The London Lounge

Dear Gentlemen,

Mark your calendars for the first WC Chapter meeting!

Mr. Tony Gaziano will be staying in San Francisco on April 8th-9th. As we think his visit is the perfect opportunity for our first reunion, 3 members have planned a meeting for Friday, April 8th, 6-8 p.m. at the Huntington Hotel, San Francisco.

Gentlemen, kindly report if you can attend the meeting, and suggest any ideas you may have. We look forward to meeting you!

Best regards,

Miguel

Dear London Lounge members,

I would like to express my sincere thanks to Mr. Tony Gaziano for his kind offer to host the 1st West Coast Chapter meeting at his suite. A comfortable setting, in the company of one of the top shoemakers in the World and surrounded by his works of art. If there is interest, we can spend part of the meeting over dinner. We hope to see you there!

When: Friday, April 8th, 2005, 6-8 p.m.

Where: The Huntington Hotel, San Francisco, at Mr. Gaziano's suite.
1075 California Street, Nob Hill, San Francisco
Ph: (415) 474 5400

Cheers,

Miguel

Hi Gentlemen,

I must say I had a wonderful time last Friday. The number of members reunited was only 3, and while we would have enjoyed meeting a greater number of West Coast members, we had a great time. A big thanks to Will and Tony for the pleasant company and interesting conversation.

I came to the conclusion that although internet forums are a great resource, ultimately there are many things you can only learn by speaking directly to the experts and holding the products with your own hands. This was the case with Tony, thanks to his deep knowledge on shoemaking and experience in bespoke suits (as evidenced by the perfectly-fitting suit he was wearing), and Will, who was dressing an A&S masterpiece!

After the meeting, Tony and I continued our conversation over drinks and dinner. Thanks Tony, I had a blast!

I hope that my little message motivates more members to gather next time. We look forward to a future meeting and hope we get to meet the other LL members who reside in the Bay Area and thereabouts!

Cheers,
Miguel

Dear Miguel

It was my pleasure, and i look forward to doing the same next time i am in SF.

Kind regards

Tony

Sounds like I really missed out, wish I could have been there! Tell us more about Tony's shoes!

Dear Andrew,

Tony's shoes are remarkable works of craftsmanship and Tony is involved directly in many steps of the shoemaking process. He carves the lasts, the foundation of the whole process, and also executes the clicking, and, in many occasions, the closing. In addition, he does the antiquing and polishing -- an Edward Green specialty.

The fit of his shoes is excellent. I was really impressed by how Tony manages to render the outline and measurements set of information into a 3-D last, that not only reflects those measurements, but also the customer's foot intricacies, such as the shape of the heels, not captured by the numbers and outlines. As an example, expert lastmaking results in a shoe that literally hugs the customer's heels. This is one of the traits that separate a well-fitting bespoke shoe from other shoes: there's no slip at the heel as the customer walks.

Among the many new things I learned is that soles of the finest shoes are not pressed into their final thickness by the supplier. Rather, soles are extensively compressed over the actual shoe, by the artisan, with the aid of a hammer --a painstaking operation. This method allows the maker to mold the soles as closely as possible against the last. The benefits of this method are better fit, lighter weight, and more intricate shapes (e.g. extreme beveling and fiddle-back shape) of the soles, in comparison to soles built from leather that is completely rolled by suppliers such as Rendenbach.

Next time we see Tony in San Francisco, chapter members will witness one of his extreme antiquing jobs, the canvass of which is a crust Italian calf in pale tan, and a finished brown Kudu leather, a skin that has not been tanned in a long time and that is very rare, mainly due to wildlife protection programs in Africa. It has a most distinctive grain, not as flamboyant as other exotics, but rather, tastefully understated.

Best regards,
Miguel