Silly Roman Shoes MkII - the photos

After much ado, here are some photos of the recently completed silly roman shoes mkII. I'm not sure what these are called, possible calcei.

Here is the pattern:

And some shots of the completed shoes (yes they do indeed look like a cross between converse trainers and ballet shoes):




Note that the right shoe, which was completed first sometime last year, fits the best and is quite comfy. The left shoe was completed this year and is not as well fitted and the integral laces are too short (they only just do up, the right ones can wrap around the ankle before being tied). After wearing them around a bit, I think the sole of the left shoe is too small. My left big toe is right on the edge pushing the leather upper out. That may also explain why the front of the upper isn't sitting right. They are generally comfy and have nice ankle support, which I'm noticing as I sprained my left ankle last weekend and it needs all the help it can get.

I will be bringing these along to Bunch o' Classes on the weekend, where I will apparently be teaching "Introduction to Roman Costume". I should really put together some notes or something.

Picture of shoe from Bruegal

I found a picture of the sort of shoe Eadie and I are making. While this is to go with a Hollandish frock (a la Aertsen), it is really hard to find pictures of shoes in his paintings due to the whole long skirt or sitting behind things issue. However, The Peasant Dance (1568, Pieter Bruegal the Elder) shows a similar sort of shoe.

Here is a section of that painting showing a woman dancing where you can see her shoe. I've played with the brightness so you can see the shoe and hose better. It is just a simple mary jane style shoe, buckled on the outside.

Now all I need to do is get the hang of this turn shoe with a rand thing. I read "Shoes and Pattens" last night and feel not much wiser. I'm guessing it would be a continuous rand (i.e. skinny strip of leather that goes between the sole and the upper to increase the water tightness of the shoe). The problem we may have with Eadie's shoes is that the sole leather is not as thick as we'd like and I'm worried that the edge/flesh seams may just tear through when the shoe is turned out. Might need to get thicker sole leather.

16th century Hollandish shoes

The next shoe project that I've undertaken is as a result of my stunt double, the lovely Lady Eadie, who is determined to have a complete 16th century working class Hollandish outfit for the A&S comp at Feast of the Four Winds. A noble endeavour to be encouraged so I figured I should also have a go at these shoes. They are no where near as silly as Roman shoes. They are more of a clunky mary jane.

No photos yet because I've been forgetful about taking them. We've done the patterns last week at Summer Hill (see note below about duct tape). Eadie has cut out her leather and I just need to go through "Shoes and Pattens" and get a crash course in sewing turn shoes with a rand. I will try to remember to take some photos at some point so watch this space.

Note: If you use duct tape to wrap your feet in for making the pattern and hand your laurel a whiteboard marker, she will then smack both you and your stunt double on the head with said marker. This hurts. In future, use masking tape and bring a sharpie. I'm assured that apprentice abuse is all part of the learning experience.

Update on Blayney's fighting calligae

Blayney has finished the inners for his fighting calligae, which got a trial run at the Rowany Pas d'Arms recently and a few tweakings afterwards.

He asked me to pop up a few photos, so in the spirit of silly shoes, here they are with an action shot of the calligae at the Pas d'Arms:



I'll leave it to Blayney to add comments on his experience in making these.