Disclaimer: This post contains an old attempt at shoemaking, during the beginning of my journey. I really didn’t know what I was doing at this time, and the post is left online for archive purposes only. Please do not “learn” anything from it, as the post is certainly riddled with mistakes. It’s just a documentation on some of my thoughts as a beginner in this venture. For a more updated view of my shoemaking, please see my latest posts instead.

Work has been progressing in the secret workshop, while the blog has been at a standstill. This is because I have spent my time in the actual workshop and not in the editor’s chair. These shoes were finished early December 2019.

Ambassador marks the first time that I have made a pair of shoes in top brand upper leather. In this case, in black box calf from Weinheimer Leder (see full specs below). It was harder to work with than what I am used to, but was a refreshing upgrade.

I consider this a learning/prototype pair altogether. I tried some new things and made some valuable mistakes that will not be repeated. Regardless, the actual upper leather truly is something to behold.

This post is a display of the finished shoes – in the construction post, I describe how they were made.

Because I pegged on the outsoles, there’s no outsole seam.

Heels finished with vintage shoemaking wax.

Vibram outsoles in place.

In this perfect photo lighting (outside in fully clouded yet bright day), the depth and contrast of the leather looks severely photoshopped, like a flagrant overuse of the “unsharp mask” filter. I have cropped the images and removed some slight dust, but the leather actually looks like this in the camera.

And here on a different backdrop:

Construction: Pegged
Uppers: Weinheimer box calf
Lining: 2 oz vegetable tanned crust baby calf
Insoles: 9-10 oz veg tanned calf side from Tärnsjö Garveri
Outsoles: 7 iron veg tanned butt
Toe/heel stiffeners: ca 5 oz from Tärnsjö Garveri
Rand: 5-6 oz veg tan from Tärnsjö Garveri
Welt: natural welting leather from Leather & Grindery
Shank: Plastic.
Heel lifts: 12-13 oz pre cut heel lifts.
Top lifts: Rubber
Sockliner: 4 oz veg tanned crust calf side