Who know that making shoes would capture the imagination of so many?
What I love about the process of making shoes are the stories that inspire their creation.
Michael, who made a beautiful pair of mules for his wife Bonnie, captured the essence of this experience in a moment I can only imagine to be breathtakingly Wow! He presented them to her for their anniversary in a cake box at a restaurant forever raising the bar for men who are still putting diamond rings in crackerjack boxes.
A man who makes his wife a gorgeous pair of shoes? How can you top that?
Getting to Wow! in a pair of shoes created lovingly by hand is a continuing tale I have enjoyed sharing with all of you. Here is the Channel 7 story.
Enjoy the video!
Get more Wow!
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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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At first I came in as a gladiator. I dreamed of leather textured like polished steel, medallions and metal details. I saw myself striding through my day changing the world one stiletto at a time.
Llorraine’s pale blue eyes gazed thoughtfully at my sketch and then at me.
“You need to listen more closely to your foot, Hoong Yee.”
My inner warlord was startled. Llorraine started drawing a sketch of a shoe and said,
“The power you seek is not in the look of armor or weapons of a warrior but in the style and elegance that your shoe will give you. Think more concubine, courtesan…”
Got it.
Now I am the descendant daughter of a concubine and a family history with women who had bound feet.
“That is a fabulous story. Just imagine the journey that brought you from the time when women were made powerless because of their bound feet to today. This is what your shoe is longing to be, a celebration of beauty and power.”
Four days, two television crews later, I am holding my almost finished shoes in my hands and I am listening.
I know I cannot rush this process. My shoes still have to tell me what the finishing details will be. What I do know is that I am going to paint the soles of my shoes that wonderful electric blue color with the eye of a peacock feather glued on the arch of my shoe. Imagine what that will look like as I walk. Now that is some killer walk around Wow!
The true lesson
What do you think I learned in this shoemaking workshop? How to design a pattern? Wrap a heel? Create a toebox? These are skills that I know possess and use when I make my next pair of shoes.
The unexpected learning was the joy in letting go and letting something deeper and creatively soulful transform my inner stories, desires and dreams into a perfect shoe.
Get grounded
If you cannot find what you are searching for, here’s what I suggest:
Stop
Take a deep breath
Close your eyes
Listen to your feet
Get more Wow!
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Back when I was too young to know the difference between an Episcopalian and a Buddhist, I remembered being amazed when my Sunday School teacher told us that God created the world in six days – with sunsets, the sounds of the ocean, twilight and stars -
Wow! God is an artist!
But when I was told we were created in God’s image, I was happy beyond words. That meant we were all born to be artists.
All of us. Yes, that means you!
This wonderful world we live in is a creative act and a divine gift from God to us. Therefore, our every act is an artistic one, our every action is a gift to the universe.
In my shoe class, an amazing gift in and of itself, I could hear my mom’s voice telling me to be mindful, so I became fully present in every creative moment, decision, and movement in the act of handcrafting a pair of shoes. Spritzing, skiving, gluing, angsting…. yes, these are all artistic acts of yours truly, an Episcopalian/Buddhist married to a nice Jewish boy. And my gift? The ability to make a pair of beautiful shoes for someone in need.
We are born to live artfully, to give creatively, to change the world, one vivid moment at a time.
Every thing you do is the act of your inner artist. What is your gift?
Get more divine!
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So here we are, in a lovely garden surrounded by four stately buildings between 56th street and 57th street. Under the practised eyes of Llorraine and her assistant, Debra, Ingrid and I spent the morning gluing shanks to our soles, cutting out our shoe uppers, skiving our toeboxes and getting swoozy from all of that glue so we are having lunch al fresco.
“Did you know that champagne is absolutely marvelous served with fresh snow?” This was another pearl of wisdom from Llorraine, our She Wolf of Shoes.
Today is Day 3 of our Mastering the Art of Shoemaking Class and we are finally catching glimpses of wonder as we work our way to heaven on heels. Wow! happens a lot. Our shoes gain life, personality and the power to amaze with each step of our shoemaking journey. And they have names. Ingrid’s strappy shoes are Pucci Rock. Debra’s empire heeled Louis XIV-meets-flapper are Molly and Llorraine thinks my Jackson Pollack peek-a-boos should be named 300, after the animated film about the Spartan warriors.
I can’t wait to show them to you.
Walk among angels and dance with demons
How can I possibly return to the world of indifferently designed shoes?
And you, how could I leave all of you in such an unbeautiful place?
I am a momspy, artspy and nonprofit knitter. Hi! Welcome to hoongyee.com, my blog where you will find style notes for people who change the world. read more>
