"Out Of Step" Article in Country Life

[whittaker]

I don't have access to a scanner but thought this recent article by Nick Foulkes from Country Life might be sufficiently interesting to LL members.

I fear that I, a Francophile, may have damaged the entente cordiale. But I did not reckon that my visit to a bespoke shoe atelier in Paris would contribute to a deterioration of understanding between nations.

I always enjoy seeing a skilled craftsman practise his metier, in this case using a sabre-like tool little changed for centuries to carve lasts from rough-hewn chunks of wood. Carried away, I took the rash step of inviting the foreman to criticise my footwear, a handsome pair of chestnut-brown monk, or buckled, shoes made by that peerless British master, Eric Cook, who traces his family's involvement in the craft to the 18th century.

This Frenchman was polite, but suggested that some of the stitching that attached to the sole of the welt was a little stouter than he might have liked, and that the heel was constructed out of slices of leather, or 'lifts' that were thicker than he himself would have used.

I was crestfallen, although it was delivered with such Gallic politesse that I could not but acquiesce.

A few months later, I was reclining on my day bed, enjoying a matutinal Havana at the early hour of 11.30, when the telephone chirruped. It was Eric Cook. What a pleasant surprise, I thought, so seldom so I hear from him, he could give Lord Lucan a few lessons on making himself scarce. Could it be that the pair of punched Oxfords I had ordered when still in my late thirties had now matured and were ready to be worn? I adjusted my cravat and addressed myself to the matter at hand.

Sadly, it was not to announce the completion of my punched Oxfords-they were still 'looking good on the last' where I had last heard they were some months before.

No, Mr Cook had heard of my Parisian jaunt and his patriotic spirit had been ignited. he was upset that I had allowed my English-made shoe to be criticised without defending it.

On vain did I try to explain that it was not a court of law, merely a shoe factory, that I had been visiting. The way he saw it, the smaller number of 'lifts', the more comfortable the shoe. 'The slightly thicker lifts', he explained as one might to a recalcitrant child, 'allow better "compression', providing better cushioning when the heel makes contact with the ground.'

'But what of the stitching?' I asked. He agreed that more delicate stitching on the welt is fitting on a dress shoe, but his argument was that on the particular pair I was wearing, the thicker stitching was concealed between the upper and the welt, and that over the years, it had become visible. In fairness, i have to admit that this pair of shoes was at least 10 years old.

I sense that this healthy debate between the nations will continue for a generation and I am glad that this is the case, as it means that craftsmen on both sides of the Channel remain vigilant and protective of their reputations.

Hope that was an amusing read. Anyone have any experience of Eric Cook?

[TVD]

Unfortunately I do not. But I always thought that Mr Foulkes very much resembled some of the journalist characters in the novels of Balzac or Maupassant.

[RWS]

. . . . Anyone have any experience of Eric Cook?

Not I, though a seemingly experienced Londoner on another forum states that Eric Cook is the most skillful shoemaker now working. (That poster does, however, indicate that Mr. Cook is difficult to reach and difficult to hurry.)