Tuesday 13 November 2012

Vintage shoes, fabric shop and Lebanese and other music

This was meant to be another I love Thursday post, but it got delayed, so now it's an "I love on Tuesday what I fell in love with on Friday" post... and the linky is closed. Also, the length of the post title reflects the length of this post. I somehow need to cram everything that's been haunting my mind recently into one post.

Last time, it was vintage-style shoes perfection. This time, it's vintage shoe perfection.
I saw these in a thrift shop window:


Just by that look in the thrift shop window - a closer look I took - I knew these were special. Not many shoes carry on them the name of a local shoemaker! And they were obviously well-made, and in a vintage style.
So I went in and had an even closer look.


Definitely vintage. For one thing, due to our 40 years of communist rule, the times of local shoemakers in this country were probably somewhat limited. That, together with the style, places these somewhere in the 1930s or 1940s, I think.


Cuban heels.


Honest-to-goodness knock-on Cuban heels. I mean, these shoes are not the cheap plastic glued stuff you'd find today; they're honest-to-goodness leather and cobbled together, which in this case is a good thing.

They are waaaay too small for me. No chance I could wear these. No chance anyone in my family could wear these. No way I could afford a private collection of historical shoes. So at least I took photos, for myself, and for you.
(I was so excited about this shoe perfection that I would have just snapped pictures, wherever; thankfully, the lady at the cash desk - who joined me in praises of this treasure - was of sounder mind at the moment and suggested using the stool as a pedestal of sorts. I still had to use flash due to lack of light, and it's still got the somewhat shabby thrift shop background, but the photos are more civilised. :-)



The street number on the label is not so well seen, but I think the shoemaker resided here. It's the same street where a large fabrics and haberdashery shop, Kalců, is situated nowadays, a bit further down that street. I visited for the first time that same Friday; their fabric selection is somewhat seasonal, something this slow seamstress is not exactly happy about, but they carry 100% wool fabrics - yay! I even saw a 100% cashmere. Of course, the fabrics are priced accordingly, which this student seamstress is not so happy about either; but then, it's good to know I can find quality fabrics when I want to. (And lovers of prints would go crazy over their selection of knits and rayons.)
Moreover, the staff is knowledgeable, something that sadly does not always occur these days. Now I know where to go when I'm not quite sure what I want. Or, alternately, when I'm 100% insistent on what I want...
I was particularly pleased with their selection of interfacing and brought home a piece of nude-coloured slightly one-way-stretch woven fusible that should be perfect for underwear, and invisible zippers for my sister's kathak costume, the one thing that was setting back its creation. And they carry silk thread. One more yay!


Speaking of yay...



I fell in love with two Lebanese pop songs some time ago. I don't understand a word, which is somehow refereshing. :-) I'm not sure what the video above is all about and must admit I do not like the clothes she wears very much, but I love the old lady makeover. :D This is, to me, a bit of a sister-bond song, seeing as I found this song thanks to her and she's the one I can vent my crush on Peter Wingfield and the like on; it's mutual. ;D



And I have no idea why this clip features Prague and Czech folk dancers. Prague is not normally so romantic; it's full of tourists in the tourist zones and the hustle and bustle of a capital city outside of them. The outskirts can be more romantic than the centre. But it's interesting to see it through the eyes of 1999 Lebanese pop. And I love. the. song. very. much.


But not more than I love Mark Knopfler's music. I keep coming back to it. I love Mark Knopfler's music so much that, listening to a song, I keep thinking "best song ever", and then the next song comes, and I'm thinking "best song ever"...



The best song ever is currently the mind-blowing "Planet of New Orleans". It actually makes me want to visit New Orleans. Well done, Geordie boy. :D

6 comments:

  1. My, what a lot of things! Now you have me wanting to own vintage shoes, dance to Lebanese music and Mark Knopfler, and visit your fabric shop. :) My cousin got married a few weeks back and walked up the aisle to Story Book Story. Princess Bride is her favourite movie so it was lovely! :)

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    1. Ah, that would be nice - actually having a pair of vintage shoes to dance - or walk, or, in my case, jump around - to Mark Knopfler's music in. :-)
      Mark Knopfler's music brought me to a) Princess Bride (film AND book, and book actually first, I think), b) Local Hero. Have you seen Local Hero? It's a film that you either fall in love with, or keep staring at thinking "What on earth is that supposed to be?" Me and my family fall into the first category. :D

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  2. My husband LOVES Dire Straights. Also, I want those shoes too. I have a vintage pair from WWII period that were NOT cheap and made of snake skin and bakelite. Definitely a collector's pair. I can almost wear them but they are too narrow for my foot.

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    1. I don't even know how much this pair was, but given the price of the other things in the shop, I guess really affordable. I hope someone finds them and gives them the love they deserve - in whichever form they prefer.
      Have you shown your pair to the world? ;-)

      Send my regards to your husband as a fellow Dire Straits lover. If he cares.

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  3. Oooh...thank you for showing us the shoes! They are gorgeous. Pity they don't fit you! What size were they?

    And thanks for the introduction to new music! It's always good to expand my musical horizons.

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    1. About 37 (European/Czech sizing, obviously) - about two sizes too small for me, and very narrow, too.

      I'm just returning the favour - I discovered some great music thanks to blogs. :-) It's pop, but with a decided Arab flavour, if I can tell. I like that. And Dire Straits are Dire Straits. :-)

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