It's time to finish these boots!

And right you are! It's about time. I'm always planning on doing a post after a few days, but the time just tends to slip past somewhere. Suddenly it's a week, or two. Or three.

Now for the last thing about these bespoke high heels is the finishing. A nicely finished product is always more desirable to look at, hence the customer will be more pleased. Hence the products price can be a lot higher.
The common price around europe for a pair of bespoke shoes are a bit over 2000€, and as it may seem a ridiculous amount for a pair of shoes for the most of us, I can by heart tell that it's pretty much the lowest you can go for a first pair. Actually, when I heard that fur coats run in a price scale of 20000€ to 40000 €, with quite the same amount of time consumed to work (correct me if I'm wrong!) as in a pair of shoes, it really got me thinking that if the prices are like this... It can't be a problem to ask for a lousy 2000-3000€ for a pair of shoes, can it?
Another stray of thought is that we have the wrong target group. As a middle class dude, it's easy to think what I'd be willing to pay for a pair of bespoke shoes. Maybe around 600-850€.
Well, If the maker spends about 300-400€ to only the materials, he's left with a pay of 300-450€ for atleast a weeks work. Now, if the shoemaker is really effective, he'll make 5 pairs in a month. Now that makes he's income roughly 1500-2250€ per month. Now from that you'd have to pay your workshop rent, electrics, food, home rent etc.
Anyone can see that it's an impossible combination.

Sorry about the rant ;)

My point was that if your clientele are wealthy, the product needs to look wealthy. When the product looks, feels and smells wealthy, you can ask the price you deserve for the product. So the finishing is one of the most important things. I'm actually still learning and experimenting a lot of stuff with which to achieve a great finish. So here's some experimentation:

Some dye for the leather sole.

Some deco with a fudge wheel.

Some brilliant scissor work.

Some red dye.

Some red polish.

Some heel fitting.

Some heel deco.

Voilá.

Some nails.

This is the inside of the shoe. The wooden pegs have penetrated the insole, as they're expected.

It's an ancient peg shave!

Next up the reveal.
Finally.
Have a great weekend all!