but it just gets tiring you know, so I hung them up to eventually pass them on or break them out for special occasions. But it is nice to see a nice red shoe as they do have a certain allure to them.
On another note, James Ducker (one half of Carreducker) made himself this interesting derby model, the first shoe that he has made himself in like 10 years. If I was a bespoke shoemaker, I would at least be making myself a pair twice a year. But James is dedicated to his job and not selfishly waste his materials! (I am more selfish 🙂
Justin,
Red shoes always make me think of papal footwear. Although Pope Francis has decided to skip the red loafers for a pair of black lace-ups from his local Argentine cobbler, the tradition of red papal loafers dates to 1566, during the papacy of Pope Pius V:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/thecrescat/2013/03/ruby-red-slippers-the-story-of-the-popes-shoes.html
yea they do have that papal feeling…
There’s red, and then there’s , well…. yikes. Too bright for my tastes, but props to the guy that can pull them off. That said, the oxblood, burgundy, bordeaux range is my personal fave for footwear.
Did you notice the similarities in that blucher brogue correspondent and your own hybrid brogue saddle shoe that had to be discontinued. Yours was a balmoral? I had always wanted to see your shoe in many corespondent/saddle color combinations and textures.
yes, mine was an oxford….theirs is quite different…don’t worry it will come back and when it does, will be in two tone version….just might do it for Spring!