voila!

They are finished!

My first pair of shoes that are like no other.   Elegant, casually chic with an unexpected flourish, so Wow! that I could not speak when they were finally done.  How did this happen?   In a blur of four days,  I confessed my dream of creating shoes that captured many images from my imagination.  Daughter of a concubine with bound feet, cowgirl from Queens, Jackson Pollack in neon…

And somehow, it all came together in in a mule with a sly peep toe that looks like the eye of a peacock  with a swaggering side tail.

This was my birthday gift to myself – a shoemaking workshop by Llorraine Neithardt.  I found myself happily creating a mean forme, learning how to make a pattern for my design, cutting, skiving, and lasting my shoes.   What I did not expect was a potpourri of personal journeys with the shoe as a ruse.

Ingrid made a pair of shoes with strips of leather, lace and a silk tie that she named Pucci Rock.  “I don’t have an occasion to wear them to, but I will.”  she flashed a mischievous smile that lit up the room.  She is an expert on Chinese paintings from Hong Kong and is spending a year in New York to take classes at MoMa and to think about what is next for her.

Debra held up an empire heel and a piece of patterned red leather that matched the red dress she will be wearing at her daughter’s wedding and said,

“I am forever lost in the court of the Sun King.  I am all about capturing the medallion on the front of my shoe which is inspired by a pair of shoes I have and love as well as historical sketches.  They are very romantic which is very different for me since I am a rather sensible person.”

What I learned

• I have an inner shoe
• Making shoes is a dialogue between what what I see and what I envision
• Painted soles are hot
• You can never go back
• Make a shoe, make a friend forever

What about you

Are you ready for a personal adventure?

Remember that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.  Now don’t you think you should be wearing a fabulous pair of shoes?

Get more Wow!

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Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee

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