Shopping for 18th century shoes

[frualeydis]

Have any of you ladies bought shoes from Fugawee, and what are your opinions?
I like the Connie model best, but Anna also looks nice.
And what does the letters after the sizes mean?


Or have you tried Jas Townsend's version?


Maybe it is a little much to pay for shoes that I don't know if I'll wear much, but if I choose black shoes I can use them with my folk costume too I suppose.
I'm not too keen on buying shoes via mail order, and even less keen to phone overseas, but I'm checking the options.

Another options is to find someone who makes shoes for folk costumes, since they are mostly 18th century in style. Unfortunately they also tend to be rather rustic in style.

Comments

[de-ravenne.livejournal.com]

I got the Anna shoes from Fugawee and they are really nice, just takes some time to break in though. The service was very nice, however they don't have Paypal, so you have to send them your card number. But it all worked out well and the shipping was fast.

[idahoswede.livejournal.com]

The letter should refer to width. B is a standard width for shoes, A is slimmer feet and although I have not seen it before, I would assume that C is a wider foot.

[koshka-the-cat.livejournal.com]

I have the Anna shoes and am very happy with them. They took little bit to break in, but are very comfortable. I've worn them both indoors and outdoors--hiking up a mountain path, actually--and they were great in both situations.

[annalindqvist.livejournal.com]

There´s a shoemaker in Falkenberg here in Sweden making 18th century shoes. He´s not expencive, I payed 1500 SEK for mine. I´ve got he´s phonenumber if you want it?

Here´s a picture of them:



My english isn´t good enough -
Den här pensionerade skomakaren gör skor på sin fritid, därav det billiga priset. Många av Gustafs skåls medlemmar har dem har jag sett... Han gör dem efter dina mått så om du vill ha plats för dina inlägg så är de ett bra alternativ.
A
nna

[annalindqvist.livejournal.com]

I´ve also seen shoes from Spain belonging to a folk costume there. They where made in silk fabric and had the right shape with the curved heel. If you want more fancy ones... :-)

[frualeydis.livejournal.com]

Lysande. Jag håller på och kollar med en tant som säljer folkdräktsskor hemma i Trollhättan (hemma som i där jag växte upp), men annars låter ju mannen i Falkenberg som ett jättebra alternativ. Inte alltför långt bort heller.

Det är väl så att jag i huvudsak kommer att använda dem till folkdräkten, så de får inte vara alltför tjusiga.

/Eva

[sarahnucci.livejournal.com]

I have a pair of Fugawee (although I don't remember the style name), they have a slight heel. They took a long time to break in - but I have feet that are relativly wide (yep, the bigger the letter the wider the foot, A is tiny, if you aren't sure US shoes typically are a C when you buy them off the rack). The ones I really want are from Burnley and Trowbridge (red ones!). Most of the places that sell these will let you return them if you haven't worn them outside (aka wear them around your house before you punch holes for buckles!)

[isenglass.livejournal.com]

I like my Fugawees and have to agree that they do take some time to break in. Send them a tracing of your foot because the shoes tend to run small.

[bauhausfrau.livejournal.com]

I'm a bit of an 18th C whore - I own 4 pairs. I have a pair of the Townsend ones in linen (which they don't make anymore), the Fugawee martha and I think the Connie, and a RED pair from Burnley and Trowbridge (http://www.burnleyandtrowbridge.com/). They are all nice shoes, I'd say I wear the Martha the most, although I love the red pair just because they are so different.

(http://pics.livejournal.com/bauhausfrau/pic/0001z6s8/)

If you haven't tried on a pair of straight lasted shoes before I recommend doing so before buying a pair. For my feet straight lasts just don't work.

[annalindqvist.livejournal.com]

Falkenbergsskorna är (om jag inte minns fel) en dräktsko från 1700-talet. Det finns ju Rättviksskomakarn oxå, hon tar 3000 kr för sina skor.

/Anna

[aleeta.livejournal.com]

I have a pair of Connie's from Fugawee and I do really like them, they are suprisingly comfortable for being straight last shoes (I did add some arch support to them though).

[ragnvaeig.livejournal.com]

My smarriveurr is in the Brigade of the American Revolution, so I know a lot of people who have bought from Townsend. My experience with them is that they're not entirely accurate, but they're a good expedient for Americans when getting into the hobby. I would recommend Fugawee before Townsend for the serious costumer.

[eldawen345.livejournal.com]

I have the Fugawee Marthas, and I LOVE them! Like people said, they took a little wearing to break them in (the leather is a kind of stiff at first), but after that, they're fine. I've taken to wearing them frequently with "normal" clothing. One thing about Fugawee is that you should DEFINITELY order a 1/2 size up. I wear a size 10 but I ordered a 10 1/2 and its a good thing I did.

[smarriveurr.livejournal.com]

As the aforementioned insider, I'll back this up. My reenactment unit actually made a deal with Fugawee on pricing for members (a seal of approval in itself), and thus far, I've heard no complaints.

Admittedly, my main contacts in the field are men, so I can't speak as much to their women's shoes, but general approval has resounded, from folks who've been in this hobby since the '70s and before. While I can't promise anything, thus far, I've heard only good things.

The letters are for sizing, and the sizing itself can be tricky (I regularly have to just sort of guess between 12 and 13 with different suppliers). I recently ordered a pair (from townsend, admittedly, not fugawee - the Museum makes the choices when they pay the bill) and had to return for reasons both width and length. In my experience, though, many of the better merchants will accept foot-tracings with an order in the post, to doublecheck size and fit. I believe Townsend actually requested the tracing explicitly when we returned the original pair.

[annalindqvist.livejournal.com]

You maybe have noticed this subject interrest me a lot? :-)

There´s a shoe factory in Germany producing shoes for theatres, movies etc:

http://www.harr-shoes.com/

They have a lot of models from 18th century (and other centuries as well)

/Anna

[frualeydis.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the links. I would have liked more photos of the actual shoes and not just drawings, but they had some really nice shoes.

/Eva

[smarriveurr.livejournal.com]

Update: Because I am an oblivious idiot.

The shoes I wear for work are from Fugawee (1758/Ligonier model, rough finish, 13EEE, ). They were the ones who accepted the foot tracing to double-check sizing, and they've worked wonderfully for me so far, beyond a few issues native more to my sizing than their construction. They've polished up nicely, and stand up to a fair amount of abuse (The rough finish is actually excellent for this, since any minor damage is just a matter of rubbing in a little extra polish).

I just spent 25 of the last 32 hours in them, running about the Barracks, and my feet are not a great deal more uncomfortable than if I'd spent equivalent time and effort in my modern boots. ;)