The (20) bespoke shoemakers I have known
The Ugolini workshop in Florence This article was originally written in 2014, then updated in 2021, and is now freshly updated for 2026. It feels like a good time to do so – I have four new shoemakers to add, but no plans to try new ones so...
The (20) bespoke shoemakers I have known
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Thanks, yes I agree...
Canons bespoke oxfords: Review
I covered the English bespoke shoemaker Canons a while ago , explaining their evolution from the team that was Foster & Son on Jermyn Street, and promising to review the brown-suede oxfords they made for me. Well they’re ready, I&rsqu...
Canons bespoke oxfords: Review
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Yes I do, looking forward to them!...
Canons bespoke: How Foster’s has been reimagined ...
Canons, the bespoke shoemakers in north London, is one of the most exciting recent developments in bespoke menswear. Simon Bolzoni (above) and his team have created a modern, efficient, and also now quite large operation that has grown despite littl...
Canons bespoke: How Foster’s has been reimagined ...
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As ever I feel duty bound to say that while that is helpful, it's often not everything. Factories can make to different levels for different brands (eg adding a bevelled waist, a different type of insole etc etc)...
Giving clothes a new lease of life: The Valet, Re...
If you love clothes, it’s not easy to resist the call of a new season. As much as you know the value of what you own, and want to wear it forever, shiny new things are tempting. The best defence, I find, is to invest time and energy in your ex...
Giving clothes a new lease of life: The Valet, Re...
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Fantastic Many thanks...
Building a wardrobe: Bespoke shoes
As the last post on building a wardrobe - focused on Neapolitan tailoring - proved popular, I thought I'd do a second looking at shoes. But rather than look at my whole shoe collection, which numbers more than 40 pairs and would take a long time to ...
Building a wardrobe: Bespoke shoes
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Because the styles haven't really attracted me and I've had some quite poor reports on fit from friends...
Wearing a grey linen shirt – or the virtues...
A style post today, after several product and profile pieces in recent weeks. To break it down into bullets: I love grey shirts, primarily with navy suits or jackets as an alternative to white and blue. It feels urban and modern The problem is, wit...
Wearing a grey linen shirt – or the virtues...
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Interesting. I haven't tried it, but I reckon it could be OK as long as there was something else colour-wise going on - a pocket square, a tie, something else in the breast pocket....
Foster & Son bespoke shoes: Review
A few weeks ago I received my final pair of Foster & Son bespoke shoes. The process has, unfortunately, been both good and bad. First, the good. The fitting I had with John Spencer – Foster’s lastmaker – was impr...
Foster & Son bespoke shoes: Review
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In the case of these shoes, yes it would have made them rather more casual. They were intended to be smarter than that. But in general, you're right I don't have medallions that often. I hadn't actually though about it b...
Pattern making at Foster & Son
Emma (Lakin), at Foster & Son in London, is creating the pattern for my first pair of bespoke shoes with them – mid-brown Oxfords. Folding paper onto the last and marking it is the most popular method of doing this. One alternati...
Pattern making at Foster & Son
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Mine are ready for try on this spring. I too selected a mid-brown oxford, though I requested a dainite sole for wet weather....
Foster & Son bespoke shoes: Last-making
This is Jon Spencer, last maker at Foster & Son, making up the last for my first pair of bespoke shoes from the team. The black, Oxford whole-cuts will have the classic ‘West End’ Foster’s toe shape, slightly elongated and...
Foster & Son bespoke shoes: Last-making
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They did. The scanner didn't really work but they had some great designs. Unfortunately went of of business after their backers pulled out. Lutwyche bought the shop and still carries some of the English shoes...
Foster & Son bespoke shoe samples
Foster & Son is one of the great names of British bespoke shoemaking. In recent years, that reputation was largely founded on master lastmaker Terry Moore. I only got to know Foster’s relatively recently, after Terry retired. Changes of...
Foster & Son bespoke shoe samples
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Putting more material in is always going to hard, as you're relying on the amount of inlay (excess cloth). A small adjustment would be ok from that point of view and in terms of the aesthetic, however...
Permanent Style in Free & Easy magazine
This column in Japanese magazine Free & Easy is the result of the photo shoot I posted about before Christmas. I have no idea what the Japanese text says, but hopefully it faithfully reports my opinions on shoes and shoe collecting, and desc...
Permanent Style in Free & Easy magazine
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John you wouldn't be so sceptical and ignorant in your reproach if you judged by the content of the magazine. It's one of the best menswear magazines out there in my opinion, much more relevant than the shit they sell in...
