For Christmas, my darling bought me the experience (and shoes) of custom made sandals. COVID-19 was in full roar, so we had to postpone our trips to Jutta Neuman’s shop in NYC.
We went up for an initial consultation, and they traced my feet. We made a weekend of it, and had a wonderful time. We both found some great books and other treasure, and the food was delicious.
The second trip involved two visits to the shop. In the morning, they fitted the straps to my feet, and glued them in place.
We went out a delightful lunch that began with some fried anchovies, to give them time to assemble the sandals and allow the glue to set.
We we returned to the shop, I walked in the sandals, and they traced my feet in them to cut them down. After we left, they added a Birkenstock type tread and put them in the mail.
I love sandals, and I’ve always wanted to learn how to make them. I tell a story about in 1993, I was in NYC for the CMJ festival, and happened upon a leather shop that made belts, bags and sandals. I was enthralled with the place, and while I never had the chance to have sandals made for myself, I did strike up a correspondence with the proprietor the resulted in the offer of an apprenticeship. I had just bought my first house in Baltimore, and couldn’t make it work. I figured someday I’ll do this. Meaning both learning to make sandals, and also have a bespoke pair for myself. I can happily cross one of this off my todo list.
These feel amazing – they fit perfectly, and I never want to take them off. I love them – what a wonderful experience and gift. So very thoughtful!
While we were in NYC, we visited the garment district, which was a lot of fun. I found some neon PVC which I’m going to make some repeated things with – more on that soon.
Happy Spring!
P.S. My nail polish is OPI Blue my mind. It matches the drums I use in Coastguard, and is my favorite color.