Strapped

I know, I know, more shoes, you ask? This girl must be out of her gourd!  Probably so. But these aren't actually SHOES, I promise! Summer does crazy things to one's brain- one of those things was my thinking about the crystal spike platforms I made way back in the fall.  But now, what with the 102 degree heat wave that has me contemplating how much of my body I can stuff into the freezer, icy things are looking even more appealing.

Anyway, when I made the crystal spiked shoes the first time around, it was on a whim, basically from wire and spit, which is fine if you only plan to wear them out once, and tip toe with great delicacy.  This time around, I wanted a more permanent solution to my crystal spiked dilemma, and so I came up with this answer: harnesses.

I fashioned them out of nude and black harness leather, and fastened them with rivets, so they're very secure. I also used LONG straps so that you can secure them on nearly any shoe, or even up a leg... The more strap, the more possibility for layering and texture.



Long straps mean plenty of layering possibilities.  The next few pictures are the same vachetta leather crystal spiked harness, worn on the front of the foot, and then as a crystal spine on the back.




 

Black harness.  Different design, same idea:



A vachetta version of the black harness, worn differently.



And the best part? The thing that excites me the most? You can layer them!! Two harnesses... three harnesses... four harnesses...


Five harnesses... (excessive? More, more!!!)



And from the back:



And up close.  (I'm cheating a little, these two are harnesses I made but haven't had a chance to shoot. Soon, I promise!)


 

Spinal Wedges, or: Lauren Makes Shoes v.1.0

It all started with mythical tales of 70s disco glamazons who danced with platforms that doubled as aquariums. Who hasn't wondered, at one time or another, if it isn't possible to hack your way into a pair of see-through heels?  Oh the possibilities, the things you could literally walk on! It's one of those situations, you know, where you're only limited by your imagination… and sense of dignity, but you can only maintain that for so long anyway, so may as well live large.

Curiosity got the best of me, and what started out as my tearing apart those lucite monster wedges that you know I loved to death in all their tack-tasticness, lead to 3234023945234 hours of research and birthed this obsessive experiment in making a luxe-ified stripper heel without having (yet) acquired a last, or at the time, knowledge of shoe construction.  Learning experience. You know how people pimp out their old bomb cars? Well, my dear mother took one look at these and declared that that's precisely what was going on here.  Is this the (IN)DECOROUS TASTE version of "Pimp My Ride"?  I think I'd prefer a "Pimp My Shoe."  Are you listening, MTV?

The shoe, pre-butchering.  It's got a pretty cool lucite wedge but, as people tend to note, it undeniably communicates "stripper."  Which is fine, but no fault of the wedge.  What about the wedge? It's destined for bigger and better things. It needed to detach (from the plastic upper bringing it down) and fill that gaping (lucite) void…

Here it is in the process of stripping it down and cleaning it up. This involved lots of prying, slicing, ripping, and sanding the surfaces so that they were free of glue. At right, it's startling clean: a blank canvas, except better, because it's part of a SHOE.

I filled the inner with what I designed to be a kind of internal metallic spine.  I made this with vachetta leather, spikes and crystal (what, did you think (I)D's first pair of shoes would be without crystal??), and attached it to the underside of the platform upper. You can see, I also made a leather sole for the shoe.

Why a spine? The inspiration came from the fleshy appearance of the veggie tanned vachetta…and I ran with it. Anyway, I lined the inside bottom of the wedge with a reflective, metallic surface so that at certain angles, the toothy spikes are reflected. At times, it has the bizarre effect of making the platform look "deeper" than it in fact is.

And then (and this is one hell of a massive simplification) I created a pattern for the uppers, cut them from vachetta which I glazed white, finished off the edges, etc, and then wet formed them on my foot. One of the things that's so great about vegetable tanned leather is its malleability. Ordinarily, the upper of a shoe would be formed over a last, but for various reasons, these had to be made without one. I took advantage of this and worked the leather into every crevice, bone, and callus on my foot! Hahaaaa gross?! But they're like a second skin!! For my foot, at least.

Since the upper needs to be attached to something, and that something needed to replace the subpar layer of foam/faux suede insole that these came with, I was left making my own insole. Again, ordinarily you'd form this on a last, but instead, I wet formed a piece of vachetta cut to fit the insole on the actual shoe. It's plastic, after all, and comes pre-molded. After it dried, I used gel inserts and leather to build it up in the appropriate places (I live in heels, so I better well know where they need the extra padding!) I encased the entire thing in leather, and then, as you can see, I attached the dried, molded uppers by way of laces, lots of glue (pretty sure I'm significantly down in brain cells at this point) and did what it took to make the bottoms smooth (cutting out a leather filler, filing it down, etc etc etc etc) and ready for more gluing.

A peek at my work space. It started to look like a landfill at one point! But with perhaps more chandeliers than you'd ever encounter in a landfill. Here you can see the shoe has come together. The internal "spine" has been attached along with the reflective surface covering the bottom inside of the platform, the uppers are fixed to the insole and attached to the platform, and the leather sole is on the wedge.

Did I stop there? HA, don't be silly. Of course not.  I applied a thin band of color right by the toes. (It's more flattering that way, since the color doesn't chop up the line of the leg.) Might as well get some mileage out of the 6 inch wedge.

But sometimes more is more. These shoes have a little secret....

Yeah, that's right, they glow under black light!  So in case, you ... end up at a rave (what) or in a tanning booth, you're covered.  I have this vision of being entirely invisible except for a thin band of neon...oh, and glowing toenails .  Forgot about those.

What is this, (IN)DECOROUS TASTE on acid?  I had forgotten the simple joys of UV lightbulbs.  Now seriously, go paint yourself neon and... host a rave or something.  It's summer!

CHEEKY

Stubbs & Wootton, well known pedigreed purveyors of the super preppy velvet slipper shoe has had a grand, old, sublime, "WHAT??!" moment.  Apparently, they don't take themselves too seriously, and neither should you!

Something mad on top of something very good... (see Bennison quote at right--->)  Or is it just wrong that I like these?

Via Stubbs & Wootton, $375.

KRONIER CRAZY

I stumbled on German designer Kronier Creations a few months ago, after reading a sort of bitter comment on another post about how they'd been making these platform boots for decades before those Nina Ricci's broke onto the scene and became enormously popular.  I don't know that the Nina Ricci's were ever produced for the public, but these are a totally viable alternative! And Kronier makes them in blue metallic and a latexy type material.  How can one resist latex??

Images via Kronier Creations

BAT BOWS

Over the last few months, it seems that I've entered this, uh—relationship—with lucite (or, you know, PLASTIC. What the hell, let's call it like it is. Calling it lucite makes me feel only marginally better.), and I'm disturbingly committed. It was one of those things— it started out casually, I blinked, I opened my eyes, and suddenly I'm married to a lucite dude, living in a plastic palace and lounging in lucite pj's.  And I'm still in the honeymoon phase. Not only can I not stop wearing the stuff, but I can't stop fantasizing about all of the tactile experiences I can possibly have with my beloved lucite: lucite and leather, lucite and lace... Dear lord, it even SOUNDS good.

Sooo, when I got my hands on this delicious, thick pebbled chap leather, I KNEW where it was going.  Have I mentioned how much I adore shopping for leather?  I was particularly excited for this hide.  In fact, if I could, I'd wrap myself in a nice, thick layer of it and forgo fabric altogether, believe me.  But that's a story for another day.



Styling, photography and harness by (IN)DECOROUS TASTE.

AN INTERVIEW, AND A NEW PROJECT...

A couple of new things!

1. Marylyn from the blog Corrider40 recently probed my brain on shoes, style and other random things.  Corrider40 is pretty awesome (I'm keeping grander company over there than I probably deserve) so I'm flattered to have been profiled for a "We Are Stalking" feature. If you're interested, head over there to read the interview.

2.  Lately, my life has been swept up in a particularly chaotic hurricane of heels, straps, buckles, zippers, metal, leather, and a variety of vicious adornments.  Seeing as I've yet to explore a career as a professional dominatrix, this can only mean one thing: shoe harnesses.  I'm currently working on a small collection, hoping to have them available this summer. A sneak peek (I'm a terrible tease, ha):

Styling, photography, adornments by (IN)DECOROUS TASTE.

APRIL SHOWERS, LEATHER FLOWERS

Isn't there a rhyme involving flowers and April showers? Am I missing something? Because the past few days have felt like summer, and I have never been happier to welcome 90 degree (read: this is not normal around here) weather.  In retrospect, I might have been a little overzealous, as the weather has cooled but my finger nails, in five different shades of neon, have not.  Oh well.

This shoe is, as you can clearly see, a product of my brief summer mania, and a fixation on fluorescent color that the warm weather brought. It seems I'm always on the prowl for things that suck in light and spit it out in an abnormal or otherwise blinding fashion. Is fluorescence my new crystal? Who knows. I'm very enthusiastic; almost as enthusiastic as I'd be if you told me I could take a trip to Technicolor munchkin land.  But I have one request: if I must fall asleep in Dorothy's field of poppy's, let them be... leather. 

Someone, shake me awake, before it's too late!

Made and photographed by (IN)DECOROUS TASTE.

TWINKLE TOES

I've been told that I'm an "impractical person." This is false.  It's just that, I usually concern myself with the practicality of appearances, admittedly sometimes to the exclusion of...other (less practical, ha) concerns. I guess it's all a matter of prioritizing values.

I'll explain.

Remember the pair of day-glo glitter platforms I bought not too long ago? I finished a set of harnesses for them, the idea being: leather straps + shimmering silk stripes + sharp stilettos + cut steel.  

HOWEVER. It's been raining (monsooning??) sideways here since yesterday morning, leaving me wishing that when I'd constructed these harnesses, I'd skipped the silk in favor of something sturdier and moderately more waterproof.  More leather, perhaps? (More leather: never a bad thing.) While I find the contrast in texture of leather and silk satisfying, dancing in the rain without risking gross water marks is possibly more satisfying.  At least the glitter filled stilettos are almost like galoshes in their plasticy indestructibility! (If you don't mind wet feet.)

Created/styled/photographed by (IN)DECOROUS TASTE.

IMELDA'S CLOSET

Above, Imelda Marcos's legendarily enormous collection of shoes. Scan from Dictator Style, by Peter York.

When the incoming Aquino government audited the Marcoses' quarters in Malacanang Palace in Manila they said they'd found 4,000 pairs of shoes.  Mrs. Marcos responded that this was ridiculous— she only had 1,200 or so...

[Ferdinand Marcos] had huge amounts of gold - 7,000 tons of it, a large part of the world's stock. So much, in fact, that he built walls of it at home, using it as a kind of premium brick. Unfortunately, he didn't tell Imelda. Always fussing over her interiors, Mrs. Marcos disliked the way the house was partitioned into tiny rooms, so she ordered some of the walls to be knocked down while her husband was away. The bricks were stacked in the garden, and an anxious Marcos wasted no time in retrieving them on his return.

 Peter York, in Dictator Style, on the lifestyle of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos

WORKS IN PROGRESS, PINK GLITTER

Sometimes, I'm extraordinarily all over the place with things I'm thinking about or working on. Zero attention span?

Three things in progress:

1. Yes, YES!!— I bought the most glorious pair of neon glitter stripper platforms. They're pretty sturdy (steel shanks in the heel, who knew??), and they make me giddy. I even have a suspicion that they glow in black light.  Will test, and report back, but I'm not getting my hopes up yet.  Working on shoe harnesses that make the most of this.

2. Various, random canvas panels that haven't yet found a home.  Well, except for the zebra floor canvas.  We all know how that's made the rounds. (See the hunting room, drink stand, or vomitous orange beasts... god, that zebra's such a hussy.  Perhaps the time has come to start saving for an antique skin.)

3. Lately, I've had this weird attraction to floral chintzes.  I used to hate them. Now, I can't seem to find one big enough or loud enough (watch out, before you know it, there are going to be flowers the size of MACK TRUCKS painted on my wall.)  Prints are tricky though, and I tend to favor chintzes that don't necessarily look like they've been churned out by a factory.  That leaves me with beautiful, albeit exorbitantly expensive hand blocked options.  So, I created my own (using the same fabric dyes from my toile project, a couple of posts ago).  Disclaimer: the top portion in the photo is completed, and the bottom is in progress, as you can see.  It's a first-go, so I tried it out on cotton, but silk may be in the near future...

MUCH ON THE BRAIN.

Styling, photography, floral fabric and various canvas panels by (IN)DECOROUS TASTE.

SHACKLED

This weekend I set out to make what I've been craving, but have, as of yet, to find: chain harnesses. I wanted these to be totally adjustable, and interchangeable.  I wanted them to fit over a boot or a sandal, to intensify and seriously dramatize even the most pedestrian of shoes.

They became a sort of exercise in scale and texture... a combination of huge industrial chains, necklace chains and steely vintage paste rhinestones.

And, though I'm wearing them with the clear wedges in these photos, they could be worn with heels, or wedge booties, even. Perhaps I'll take some pictures later this week, when I wear them out. YES, of course I'm going to wear them! And they do weigh a ton. But, this degree of intensity can only come at price. And if all else fails, one can think of it as...exercise? Some women run around the track with weights strapped to their ankles, but where's the fun in that?!

Styled and photographed by (IN)DECOROUS TASTE.

FOOT FOOD

Shoes by Tokio Kumagai (1947-1987).  The first two are images from his "Shoes to Eat" series, 1984. Would you wear these? Cause I'm pretty sure I'd rock these bacon-esque oxfords, and I don't even wear flats, ever.

From Fashion: The Collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute:

By using the painting style of artists such as Dali and Pollock, he came up with a never before-imagined style of shoes.  In the 'Shoes to Eat' series, using Japanese plastic food sample production methods, he put hyperreal images of beef, red-bean rice and sundaes on shoes.

Below, Tokio Kumagai pumps, 1984.

Enemy Crushers

Have you ever noticed that Louis XIV is nearly always captured in portraits donning talons rouges (red heels)?  Red was a privilege extended only to high ranking members of the court.   In Love and Louis XIV, Antonia Fraser suggests that this was because"...they were always ready to crush the enemies of the state at their feet." Crush them like they crushed the rare cochineal beetle to extract the precious dye, I suppose?

Other high ranking men in Louis' court wore shoes with miniature scenes painted on them— either rustic and romantic scenes, or battle scenes, depending on the source.  Louboutin already has red covered, too common.  If Louis were alive today, I'm sure he'd trade out those talons rouges for something more dramatic, with more pomp and circumstance.

These were made with canvas, cut and glued to the wedges of these (formerly ruff-bedecked) heels and then painted with a scene inspired by old verdure tapestries.  As you know, I worship my triumvirate of G's (grit/grime/gilding).  I didn't quite capture it, but there is a fair amount of gilding in the painted part of the shoe.  Has it gone too far?! In any case, I'm fairly certain I'll be able to play camouflage in this room, quite successfully.

The explosive bow harness is cellophane, what else? I bet Louis would have loved cellophane, had it been around...

Shoes styled, painted, and photographed by (IN)DECOROUS TASTE.

TO EEE

For her recently announced marriage, three things.

A toast...  Of Cristal crystal, only the finest!

Above, photographed and styled by (IN)DECOROUS TASTE.

A vintage Elsa Schiaparelli bracelet, to go with the KILLER pink, petaled Schiaparelli hat that EEE found on Ebay (I am still ragingly jealous over that find):

Above, Elsa Schiaparelli fantasy paste bracelet, c 1950s.  Steven Miners, Cristobal, London.  Scan from A Collector's Guide to Costume Jewelry, by Tolkien and Wilkinson.

And finally, a literal pedestal upon which Mr. EEE can plant Mrs. EEE.  Two lovely shoes from Italy, c. 1600... stunningly gorgeous, astoundingly high, all the rage at the time, and reputedly impossible to walk in.  Evidently, these "chopines," as they're known, were favorites of husbands (because they so restricted movement that their wives were unable to go astray) and clergy (because they discouraged the sinful activity of dancing).  Psh, what nonsense.  EEE's a tough cookie— she'll conquer these shoes, and married life— with gusto.  CONGRATULATIONS!

Above, left: Venetian chopine, in cork and velvet with silver-gilt filigree, 1600. Right: A variety of chopine known as a "zoccolo," with 7-inch supporting columns. Italian, 1600.

Ruffing It

I love the idea of a ruff (you know, those large, decadent collars men and women wore in Elizabethan England?).  Maybe it's the extremeness of it all, the fussy excess that they embody, the unapologetic dedication to decoration (Garments just to hold up a decorative garment, anyone? Cone shaped irons to maintain those figure eights?), or maybe it's all the power and aggression that they imply, but for whatever reason, I'm drawn to those collars.

In an attempt to distill the drama, stately power, and glorious decorative excess from the Ren-Faire associations (ack, I could live without those), I came up with my solution: a ruff for the foot.  In the same way that ruffs as collars emphasize the head by making it seemingly levitate on the shoulders, these dramatize the foot.  The idea was for them to eclipse the foot in a giant mass of decorative ruffle and have it "hover" in thin air over clear plastic (stripper) 7" heels.  With all of that pomp and circumstance, we could use some grounding, right? Ha.

The process of making them was one of experimentation.  Ultimately, I ended up making a few models before this worked out, with linen, wire, grosgrain ribbon in cream and black, and a whole lot of spray starch.  Historically accurate? Not at all, in the slightest. But then, when has that ever been my goal?!

Styled, photographed and created by (IN)DECOROUS TASTE.