Posts Tagged ‘mario minardi’

This is very quick, short, and yet a very pleasant news indeed.  Mario Minardi custom made shows is now available under TGW brand and it takes approx. 1 month for each order to complete, and each pair will be accompanied by  fabrique shoe bag and wooden shoe tree. For an appointment and queries, kindly direct your email through tgw@tgwhouse.com.

Understandably the price tag might be slightly over your average shoes, but in my opinion, this is one kind of investment that worth every penny. And those who understand sartorial necessities, will acknowledge that the price tag is nothing if compared to the comfort and benefit that you will experienced in a long term as a proud owner of the custom made shoes.

Needless to say, this is an opportunity for us who lives in Jakarta, and Indonesia to experience a quality workmanship that our counterparts in developed countries has experienced with only fraction of price.

One month, two weeks, and one day has passed ever since I’ve got my feet measured at Mario Minardi. One and a half month, is nowhere near the instant satisfaction that you get when you acquired your shoes on the shoe store. But it is also nowhere near the amount of time that you need to wait when  you order your shoes from the famous Graziano & Girling.

One thing that I can tell you my dear readers, that every single day, hour and minutes that passed, it  was all paid off, when I laid my sight on the new black caped toe oxford that is neatly packed in the printed carton box.

To say the shoes are good is gross understatement. They are gorgeous, elegant, almost as  perfect as the picture I have in my imagination, on every single aspects. The best of all, it fits me very well, and it feels, really, really, really good.

It was a really strange feeling, when I slid my feet in it, tied the laces and felt the leather draped around my skin. It is even stranger feeling, when I started to  walk, and heard the crisp tapping sound of the heels, and felt the my muscles stretched but very well accommodated on the roomy space of the shoes.  This becoming more eventual, as I started navigating my office, moving from one point to another, one surface to another, I almost felt that I wear one size too big, because frankly, I didn’t not feel any pressure, tediousness, and slightest pressure on any part of my foot. But the truth its not, the shoes were made based on my size, the length and the wide, and the height was not drastically different then those that I got off the rack. But the difference persist, that’s because for the first time in my life, I owned shoes that understand my left side as much as it understand my right side. Needless to say, this feeling is addictive.

The visual look of the shoes is even more riveting. The shape are gorgeous, the lines that flows from the heel to toe bend flawlessly, highlighting the shape of your feet and give that expensive look that many of the more expensive brand offered. The stitches are clean and neat, it flowed naturally, shaping and accentuating the contour of the foot rather nicely. The leather are supple and soft, and the inner leather lining, gives extra comfortable and sense of fit that feels very pleasant. The finishing is excellent, the darkish embossing on the sole gives an aura of exclusivity and personality that some other brand just don’t have. Even if you spent hours looking at it, without really close observation, you can and may not be able to differentiate it with USD500 shoes that carried designed label.

This is the  shoes that are made especially for me, it may be made locally, in the grim factory that hide in between of Jakarta’s sky scrappers. It also may not deserved to be called bespoke, it is a made to measure at the best. But the details, quality and aura that it presents are something that is  more than 99% of the shoes that walking around Jakarta’s surfaces difficult to match.

This is one of the shoes that can match a gentlemen breed. Too bad, at least for now, I’m the only customer who experienced the true potential and quality that Mario Minardi can unleashed.

A shot of my shoes can be observed here

This is just a teaser, wait for the full report soon !!!

My new oxford - goodyear welted

My new oxford - leather lining

My new oxford, emboss on the sole

My new oxford, the 5 eyelets

My new oxford, side view

My new oxford, simply gorgeus

Just a very quick update on my MTO (made to order) shoes (you can read previous post in this series here).

It almost a month since I’ve got my feet measured for pattern. Just last Thursday, I was invited to the fitting. Handiman the owner of Mario Minardi has finished making a rough finished left side of the pair for me to try.  And whilst it was nice to wear, I felt there is something off with the shape and curve of the shoes, and so I request some adjustment.

Anyway, along the way, in between the measurements and fitting. Handiman sent me a couple of pictures that some sort of explain the early stage of the production process.

The first picture below is the original last. You see, after my precise measurement was obtained, Handiman then look for a last ( a shoe frame, very much resembling shoe tree) that closest resembling my feet shape. The results is last number 11292 as you see below. If you look closer you can see the last size is 42, which is consistent my current wear size.

The original shoes last. Number 11292 size 42

However, as one may predicted, the last required some amendment, hence Handiman send the last to be adjusted as observed on the below picture. The adjustment shown in dark gray materials appears to increase the height of the upper part. This adjustment was done for both side accordingly.

Adjusted shoe last, notice the black material attached to the original last ?

Next process is making the pattern. This is shown by drawing the shoe pattern across the last on the above picture. The drawing will then be used as a guidance when cutting the leather material.

The pattern drawn on the last

From this point, the process will decidedly be varied and becoming more and more complex. It will be interesting process nonetheless, and I will report the detail process accordingly when I received by shoes safe and sound. Until then, I bid you good night and good luck.

And so its on.

As I’ve mentioned during my first visit to Mario Minardi, I  have intended to commission my first bespoke shoes at Mario Minardi. So after a week of delay get caught up in the busy office, I managed to get an appointment for measurement  yesterday.

The process was swift, after ushered to Handiman’s room, he laid down two piece of A4 size paper. He asked me to put my right food first on top of a sheet. Then he draw my foot shape with thin marker, follows every side of contour. Next, Marco pulls out a measurement tape, and he measured three things, the ball and instep circumference, and finally, the foot length. These were applied for both foot.

My foot print, notice that the right foot is slightly larger then the left ?

As it turned out to be, my right foot is slightly larger then my left foot. They explained, that most if not all people will always have different size of foot between the right and the left, this is due to different size of foot muscle. The right handed men, like me, will naturally have larger right foot, and vice versa.

And so I asked, so when you put you shoes on the store, will they actually have different size ? “Of course not,” he added, “the shoes that you find at the store will have similar size between left, or right.” But yet, oddly enough when we buy the shoes off the rack we fill that both side are just perfect fit. Thinking about it, I guess its pretty much self suggestion of convincing our self that the the shoes are good fit.

Now to be completely honest, and fair to all master shoe makers in the world, the shoes that Mario Minardi will commissioned for me, is not of bespoke breeding. Bespoke, required individual last to be made based on the customers food, this last will then be used as a template to ensure that the shoes skin and surface will perfectly draped by foot. Bespoke will also means that all process of the shoe manufacturing will be worked by hands. My shoes to be, will go slightly different way, instead of building a new last for me, Mario Minardi will try to find a last that closest to my measurement and use this last as template before making the necessary adjustment. Hence we agreed the correct term for that should be made to measure.

John Lobb Oxfords (courtesy of www.johnlobb.com)

Surely, by now you are curious on what shoes that I intend to make. In my words, its nothing fancy nor difficult, it’s a simple black capped to oxford, in calfskin. With the incoming holiday season, I might have to wait a little longer than I would have expected, but 2 weeks is nothing compared to months of time required for bespoke. Still, I can’t wait to get it done and ready.

By the way, this article will be the first of  the My First Bespoke Made to Order Shoes series. Wait for the update soon !