my new highland shoes

**michaelbeeman** · 29th April 08, 06:35 AM

Those are fantastic sir. I have just started a internet/video apprenticeship making custom moccasins. This is a first step towards becoming a Cordwainer. Between the shoes and your Avatar, you may have just become my hero!

**DWFII** · 29th April 08, 06:41 AM

Originally Posted by billmcc

Very, very nice!
Is your sporran done yet?

Heh! I've done bags and all kinds of other leather work stuff over the years, but I'm trying to work out something a little different...note I said "little"...for the sporran. It won't be anything world shaking but I want it as close to right as possible the first time out. My business is not sporran making so I don't really have time for endless prototypes. That said, I'm getting close. Thanks for asking.

**DWFII** · 29th April 08, 06:58 AM

I have to say to everyone... all of you who have been (or may still be) so appreciative of my shoes...thank you.

It's hard to reply to everyone, not only because the compliments come in so fast I can't keep up, but also because I spend a lot of time in the shop. But I do appreciate the kind words.

Michael Beeman...you might, if you are seriously interested, check out The Crispin Colloquy. It is an internet discussion forum I created and run for my Trade Guild, aimed at bespoke boot and shoemakers from around the word. Small group...we have been on the net for over 10 years now...but lots and lots of information there. Some even claim that they can learn how to make shoes just by reading through the 10,000 or so posts and asking questions.

**CelticRanger66** · 29th April 08, 07:33 AM

Great Shoes!! Very Dashing!!

If you are taking orders in the future let me know I would gladly order a pair!

**michaelbeeman** · 29th April 08, 09:25 AM

Thanks, DWFII, I just spent a good 1/2 hr looking around. I've registered for the forum and will sent a little scratch off to join the HCC this week as well. What a fantastic resource!

**Dukeof Kircaldy** · 29th April 08, 10:03 AM

Enjoy your semi-retirement. It is nice to have time of one's own.

Originally Posted by DWFII

Thanks...

Here's a secret that only the Xmarks forum is privy to...that waiting list is for boots. Only. For now. It may get that way on the shoes but I handle it as two separate enterprises simply because I am trying to put more emphasis on men's shoes. And I am in semi-retirement anyway and want to do what I am interested in...want to do what I want to do in my old age.

**DWFII** · 29th April 08, 11:03 AM

Originally Posted by michaelbeeman

Thanks, DWFII, I just spent a good 1/2 hr looking around. I've registered for the forum and will sent a little scratch off to join the HCC this week as well. What a fantastic resource!

Hey! You're welcome. There truly is about 10,000 posts on the board...not all of them interesting but a lot of really good stuff. And some really helpful and knowledgeable people from several continents...a lot like here!

Anyway, explore and enjoy and contact me if you have problems.

**Dukeof Kircaldy** · 29th April 08, 01:15 PM

Well, these are definitely an option. I just got off the phone from talking with Michael at McKenzie-Frain.

He was telling me about the Culloden shoes and that they are bespoke (made to measure). It seems they aren't making the buckles for them anymore, but the shoe is made to a 1752 pattern from the Smithsonian.

He was telling me about how they are to be treated. Rub loads of shoe polish on them for the authentic look. It seems people used to put all sorts of stuff on the shoes to weatherproof them.

Kilties may be glorified Mary-Janes, but they do the trick!

**DWFII** · 29th April 08, 02:31 PM

As I understand it the Culloden is made as close to historical standards as possible. The standard would have been a vegetable tanned leather turned grainside (smooth side) in and the "nappy" side...the fleshside" would have been treated with sperm whale oil or perhaps cod oil. When the shoes were made up, the flesh side would have been "stuffed" (blackened) with lampblack (soot) and sized (burnished) with a flour paste. Shoe polish wasn't in it...as we understand the term, it wasn't known at the time.

Additionally, it is not at all certain that a heel stiffener/support would have been used. And certainly no toe stiffener.

I have all this from the individual at Colonial Williamsburg who I mentioned in a previous post. So I am pretty certain of the facts. This link will take you to a photo essay of a pair of these shoes being made (under the tutalege of my friend).

I do not know how strictly the Culloden follows the historic model but I recall reading that the Culloden is a single layer shoe.

BTW...Bespoke is always MTM (made to measure) but MTM is not always bespoke.

And if I can expand upon that, as a matter of personal opinion...I think that straight lasts are poor templates for made to measure. The foot itself is not straight. Some folks even have a severe turning of the foot towards the medial (inside) or lateral (outside). Made to measure, by implication if not definition, is an attempt to model the foot as closely as possible while maintaining a certain aesthetic appearance. Back in the day, such niceties as instep and joint girths may have been observed but from what I have gathered only casually.

And if I may take just one more moment to say that what I offer is not comparable to the Culloden or the Glenfinnian. It is a contemporarily made (and fitting) shoe with historic sensibilities. It makes no attempt to replicate either the glory nor the deficiencies of the historic shoe. But rather draws the best from both worlds.