While meeting the impossibly nice Xavier Aubercy last week, we got talking about the archive of shoes owned by Arturo Lopez, a friend and customer of Xavier’s grandfather Andre Aubercy.
Lopez was a customer of many shoemakers, and his collection is often used by Aubercy for inspiration. One of those makers was Anthony Cleverley, which gave us the opportunity to compare a pair of original patent slippers he made with the shoes I was wearing – modern bespoke Cleverleys made with Anthony’s distinctive elongated toe.
It was a pretty good match, although the thinness of the leather used in the originals was striking. It felt more like paper than leather. The heel, as you can see below, was also rather higher. Note the beautifully smooth and softly curving line down the heel cup and into the heel stack.
In your opinion, how does the leather quality of the Anthony Cleverley line compare to that of Edward Green’s? I find the EG leather to be more supple. Would you agree?
I think you mean the Anthony Cleverley RTW line, which I don’t have any experience of I’m afraid. This is a bespoke shoe, but made with the Anthony Cleverley-shape of toe
Striking how well they match!
It would be great to have an image from the side of your shoe as well, as I have the memory that the “serres d’aigle” effect of the toe box is slightly less pronounced in the recent shoe?
Also, quite interesting to see that a patent slipper–probably made to be worn in an elegant setting–would be of a “derby” style; it makes it lighter and more elegant in my opinion, even reminding one of the famous Corthay “Arca” model which is actually not a favourite of mine.