Custom Renaissance Boots » Boots

Hessian boots for the Old Globe

admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:42:29 +0000

Designer's sketch for Hessian boots

We were given this sketch to use to create the military boots for the Old Globe’s summer season. To make them more versatile we were asked to design a way to add a tassel as needed for what ever production they might be used for in the future. We created a channel at the tip of the trim to allow that flexibility.

Finished Hessian boots

These are the finished boots. To keep them close to historically accurate, the toes were made without the stiff boxing giving them a soft front. They really finished off the red, gold and white uniforms. On stage they gleamed.

If this is the year to treat yourself to a pair of historic or fantasy shoes, we can make you something wonderful. Check out the website.

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Boots for Star Wars bounty hunter

admin — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 20:59:45 +0000

Star Wars bounty hunter boots

We just finished a translation of the Bouchh boots for a customer who dresses as Princess Leia. Finding a good 360 degree view proved to be a challenge. We knew that the base boot was a popular boots worn at the time but the shin piece that was worn over it was harder to figure out. We put a zipper up the inside of the leg instead of what appeared to be velcro at the back to give it a cleaner look and guessed at the inner leg detail of the ankle strap. The client was very pleased with the end result and will be wearing it to a cancer fund raiser.

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Camelot in Pittsburgh

admin — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 22:54:39 +0000

The Pittsburgh Public Theater is putting on a performance of Camelot and has commissioned us to make the boots for King Arthur and Lancelot. They sent photos of another performance and asked for the same styles. Because the pictures left a lot to be desired, we made the boots up in vinyl and sent them off. The costume mistress pinned, cut and made additions to get exactly what she has envisioned and we created them. The challenge was to get the slim look she wanted and have them easy to remove and put on in a hurry.

Back view of Lancelot's boot

Cuff detail for Arthur's boot

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18th Century riding boots

admin — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 19:25:46 +0000

The Old Globe Theater commissioned footwear from us for their summer Shakespeare Festival. They had imported a director from the Royal Shakespeare Company in England with his costume mistress for the shows which gave us a bad case of nerves. It was really interesting and a little intimidating. to get to work with someone who has all the reference samples in her backyard. The new style that we had not done before was the classic two color English riding boot. In case you’re wondering – George III was one of the plays. She was looking for something authentic looking and we accidentally stumbled on to it. The boots were made without the hard toe box for the fittings, which turned out to be exactly the look she was after. The job was completed on time for dress rehearsals and left us all as little breathless. The costume mistress was thrilled – not bad for the colonies. Now it’s time to get back to normal – until the next time.

18th Century English riding boot

18th Century English riding boot with oval toe

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Finished Clone Trooper boots

admin — Thu, 20 May 2010 02:39:25 +0000

We’ve finished the clone trooper boots, sent them off and got them back. The customer has wanted them to make a larger statement visually to make his feet look more in proportion with the armor. To accomplish that we used a heavier leather, a round toe and added a quarter of an inch to the sole height. Right idea but it tipped over toward the clown shoe look when he put them on. Would have been perfect on a taller person, however …. We are going to go back to a regular last for him and reconstruct the boots. It’s one of those idea that looks good on paper but didn’t translate well.

Boot for Clone Trooper

Toe detail for Clone Trooper boot

The Florida squadron standardized the style for the boot and adds an ABS plastic band across the arch and a piece of ABS plastic “armor” on the top of the toe piece. They make and provide those pieces and we add the snaps so that they can be set in place. The two guys who make them will provide them to anyone wishing to use their design.

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Clone Trooper boots in progress

admin — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 01:29:19 +0000

With the very specific specifications that the Tampa clone trooper group had settled on for their boots, we decided to make a vinyl mock-up for fit and to allow the the details to be drawn directly on the boots. That would insure that the finished boots would exactly meet their design specs. We also asked for a sample of the armor pieces that were going to be provided by their armor maker so that the attachment points would match the pieces. Since the boots had never actually been made we modified the design to include a zipper on the inside of the boots so it would tuck up under the leg armor. Everything is back from the fitting and we can start the actual boots.

Mock-up with design details

Toe detail on mock-up

Existing boot for reference

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One More for Lord Of The Rings

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 03:43:36 +0000

Not as interesting as the strider boot, but we just finished a pair of boots for a Gandolf costume.

The new challenge is a pair of Turkish style slippers for the Yale Drama Department’s current production. To achieve that soft little upturned toe we are using deer skin. It stretches so we can shorten the top and stretch the bottom piece of leather and get a natural curve. Dress rehearsals start Monday and thanks to overnight shipping, we’ll make it on stage at noon.

Boot for a Gandolf costume

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Finished Strider boots

admin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 01:58:43 +0000

It took me a whole day to get up the courage to mess them up. The experiments on the left overs looked ok but not great. I mixed up the gunk and started caking it on, then had to wait over night to see what I had. When I knock off the clumps and rubbed a cloth and brush over it to give it a more worn look, it wasn’t doing it. Not the right “dirty”. California dirt isn’t really good dirt – it too beige. Next step was potting soil and compost. That gave me good black dirt, the kind that one would find in a forest. It stuck to everything, laces, thread and leather. Knocked off the clumps and left a smeary mess in the same kind of places that the borrowed barn boots had. Not bad. They’ll still need some serious walking around to get the slouchy broken in look. That’s for the new owner.

Aged Strider Boots

Toe detail on Strider boot

Inside of Strider Boot

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Strider boots are ready for mud

admin — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:24:36 +0000

All the parts have finally arrived for the Aragorn character from The Lord Of The Rings and are assembled. The shoe laces were made from braided 1/8″ cotton rope found at Home Depot (boy, did they look at me funny when I told them what I needed) and the rope wraps are drapery and upholstery trim. The laces were tea stained to give them the right base color. The dirtying is in progress. I experimented with dirt from the yard (right color but wouldn’t stick), ashes from the grill (same issue), water and finally clay cat litter for the adhesion. Used borrowed barn boots for dirt placement and glopped it on and set them to dry. My test swatches looked great so now I just have to wait and then chip off the excess. A wire brush will finish of the faux wear patterns.

Strider boots with out the dirt

Lace detail on LOR boots

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Clone Trooper and Final Fantasy Boots

admin — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 23:23:20 +0000

I had an old customer contact me last year to make him a pair of Clone Trooper boots from the Star Wars movies. The research turned up no pictures of actual footwear but the information that the armor had all been computer generated. Major gasp of surprise! I dug out the Visual Dictionaries and went through the pictures. It was an interesting meeting at the shop. We had plenty of time since the armor was still in production and there was really no deadline. The guys made up nine different sets of bits and pieces to try to get something that you could actually get your foot into and would look like the pictures. Since the bottom of the boot looked like it had been inspired by some sort of sport shoe, we did a soft toe. To get the seamless look of no opening, added a zipper in the front which would be covered by a molded leather spat attached with Velcro. Then added the strap. It actually was a very close real world interpretation of the Elite Clone Trooper picture that we used as a reference.

We’ve had another request for a pair and he’d like them more as a pull on boot. Since he’s not opposed to adding a zipper on the inside of the boot, we can use a more conventional type of construction. He, however has armor issues that we’ll need to address. The back of the leg armor is rubbing holes in the boots he’s now using.

The troops had just finished patting themselves on the backs for pulling off the Clone boots when a request for a boot based on his Final Fantasy character arrived. That one just required cleaning up a computer generated drawing. Pulled that one off too.

white Clone Trooper boots

boots for Final Fantsy character

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