There was once a shoemaker, who worked very hard and was very honest: but still he could not earn enough to live upon; and at last all he had in the world was gone, save just leather enough to make one pair of shoes.
…As soon as it was midnight, there came in two little naked dwarfs; and they sat themselves upon the shoemaker’s bench, took up all the work that was cut out, and began to ply with their little fingers, stitching and rapping and tapping away at such a rate, that the shoemaker was all wonder, and could not take his eyes off them. And on they went, till the job was quite done, and the shoes stood ready for use upon the table..
– The Elves and the Shoemaker, Grimm’s Fairy Tails
I’ve loved shoes for as long as I can remember and it’s no surprise that this book filled me with glee as a child! I think that I’ve always been preoccupied with footwear. Little red patent shoes used to vanish in the blink of an eye when my Mom took her eyes off my three-year-old self for a split second. Apparently I didn’t like the style and was forever trying to get rid of them. They almost got flushed down the loo on one occasion.
A few years on from this and I distinctly remember wishing that my feet were big enough to fit into my sister’s neon jelly shoes one summer in France, not to mention my Mom’s heeled wedges that she wore with a maxi dress. They made a fantastic clipping noise on the pavement as she walked. My slip on pumps didn’t seem quite so glamorous.
Soon after this my sporty side kicked in. I convinced my Mom to let me have a pair of purple Converse hightops. I squeezed my feet into them even though they were too narrow. I didn’t say a word. Even aged seven I seemed to know the whole ‘beauty is pain’ rule!
The annual visit to buy school shoes was one of my favourites. A dedicated shoe hunting trip, what could be better? I was fascinated by the options and invariably wanted totally unsuitable ones with heels or suede.
Well, not much has changed today to be perfectly honest. I find the whole craftsmanship of shoes beautiful and I’ve been on the look out of a pair of wooden lasts like this for years. I picked this pair up in a vintage shop near The Old Truman Brewery in Brick Lane and yep, I did a little jump for joy inside as I came across them so unexpectedly.
On my lunch break today, I happened to leaf through a book that I really want to buy called Fashionable Selby and guess what was on the first page I landed on? A whole host of lovely lasts.
Serendipity at its finest.
