Lars Eidinger starts with the shoe

Actor Lars Eidinger needs the costume shoe for roles such as Everyman, Hamlet and Richard III.

The shoe, usually with a relatively high heel, as worn by royal and wealthy men in the past, is a prerequisite for him to be able to rehearse the role. This would be impossible for him in his private shoes.

So says the actor in the documentary about him: Lars Eidinger, Sein oder Nicht sein. The article by Titel, Thesen, Temperamente gives a good insight into the film, which is well worth seeing. Try to put yourself in someone’s shoes suits us all.

Every outfit benefits from the shoe

The simplest outfit, an old pair of trousers and a simple T-shirt, looks great with good shoes. The impression of a perfect suit, on the other hand, is ruined by bad shoes.

What are good shoes?

Even if there are a few more rules, especially for men’s shoes, it is not the heel height, color or shape that matters, but the quality of the footwear.

A high-quality shoe will last for many years with good care. The higher price pays for itself in three ways: it enables a better, more confident gait, offers the foot more comfort and looks better.

Between machine and customization

While a machine-made shoe is produced in a short time, a custom-made shoe, which is individually tailored to the respective feet, takes three to six months from the first measurement to delivery of the finished shoe.

It takes around 50 hours of work to make bespoke shoes. Berluti, one of the best addresses for bespoke shoes, founded in Paris in 1895 by Italian Alessandro Berluti and now part of the LVMH Group, produces the most elegant men’s shoes.

According to Berluti, 210 work steps are required for bespoke shoes.

John Lobb Shop, London © Alamy Stock Photo

The competition, John Lobb in London, conveniently located near St. James Palace, shows in ten steps the variations that can be discussed and agreed in detail for a classic custom-made shoe.

The French part of John Lobb now belongs to Hermes.

Shoes in this category are luxury goods. The made-to-measure shoe takes into account individual shapes and measurements, which in most cases differ between the right and left foot, but is also based on all other characteristics of the feet, such as bone structure and musculature.

Individuality and craftsmanship have their price, which starts at around EUR 2000 for a classic men’s shoe from a small, independent master shoemaker. With the big names in Paris and London, you can expect a bill in the region of EUR 5000 for a model (without extravagant leather requests).

Satisfaction is not guaranteed, even with a custom-made shoe. It should merely serve as an example of how much knowledge and how much manual work can go into a shoe.

Off the peg, but from a professional

It doesn’t have to be a custom-made shoe, but it is worth paying attention to the following with machine-made shoes:

• Leather instead of plastic, there is already enough of the latter in the world
• Only leather can be well cared for over decades
• Where possible, sewn instead of glued seams
• The quality of the base last. The only thing that helps here is trial and error and loyalty once you have found a shoe that not only looks good but also feels good
• The structure of the shoe sole. Several layers instead of a “cardboard box”

For example, a cork layer in the sole of good shoes ensures that the shoe adapts to the shape of the foot over time and is comfortable to wear without compromising on shape.

Good sources for high-quality shoes are therefore shoemakers and specialist stores that make bespoke shoes but also use their knowledge and specialized suppliers to offer high-quality shoes “off the peg”. If you happen to be in Aachen soon to collect your medal against animal seriousness or are in the area for any other reason, you could stop by Dieter Kuckelkorn.

High heels only from the best provenance

Quality also plays an important role with flat shoes. The highest quality is essential for high heels so that the shoes don’t end up in the garbage can or in the second-hand store after a great event.

Producers such as Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo , Aquazurra and Ferragamo make shoes that look heavenly and are not hell to wear.

The higher the heel, the more important the construction. A day or a night of dancing in well-constructed high heels is no problem. Everything else is pure torture.

While you can get matching sneakers everywhere, often with little difference in quality at a relatively low level, cheap high heels are not worth their lower price. To be worn only once and then discarded disappointed and in pain, every euro is too much.

If you look at Manolo Blahnik’s enchanting drawings in his digital archive, you can see that the ethereal objects do not change too much over the years.

The undoubtedly high investment is thus amortized over many years.

Invest in shoes

A good quality shoe provides support for the rear foot without constricting it. The front foot, on the other hand, needs enough room to move. Both have an effect on posture, the spine, the neck and therefore also on looseness in the head.

The right size and a good cut are crucial. Bargains in the sale are always possible; however, compromises in fit or size turn any supposedly good deal into a bad one.

How many shoes does a man need?

Women’s shoes are highly individual. Men have the advantage of being well-dressed with just a few variants, which is why the category name in English is: dress shoes.

Black is a must. A black shoe belongs in every shoe cabinet. The fewer seams, the more elegant. Perfect with a suit and always a good choice.

No brown in town (after 6.00 p.m.) no longer applies in this strict form. Nevertheless, a shoe in brown is never as formal as a black shoe.

An ankle boot is ideal for leisure time. Either a Chelsea boot, which always has a slim fit thanks to the elasticated waistband, or a chukka, whose name already sounds like a polo tournament.

A patent leather shoe belongs in your wardrobe for all formal occasions in life. A must for the black tie look.

Sneakers, on the other hand, are a completely different story. Instead of buying another pair of sneakers, we recommend investing the money in good shoe trees made from cedar wood.

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Cover picture © GloriousMe