Chopine, Zoccolo, and Other Raised and High Heel Construction

I recently finished up a pair of 16th C. shoes for a good friend of mine. What I had in mind here was a pair that was appropriate to the century, but would also give an acceptable look for an earlier century as well.

A very large portion of shoes from both medieval times and the Renaissance had some kind of treatment on the opening of the shoe, be it some kind of simple reinforcing stitching or a separate binding or strip applied to the opening. As you might imagine, stitching of that kind takes time to be elegant and look decent, so I figured I would give it a shot. This is also a front lace closure, and the lace can be tied either on the top of the throat opening (like modern shoelaces), or placed through the holes as shown and tied on the medial (outside) of the foot. Tying on the outside tends to give it a bit more flair, at least in my opinion. =)

(more…)

A new project – these are rather unusual shoes, and are based on a couple of images from some German painters (Cranach, most notably). First, let me give you finished product (although the picture does not really do them justice) and then go into detail.

What was most unusual about these particular shoes was the black “strip” that surrounded the entire shoe. There are a couple of German pictures which shoe this type of “two-toned” shoe, and although my reproductions look similar, I’m not entirely satisfied with the design.

(more…)