Walking into Ivan Sayer’s house, last fall, was like walking into a museum of beautiful things. As soon as we enter, an 18th Century garment hangs on a dress form, waiting repairs and restoration. On the right, one of those electrical contraptions that look more like something The Gutai art group created rather than something so commonplace as a hair permer. I am in awe.
Edie has in the past held vast collections of antiques: antique dresses, hats, buttons, and met Ivan Sayers during one of her educational trips to the Vancouver Museum, where he held the position of Costume Curator. Here to discuss the upcoming Edie Hats event based on the Titanic, we get right to business. “How about a fashion show based on the clothing they would have worn around the ship?” He suggests, “On the Deck, In the Evening” He lists the necessary equipment to put on a fashion show with the fragile garments, specific measurements for tables, and dress racks, an area for the models to change. Natalie, the event planner jots down her notes. Meanwhile, I am free to look around: I notice vintage Eaton’s catalogues, an entire library on fashion history, vintage mannequin heads, but you know the best parts are hidden away somewhere. On the trunk serving as a coffee table, is a book about shoes, in which is featured many from his collection. He tells us that the trunk houses the vintage cheong sams from a worldly woman. He shows us an antique milliner’s mirror, with movable attaching parts so that you may see the hat from all directions. I am entranced.
Natalie and I leave thinking Ivan Sayers is a fashion guru, and cannot wait for the show.
But really, we love accessories, and fashion in general, because as much as a hat will make an outfit, you need suitable clothes to really make that hat stand out. When I first started working at Edie Hats, a year and a half ago, I dreamed at the ability to wear all those feathered hats, that were in the back of the store. I knew instinctively that it didn’t take an occasion to wear these (though it helps for beginners), if you loved it enough, putting one on your head would be occasion enough.
However, I also noticed the shoes, as any shoe lover would. Edie was beginning to carry these shoes after a trip to Spain for a flamenco festival, and brought back the connection to Senovilla, a small shoe company, we now order from regularly.
Here begins a love affair that I cannot break. As much as I try, I can’t stop dreaming of my next pair, and though its is completely unnecessary and definitely frivilous, I will find myself oohing and awwing over a new colour, or style, or combination. And then oh these shoes steal my heart once again. The thing about these shoes is they are unique. Each pair is made in a shop north of Madrid. Made to cover the feet of flamenco dancers, we have arranged to have these available for streetwear as well.
I love the idea that there is a man behind my shoes, and that I know is name through roughly translated orders and niceties with the help of our Mac’s widgets. You can custom order heel shapes and sizes, widths, and the flexibility of the leather or suedes. The colors taken from a palette of sample leathers, or from the colour swatches on the brochure can vary, so you never know exactly which exact shade you will get. I am never disappointed. Hand crafted shoes are a shoe lover’s dream.
My first pair was a kelly green pair of Mercedes. I am not typically a girl who can dance around the downtown area in tiny little stiletto heels like a certain New Yorker woman. The fear of breaking my ankle prevents me, and just so you know, this is not an impossibility. I prefer a much sturdier heel, like the handcarved rosewood heel that these shoes’ have. They are a beauty unto itself; the clasico shape, a sleek 6 cm heel. After 8 frantic hours of hat seeking and finding, up and down ladders and stairs, my feet are not sore. In fact, they will last me the walk home without complaint. How glamorous is this, I know, but shoes especially have a function, and it is a true measure of a shoe’s greatness.
My second pair was a vivid orange Sandalia Cerrada that matched my vintage 60s shift dress perfectly. A choice full of faith, the color worked with the dress, and I could be seen at many of mod nights doing the twist late into the evening wearing this outfit. They have a curved heel, the carrete, and they were bought to dance in, to be paired with spring florals, to be both nostalgic and relevant, they are a shoe that appeals to the eye.
My third pair was a pair of grey Carmen heels that laced half way up. These were my go-tos. They were a practical enough color choice, a charcoal grey, but still contemporary and interesting. Far from black, these heels worked with outfits galore, in the woman in a man’s world kind of way. Carmen, is a strong name for a shoe, and it reminds me of Flamenco women, pounding their heels into the ground, singing contempt for dependance, and approval.
My most recent pair are flamenco shoes and they have the nails in the heels and toes. They are a rich purple hue, with cross straps, the Cruzado. I chose a thick heel, the cubano because I am a beginner, I make mistakes. When I hit the ground, I want to hit it; I felt insecure in a smaller heel. I felt I would fall, or miss, or slip. While waiting for my order to come, I heard someone refer to the cubano heel as ugly and thick. I grew worried. As soon as the order arrived, I tore open the box to see the heel. I held my breath…Or was I breathless? The shoes were gorgeous; I could prove them wrong.
They are hard to resist. Hand-crafted leather creations that cinch your waist instantly to have the hourglass like old hollywood stars. They are beautiful, and we could not refuse having them in store.
The corset belt is my top pick. Shaped leather perfectly matching the curves of a woman’s waist, both men and women stop to desire.
The kimono belt is the staple item. A long strip of brightly hued leather, or a rich natural shade, the belt can transform your wardrobe with a few twists, and turns, and a little imagination. Erazo demonstrates more ways to wear the kimono wrap belt here.
