A craftsman who has worked his way up from shoe retailing to top of the shoemaking tree is Clifford Roberts. He been learning his craft over 30 years in the business, including time at Crocket & Jones and Edward Green, and now works alone from home in Northampton, making the finest English shoes and boots."I developed a real passion for shoe making and decided to start making my own. I am basically self taught,” he explains, “and spent many, many cold nights sitting learning by trial and error to perfect the art of making a shoe. I am always learning as I go along.”Like many a lone craftsman, he has no website as yet, but by word of mouth and personal recommendations he has attracted customers from around the world.His shoes are handmade “and I don't mean hand work in the sense of holding the shoes to a machine which can be called handmade as it is held in the hand, I mean hand as in totally lasted by hand and welt sewn by hand, no machine involved” he emphasises.Up until now, he has made the shoes from a range of lasts that he has, or from those supplied by the customer. "Being a working man myself I could never afford to buy top end shoes and decided I wanted to be able to offer the working man a good quality handmade shoe for a good price."CitaatAbove, Cliff Roberts and a pair of his boots, and the finish of his shoes, right.
Above, Cliff Roberts and a pair of his boots, and the finish of his shoes, right.
Hoort dit niet bij bespoke? Of zie ik dat verkeerd en is het gewoon handmade rtw?
Zoiets maar dan in suede?[afbeelding]
Ik ben op zoek naar een mooie suede schoen, niet duurder dan 200 euro en met als belangrijkste eis: geen hak,vanwege het feit dat ik dit gewoon niet mooi vind
Moet je wel even zeggen welke maat het is
Dat denk ik ook wel Timothy van Britse kwaliteit zijn de schoenen.
