Mr. Hare looks at a lot of shoes in order to make this blog happen. Increasingly, I am astounded at the lack of new ideas that cross my desktop. Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of traditional craftsmanship and little excites me more than the subtly shifting proportions of lasts, as new perceptions of style filter in and out of our collective psyche's.
Take these J.M. Westons designed by Michel Perry for instance. A renegade shoe man given free reign inside a traditional house. I love the way all the pieces harmoniously sweep over eachother. I love the perfectly proportioned and lovingly shaped chisel toe. That is so easy to get so wrong. I love the back curvature which is continued in the slightly cuban heel. The confident high tongue. Most of all I love the sculptural presence of the whole shoe. In traditional terms this is as modernist as it gets in November 2008.
Cut to McQueens offering at the same point of the epoch and Michel Perry's J.M.Weston looks even more sophisticated. Recently mens shoes have become so generic and so harking back, but with little research, that Mr. Hare is yearning for something modern and brilliant to happen.
The Lanvin wedge sole shoe is undoubtedly the big story of this season and as part of the entire Lanvin story it makes sense. But what is it? The last is so traditional any number of Derby interpretations could suffice. The wedge sole delivers extra comfort and diminished weight, both features that would have been highly attractive to my grandfather.
They are beautifully finished so 10/10 for that.
So to Dior for a glimpse at the future (or even the now, instead of the past). Bold colour use. Angular patterning. My Grandfather would not have worn these so that's good. Emotionally though, like the Lanvin's I am getting nothing. Like with modern art where you need to know the back story and the artist before a pile of junk takes on meaning.
Personally I am getting just as much from these $300
Mezlans.I have never heard of Mezlan and know not where they come from but I can instantly relate to their shoes. I know more about Dior and Lanvin than I could possibly need to, yet still I have to ponder their shoes. I know what your thinking "Mr Hare, you're just a trad freak!" If that is the case then how come these next shoes from my NBF Sruli Recht are the most interesting and exciting thing I have seen lately?
Everything about them is awesome. The sole is a seperate sculpture that was perfected before they met the uppers. They are lasted in quite a western style which should be wrong, but then when the upper is styled in such a feminine way the whole guido, hairdresser, irony thing is replaced by a challenge to your shoe sensibilities. Take away all the physical aspects of these shoes and emotionally I am looking at my favourite movie, my best song, my first kiss, my last kiss and more emotion than I could possibly afford a therapist to mine.
There is of course Miuccia. Oh Miuccia. She just gets better and better. I wouldn't buy or wear these, but I love to look at them. The whole no laces/John Varvatos thing makes me want to cull, but when Miuccia even removes the lace holes it makes me smile. These remind me of primitive cave flint tools and in terms of the near future of mens shoes I think they may be just as important. Who says both shoes have to be assymetrical and the same colour on both feet? Literally patterned or abstractly, it's all good.
Admittedly these would not look out of place in Africa or the middle east or even Shepherds Bush market, but anywhere else they are different and despite our natural inclinations, different is what we should all try to be.
How fierce is this outfit? I shall discuss the boots later in detail but Mr. Hare is strangely uncomfortable with just how fascinated I am by this look.
How fierce is this outfit? I shall discuss the boots later in detail but Mr. Hare is strangely uncomfortable with just how fascinated I am by this look.
Don't really know what I like about this Miharayasuhiro offering...I think it's the boots and the freefalling layers.
Unlike this look from Viktor & Rolf where I know it is all about the Billie Jean socks.
Sometimes it is all about the shape and this oh so elegant, simple look from Hermes is calling me. Like wise the look below.
These two just put a big smile on my face.
I wish I could remember a clever line from Buffalo 66 to put here, but I can't. I hope to cause trouble next winter looking like this.
McLanvin
Angles, angles, angles!
I want this Givenchy scarf.
Mr. Hare is a simple guy who likes a bit of elegance he doesn't need to be precious about. Hence why Lanvin keeps making it on to my blog.
The Problem with Brothel Creepers is that it is so hard to find a pair made by a true shoe artisan not of the Carnaby/enthusiast variety. It takes a lot of dancing to make such a pair look this good.
So the appearance of male wedges of the quiet stepping through ladies of the night establishments variety is very appealing and has been duly noted.
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