ExIT Shoes

I make shoes in many styles. Here are examples of formal, casual and hybrid styles.

Formal Green custom shoes with pants.

Casual Blue custom shoes in the garden

Hybrid Black custom shoes on the bike

Details on the shoes and larger photos are available below.

For the folks in Portland who came to visit while I was making shoes on display in March at  Larry Olmstead’s workshop inside Halo shoes,  here is a photo of the finished shoes of my work that was in progress for 2 1/2 weeks. I made these using leather that Larry has used in several of his leather bags. The side view shows the welted construction. The upper is vegetable tanned leather from the La Ruota tannery in Italy. It turns out the leather not only to makes stunning bags, but handsome shoes too. Stay tuned for more shoemaking events!

When I first saw this piece of leather at the shop in the Netherlands, I was with one of my new shoemaker friends. Much as I liked it, I put it back because I thought it was too expensive. He really gave me a hard time about it and made me buy it. At the time, I still didn’t realize how hard it was to find leather that was interesting, attractive and also of the highest quality. So here it is, as a one piece oxford.

This is the first prototype of a high top version of the ExIT Cycle™ shoe. It’s a half step from shoe to boot, and from fashion to traditional. I’m sorting out the shape and fit, then planning to refine the style into a classic men’s boot.

Ankle boots can be made on the same lasts as low shoe lasts, but there are some tricky dynamics as the upper extends beyond the top of the last. I’m continuing to avoid eyelets as the leather upper is more than up to the task of holding the laces. Also, for custom shoes, those eyelets don’t see as much stress.

The veg tan cow upper is also fully lined with veg tan cow. They are build using a welted construction and stitched to a mid-sole using braided stitching. A Vibram Gumlite unit sole is glued on over the mid-sole.