Custom Made Shoes in Kuala Lumpur

This is a pair of custom hand made shoes specially ordered by yours truly. I basically told the chap making it that I wanted a pair of wholecut shoes with a medallion pattern up front. And this was what I got. It also has a bevelled waist as requested (even though it is still a little wide) and it basically a type of pegged shoe - using steel nails instead of wooden pegs like those you see in bespoke shoes from Eastern Europe. But the great thing is that these are Made In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to be exact. It is pegged at the waist as well as the front of the sole. The welt you see on top is purely decorative. 

The actual colour of the shoes are below, as the shoemaker (an Indonesian chap based at a leather goods shop located on the 1st floor of the Campbell Complex, Jalan Dang Wangi, Kuala Lumpur) used some cheap polish on it. I basically used nail polish remover to get its original colour back which is a lighter chestnut? colour like the photo below.

Hand-made Capal for Eid Ul Fitr

This year I decided to bring in a little more tradition into my Hari Raya Aidil-Fitri (that's what most call Eid-ul-Fitr over here in Malaysia) footwear. A pair of traditional hand made capal.

The Capal or Chapal as some spell it has its origins in the Indian sub-continent and was believed to be first brought to these parts by traders to Malacca in the 15th century and was assumed to be widely used by those of the Malacca Sultanate. The Indian origin chapal was then made and adapted by local Malays into what we see today - a thong slipper made out of leather. The 'Y' shaped strap is made from soft cow leather and a tougher buffalo hide is used to make the top part of the sole. It has a rubber sole with a 1-1.5inch heel instead of being flat like a pair of flip flops.