In a previous blog I extolled the virtues of Valenki, moulded Russian felt boots. Mine have served me exceedingly well this winter, particularly as the snow flurries of London melted to slush. The felt provides superb traction, and is also the soling material of choice for many fly fishermen and for the rather less genteel pasttime of canyoning.

Wet felt provides a superbly suitable ‘grip’ for wader soles and for those that choose to spend their spare time hopping through pebbled river beds (see boots below). Wet felt also holds body heat far more successfully than rubber soles and dries remarkably quickly.

My fascination with felt was further increased with a curious find in the archives of the Northampton Footwear Museum. I came across the below shoe, complete with its felt sole and layered felt heel. It was labeled ‘magazine’ shoe, and has a very distinct hand stitched arrow on the toe.

I have drawn a blank so far on its origins or purpose, and am hoping one of our blog readers may be able to shed some light. As you can see, the upper is in mid-brown grain leather and sadly the sock has been removed, so no makers details are available. All information gratefully appreciated….

In recent blogs I’ve discussed the impact that component details such as lace colour and edge treatments can have on footwear design. A prime example of this is March’s shoe of the month.
 
I have taken our country brogue, this time in black grain calf, and injected styling elements that lighten and freshen the shoe’s aesthetic. Despite it being a black shoe, the styling has transformed it into an eye-catching and surprisingly successful Spring/Summer piece. The forthcoming Lodger Spring/Summer 2011 Collection explores the idea of melding traditions from different seasons. Pairing darker textured leathers, traditionally selected for a wintry aesthetic, with light ’summery’ sole edges, skeleton linings and natural welt stitching is a look I have explored at length and feel works beautifully.
 
The storm welt on March’s shoe is unstained and simply sealed with a light waxing. This pale leather colour is reflected in the flat cotton lace. The sole edge has also been left ‘nude’ and clear-waxed. The final touch is leaving the welt stitch a natural linen colour. The grained pebble texture contrasts with the smooth flat edges of the light sole edge, and leads the eye from the light lace, down through the brogued pattern pieces to the rolled storm welt.

I’ve been looking forward to this week for quite some time. I’m off to spend a day tucked away in the archives of Northampton’s Shoe Museum where I’m hoping to find some new summer lacing ideas. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks plotting out the initial shapes and themes for the Spring/Summer 2011 collection and am now ready to add smaller details such as interesting eyelet and shoelace combinations. 
 
On summer footwear I generally try to use lighter coloured laces. I am a big fan of blonde edges on summer leather soles, and this can be set off beautifully by also using light laces. Historically summer shoelaces were made from natural materials: leather, woven cotton or hemp. Although all of these materials are prone to breakage, particularly when wet, and therefore are not ideal for British summer time….
 
Waxing a natural lace coats the fibres, adding strength and a certain degree of weather proofing, although luckily most modern summer laces are woven with a synthetic fibre mix. Leather laces, although visually appealing are pretty difficulty to tie and tend to undo readily. Fingers crossed I’ll find a new solution to lacing summer footwear! 

One of my favourite shoes from the new collection is an updated version of our classic derby. I began the design by combining materials, sticking pieces of potential material directly onto the last to experiment with layering effects.

I decided on burnished calf for the main part of the shoe as it provides the option of darkening the toe colour, and suede for the overlaying quarters. However, when I received the first sample back from our workshop, the points where the suede quarters hit the burnished leather vamp were visually jarring and awkward.

To soften this effect I created a switch balmoral seam, tucking the back part of the quarters behind a fluted leather seam, before reversing the layers so the front part of the quarters sits over the leather. I also removed the sharp corner from the front of the facing and added a small hand stitch. (Hopefully that technical jargon should be clarified by the pictures below!)

The effect of these small detail alterations is significant. The two material patterns, in leather and suede, now work happily together and where the quarter corners have been removed the eye is drawn toward the gently burnished toe.

I’ve been quietly perfecting a new shoe aimed primarily at Monday to Friday office use. I’m generally disappointed with the choice of black lace-up shoes on the market and wanted to create a Lodger version that would be regarded in The City as ‘respectable’ and ‘acceptable’ but also step away from generic styling.

I began with the last shape. This style is created on a new last for Lodger. A little rounder in the toe than our 12221, but less chunky than the 11816-1. The toe spring is lower than the 11816-1 which lends a more serious air, and the exaggerated curve of the sloping cone lends a clean modernity. The resulting profile is remarkably beautiful and also deceptively slimming on wider feet.

Style-wise I initially worked up designs with an oxford front, but when the first sample came back I felt this looked too dull and moved instead towards a fluted galosh, or balmoral seam; sketching directly onto the shoe to make sure the proportions were crisp.

It was difficult to create a pattern which would unite the inside and outside of the galosh at the back of the heel without looking messy. I decided to move from a center back seam to a small discreet seam on the inside of the shoe. This way the back of the shoe retains the flowing double-stitch lines.

As the detail on the side of the shoe is the primary focus, I have kept two parallel rows of evenly spaced flat lacing. Usually I pull the lace holes apart slightly towards the toe; but here I have kept them straight to draw the eye to the sculpted side panel instead .

I took my time selecting materials as I wanted something hardy enough to wear every day to work, but without the heft of similar styles on the market. I also wanted something which could be worn matt or polished for a dressier look.

The black calf I eventually chose has a lovely closed grain that buffs up with a minimum of effort: ideal for those of us who don’t want to spend more than a few minutes shining our shoes each week.

This style would also work as an evening shoe with a super polished toe. As the leather is so responsive, this effect could be achieved rapidly and with a minimum of effort. I shall ask our retail manager Clement to make sure our display pair is mirror polished on the toe to really show off this effect. The chosen calf is slightly heavier than a dress shoe, so less prone to wrinkling, and I’ve kept most of the seaming raw-edged to minimise bulk and potential rub points.

Finally I decided to blake-stitch the soles, which takes away the weight that is sometimes associated with Goodyear Welting, and which can often make everyday shoes heavy going.