Handmade Shoes for Men

Wow! I loved this book! I've wanted to learn how to hand-make shoes and this book is such a thorough step-by-step explanation for their creation. It also includes the history of shoes and shoemaking, last creation (a "last" is the shoe equivalent of a dressform), foot anatomy, leather and tanning techniques, and great detail about the most popular styles of men's shoes (and definitions for all the shoe terms). I've watched many hours of (free) videos of shoes being made by hand (from the same site where everyone goes for cute kitty videos!) so this was a great complement to those videos and explained some of the steps that I didn't see in the videos or just needed to see with different explanations. Since I have a background in patternmaking, fitting and sewing of garments, it wasn't that difficult a leap to see how to apply those same skills to making shoes. (If you don't have any background in sewing or patternmaking, you would probably need more than this book to get started in shoemaking, but it would still provide you with a wonderful exposure to the craft.) I found the photos to be of a very high quality and the step-by-step explanations to be very clear. I really felt like I could jump right into making a pair of shoes if I bought some of the basic shoemaking tools. Now that I've finished reading the entire book I'm signing up for a class to learn how to make beautiful shoes by hand so I can learn how to properly use these specific tools from someone skilled in the craft. The only thing this book was missing was more information about the pattern drafting/transfer process. The single-page on this topic was cursory and, even with my extensive draping and patternmaking experience, wasn't very helpful. (Even with this deficiency, it wasn't significant enough for me to remove an entire star for it. . . so I'm sticking with the 5-star rating since there isn't a 4 1/2-star option.) If you have any interest in shoes or learning how to make them, this is a GREAT book for you.

Wonderful book, great insight, and beautiful pictures. Explains the great craft and art in custom shoes and why the expense is not about garish luxury but valuable and reasonable investment in a beautiful art, an important aspect of your health, self image, and success not to mention a fair exchange for the craft and expertise involved in this increasingly rare and dying art form. Details shoe etiquette in mating the proper shoe style for the correct event and correct dress. After reading this book, owning custom shoes is a milestone that I look forward to one day soon reaching with the confidence that it is one of the better and more valuable purchases that a man will make in his lifetime.

Now I know how to make shoes! I haven't made a pair as the tools (like the proper industrial sewing machine) will take time to gather; it is still awesome to find a book on how to do something that almost no one knows how to do. The book actually teaches you how to make real shoes, not how to "up-cycle" 2 liter bottles into shoes using duct tape and rat skins or how to make a sad pair of moccasins with your cub scout troop, like the other shoe making books I have seen. This book is very in depth and holds your hand through all of it. It is rather daunting to see all that goes into making a real pair of shoes not to mention the time required. If you have the time and drive, and willingness to put up with some failures, this book can teach you a nearly lost art. If you want to follow through on what the book teaches, you will also be on a long quest to find all the proper tools or to fabricate make shift versions of the ones you cannot find. Now to find a book on how to make real hats.

The author has incredibly deep knowledge. This book is good as a coffee table book, but I finished it wanting more -how to do shoe design with different thicknesses, how to build the upper , and most importantly different types of welts - German, British, Norwegian , etc Not enough detail , IMHO

This is a very in-depth look at men's leather shoes. It covers every possible aspect of the history, design and construction, and is very interesting and instructive. There are a ton of photos, all quite well done, and I enjoyed this book quite a lot.

This book is a very thorough overview of how men's leather shoes were made in the days before factory automation. It is not, however, a how to book. After all, to build a decent pair of shoes, one would have to undergo a multi-year apprenticeship. It isn't something that one would learn from a book. Shoes are built on a last, a wooden form that is a replica of the customer's foot. The carving of the last is itself a complicated endeavor involving the cutting and drying of blocks of the right kind of wood, a kind of beech and then shaping them to match the customer's foot. And on it goes to the selecting and cutting of the leather. Again, learning which kind of leather goes on what part of the shoe is a craft all in itself. As the pictures and text shows, a working shoe maker business would involve a number of people, each an expert in a particular part of the shoe making operation. So yes, buy the book, but don't expect this to be a how-to manual that will have you making shoes.

I bought this book for my husband and he absolutely loves it! Is is very informative, full on! I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in making their own shoes.

I am a lifetime shoe maker, and this book was purchased by me to see what another shoe maker shares, about his knowledge of boot and shoe making. I was pleasantly surprised. After more than 35 years of making boots and shoes, I was able to pick up some new techniques and information which is more valuable than the cost of the book itself. The plethora of colour images help as well. Well done!

Llego en tiempo y el libro es muy bueno.

Anyone who has an interest in shoes or clothing or leathers in general might like to get this book. Personally, I have searched a lot for good books about men clothing and this is the right place to read everything about handmade shoes. it is very well detailed and has a scientific and an artistically approach. It has everything you need to know to understand the foot and how it behaves and why it is beautiful and practical, the measurements, the leather, the shoe lasts and even some great advices on how to take care for your shoes. This is not the first book I read about shoes in general and I can say with confidence that this is the right place if you are looking for a book that has it all. The pictures in the book are of an excellent quality and it is one of these book that you want to eat because it is so beautiful and it is a piece of art by itself. Highly recommended.

Bel libro. Spiega tutto, dalla concia dei pellami al finissaggio della scarpa ultimata, passando attraverso la creazione delle forme. Non sostituisce un maestro d'arte, ma chiarisce i passaggi, l'impegno e la dedizione che un aspirante Calzolaio incontrerà sul suo cammino.