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(The Original) John Lobb, London

 
 
 
 
 















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Friday, June 06, 2008

(The Original) John Lobb, London

William Lobb, 5th generation shoemaker


Frank Sinatara's boot last


Rows and rows of lasts stacked to the ceiling


Dusty old sales records - i love stuff like this

Comments on "(The Original) John Lobb, London"

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (9:18 AM) : 

wow that is amazing :)
so funny they kept all those sales records!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (9:22 AM) : 

This is truly amazing...

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (9:31 AM) : 

There's something very Harry Potter-esque about those old stacks.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (9:34 AM) : 

wow,
very cool behind-the-scenes photos. I love the history being portrayed

Your photos just keep getting better and better.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (9:35 AM) : 

Smart, smart, smart! It even feels smart to look at these pictures!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (9:41 AM) : 

Great pictures. The world looses so much when shops like these close; I'm glad to see one that has survived. Thanks for sharing.

 

Blogger Lizzy Lamia Burkart said ... (9:42 AM) : 

I might sound stupid but i feel there is so much lives and passion and human stories and know-how in all these images... Great pictures : they carry loads of emotion...

 

Blogger Sam said ... (9:53 AM) : 

AWESOME photos!!

 

Blogger keyi said ... (10:03 AM) : 

harry potter-esque, i love it. reminds me of the wand shop except less arcane

 

Blogger Keisha Kornbread said ... (10:14 AM) : 

He's cute!!

I can't believe that they keep all those stays. I love his shoes though. I guess it only makes sense.

 

Blogger sara said ... (10:40 AM) : 

That is one of the coolest things!

x sara o

 

Blogger raguandroses said ... (11:01 AM) : 

Working for an Italian shoe company
I am in love with the ancient craft behind shoe making...sometimes we (especially women) buy shoes because they're expensive and cool but forget the sweat it took to bring that shoe to life. These pictures are magical. I hope these traditions will never be cancelled by the sometimes "cruel" rules of economy...

 

Blogger Syed said ... (11:14 AM) : 

The shelves of shoes...I'm not even kidding, one of my favourite photographs ever!

 

Blogger Unknown said ... (11:25 AM) : 

I love that places like this and people like him are still in business!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (11:33 AM) : 

Only a shoe, suit or shirt can fit perfectly if it is made for you. If you can afford it, of course!

Great shoes and a great place too.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (11:50 AM) : 

These pictures are truly amazing. I find myself going back to them over and over again. Sart, keep them coming. This is your best work ever!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (12:11 PM) : 

very exciting post. love the lobb fam

 

Blogger Laguna Beach Fogey said ... (12:30 PM) : 

Wonderful. Thanks for posting this, Sart. I have immense respect for such craftsmen. Lobb (and others like it) are a reassuring presence in a market dominated by made-in-Asia (or wherever) crap.

 

Blogger Disneyrollergirl.net said ... (12:51 PM) : 

Mmmm love that. Lucky you getting a backstage tour...!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (1:10 PM) : 

Thats awesome ! No plastic anywhere.
Kind of like a bone-yard for feet.
Imagine some of the clients in those archives. Winston Churchill, Cary Grant, the lineage must be amazing.

 

Blogger Starr said ... (1:13 PM) : 

I love this! Fun to know amazing places like this still exist.

 

Blogger Holden said ... (2:10 PM) : 

This is completely what the Huffington Post was talking about -- art-porn.

My shoe fetish is so extreme, that a (beautiful) photograph of lasts gives me butterflies.

 

Blogger Kaari Marie said ... (3:40 PM) : 

Nothing better than an old craftsman dig!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (4:25 PM) : 

Best shoes I've seen on this site.

 

Blogger Unknown said ... (5:01 PM) : 

I love these pictures so much i can only imagin hoe it must have felt and smelled in this beautiful place.Thank you so much for sharing them with me

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (5:03 PM) : 

looks like a Harry Potter scene....sooooo magical!!!!

 

Blogger redrain said ... (6:16 PM) : 

really beautiful pictures!!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (6:32 PM) : 

I am fascinated to see behind the scene of Lobbs. My grandfather had his shoes made by them virtually all his life. One day in the late 1990s when the bill for a new pair arrived (handwritten , probably svereal months after the shoes were dispatched) he looked at it and was mildly shocked to see the price had risen to over 800 pounds. 'Goodness' he said 'this really will have to be the last pair!' he was 96 at the time... sad to say it was the last pair, but i'm sure his lasts are somewhere in your photo. Thanks, Sart.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (6:34 PM) : 

ps - did you go to Locks Hatters next door too?

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (6:44 PM) : 

I don't know what's better, being married to a plastic surgeon or a shoemaker.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (7:01 PM) : 

Lovely images.

The sentiments remind me of the movie "Kinky Boots."

How do we keep the wonderful craftsmen around us? Sometimes it's too cost-prohibitive to make things by hand anymore, and that is sad to me.

Thanks.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (8:13 PM) : 

This is an awesome behind the scenes look at John Lobb, love it man!

 

Blogger rg. said ... (8:35 PM) : 

I very much enjoy this post. I love modern stores that keep relics from their past.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (10:05 PM) : 

I love this series of pictures! They're so warm and inviting and am very glad you included them - thanks. And I think John Lobb is one handsome fella.

 

Blogger phoenix said ... (11:56 PM) : 

What biltud said...Harry Potter and his first trip to the wand shop immediately came to mind. Very cool indeed!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (12:13 AM) : 

A shop with museum-like qualities. How wonderful to have a peek at this!

And heavens, Mr. Lobb is quite handsome in blue!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (1:28 AM) : 

Thank you.

D.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (3:22 AM) : 

Me so jealous.

Who reads Huff Po anyway, when you can just link right to Earl's blog.

 

Blogger Maven said ... (7:07 AM) : 

wish this photo came with a scratch and sniff- nothing on the planet smells as good as old books.
Except maybe frangapani.

 

Blogger Anastasia said ... (7:14 AM) : 

Great photos!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (8:20 AM) : 

cool,very cool

 

Blogger Paris said ... (8:55 AM) : 

It's like stepping back in time! What a marvelous opportunity to witness this

 

Blogger Paris said ... (8:59 AM) : 

If you push a last, does a room open up before you?

 

Blogger Unknown said ... (9:59 AM) : 

Great photos, and a great store! I too love places like that. A step back in time of a historic and classic store. Thanks!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (12:12 PM) : 

Great photoes! But his pants are way too long...

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (1:21 PM) : 

If the lot of you are just in love with Lobb this much. I would highly recommend a proper visit to Jermyn Street in the near future, Savile Row has lost most of its old boy charm, Jermyn has it by the bloody bucket load.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (2:45 PM) : 

Its funny that Mr. Lobb is wearing the only actual shoes in a post-- that relies on his family's legacy as shoemakers. The place looks magical. What are the shoes like? Still as fantastic and finely crafted as the ambiance would lead one to believe?

 

Blogger Unknown said ... (4:21 PM) : 

I bet these pics from the back shop are a scoop. Great

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (11:13 PM) : 

On my list of things-to-do-in-this-lifetime, to go to that shop and get a beautiful pair of cognac brown cap-toe shoes mtm...
Scott, thanks for the best blog around!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (12:44 AM) : 

All that history and love of the craft in that shope. Just WOW!

 

Blogger USelaine said ... (2:08 AM) : 

Such a span of artifacts and records is tremendously valuable to history, and breathtaking to see moving seamlessly forward. I love seeing stuff like this too.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (4:39 AM) : 

Really love this photos and particularly the old book !!

 

Blogger gabrielazeanadal@hotmail.com said ... (11:48 AM) : 

I also love stuff like this. Great post!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (6:35 PM) : 

oweeeeh, harry potter!

these pictures are great, evoking a feeling of trust somehow, you know you can trust old things and you feel at home with them, theres no advertising or packages or cons and pros, just the product in all it's quality.
i like it.
:)

 

Blogger zilch said ... (10:47 PM) : 

Delicious!

Something very moving about all that history!

 

Blogger zilch said ... (10:57 PM) : 

Wanted to add that it reminded me of an amazing glove shop that I visited in Rome once.

It was a small dingy shop but this charming old Italian (he was about 75 and still a lady charmer ^.~) just wipped out this pair of perfect gloves which fitted my hands like a second skin! I have super long spidery fingers so normally the glove fingers are too short for me.

Needless to say I was mighty imporessed! Plus, his gloves were are in boxes stacked very high up on the sides; just like the wand boxes in the Harry Potter movie.

I just so respect and appreciate skilled craftsmans. Always make me so happy to see things like that ^.^

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (4:03 AM) : 

Pitty you can't capture the smell, what a wonderful, delighting experience it must be to be shown around such a place. Would love to sanctify the place -

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (9:32 AM) : 

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
DEEEEELISHIOUSSSS!
THX SAR

 

Blogger eddie said ... (12:36 PM) : 

that is very nice ! more pictures pls .

ed

 

Blogger Joanna Goddard said ... (2:44 PM) : 

oh, thank you thank you! my family was close friends with them when we lived in england but haven't seen them in ages, since eric lobb died. this is such a nice photo series and memory :)

 

Blogger Post-it boy said ... (3:58 PM) : 

what a load of cobblers!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (4:29 PM) : 

Now, if only I could afford the Lobb loafers I saw in Palm Beach the other day... Jorge from West Palm Beach

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (7:02 PM) : 

i do wear Lobbs,i used to get them in Paris at Hermes,or though English shoes aesthetically are the only formal shoes i like,they happen to be killers...and Crocket...Heavens above!beautiful but killers...A friend of mine told me recently that Prince Charles has his new shoes worn by his valet for 6 months before using them...That makes a great sense,or though when we have no servants to do that for us,suffering the pain in silence is the only posible solution.
God bless Lobb!
Italian shoes a sooo very soft...but not dressy enough...too relaxed...if you get what I do mean.
JNG

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (9:08 AM) : 

i love it- i love the history of all the people that have came before. its so nostalgic

 

Blogger Kanani said ... (9:16 AM) : 

I love these photographs. Would love to see more. I've had shoes made for me --there's nothing like it.

 

Blogger Daphné said ... (2:19 PM) : 

The picture of the dusty old sale recors reminds me of Ollivander's shop in Harry Potter, the wandmaker.
I love stuff like this too,the pictures are wonderful!

 

Blogger muir mackean said ... (5:30 PM) : 

I still use a pair of my grandfather's old Lobb shoe trees. They consist of three pieces of wood that work with a wedge action, and each piece is topped with a polished brass plate with my grandfather's name and 'Lobb Maker' engraved on them. Each plate is held in place with several screws. Beautiful things.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (12:34 PM) : 

Seeing so much of "gout Anglais" turn false and contrived, it's reassuring to know that Lobb is still true to it's values. I own some of the newer, Hermes/Lobb readymade shoes, but my two pairs of Lobb, Ltd. bespokes are personal treasures.

I've had them for years, never ordered anything else, but I know that those lasts are in the cellar, waiting, and I think that's a wonderful kind of permanency in the modern world. Thanks for the pictures. They're beautiful and bring back happy memories.

 

Blogger Gamall said ... (12:49 PM) : 

Really enjoyed these photos - wish the series was longer in fact

MARCELLO MASTROIANNI got his boots made at Lobb. I've always wanted to go in there and say can I have the same as him

 

Blogger Rebecca V. O'Neal said ... (12:21 AM) : 

Lobb the Cobbler... how wonderful

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (4:46 AM) : 

I wish I had the money to buy one or two of their bespoke. aaargh! Why am I so poor whilst having such a good taste in clothing and shoes I cannot afford!!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (4:53 AM) : 

"How do we keep the wonderful craftsmen around us? Sometimes it's too cost-prohibitive to make things by hand anymore." This IS the question. Stop buying disposable clothing is a partial answer.
It's the same in architecture: a lot of concrete but no more artisans to decorarte the facades we still appreciate after centuries.
Modernity killed the craftsmen.

 

Blogger Rich said ... (7:54 AM) : 

am so pleased to say that for several years i worked as a bartender at a restaurant in san francisco, and we wore whites-and-blacks like most restaurant folks, but nice red aprons in a style like the 1st pic. i was surprised at a co-worker who walked out like that onto the street to hail a cab for a customer. of course he got one immediately. love working-class clothes with style

 

Blogger Jeffrey Byrnes said ... (4:18 PM) : 

The last three photographs are reminicient of Abelardo Morell. Out standing work.

Jeff

Lenshare.blogspot.com

 

Blogger secretleaves said ... (9:33 PM) : 

I love stuff like this too--my whole business is built around stuff like this. Love your blog, by the way.

 

Blogger laney said ... (12:42 PM) : 

There is something magical in the atmosphere of this shop.

Possibly in that there is over 100 years of history, and the knowledge that should original customers still be alive, they would still be purchasing their shoes from Lobbs - I am sure!

And to the blogger who wrote:

"How do we keep the wonderful craftsmen around us?...
Modernity killed the craftsmen"

.... I am investigating this in my dissertation this year so you may be interested in contacting me, I would love to hear your thoughts on the topic!

This also applies to any others of you who read this.

 

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