A Shoe’s Sole – A Form of Expression of Self

A shoe’s sole is a shoemaker’s blank canvas. A part of the shoe that they can truly express themselves. While uppers are somewhat ‘standardized’, in the sense that there are expectations of what they need to be/look like, the sole is the part where creativity can run wild and a shoemaker can truly show their talents on their blank canvas of art.

As a blogger and an advocate of shoes, it is often that we just show the shoes (the upper parts) and neglect the sole work, as I am guilty of. But a fun fact for you is that the majority of my ‘most liked’ photos on Instagram, were photos of soles or at least have the sole in half of the shot. This leads me to believe that people actually really appreciate seeing the sole of the shoe, although many see the sole as nothing more than the piece of the shoe that hits the pavement.

Here I celebrate some of the coolest soles that I have seen on Instagram. My favorite classic sole would be an all-black one, as is the bottom photo, probably among the most famous sole finishers of all time, Eiji Murata of Main D’or. But my favorites in this post, have to be the highlighted one by Floriwonne and the one below by Hephaestus Shoemaker. The patina’d sole by Floriwonne looks like a very well-done Museum calf look. Even better than the Museum calf looks. And, needless to say, I like that blotchy look, especially on the sole. The green version by Hephaestus takes the patina to the next level with a much more heavy style of patina. Equally cool too.

I hope that all of you enjoy this post and next time that you order a pair of custom shoes, don’t be afraid to let your inner creativity shine through on your soles!