Johnny Comes Through

Johnny Mykoff, the manager of the shoe department at Harold's in the Heights, was kind enough to send me a few of the pictures he took on Saturday of the same model of Gravati shoe (15477 -- a long-vamp penny loafer with twin-needle stitching on the apron) on three different lasts (640, 701, and 500). You will recall that I picked up this model as a special order on the new 701 last in a dark red-brown grained calf, that Harold's has this same model on two other lasts (640 and 500), and that Johnny, who is an excellent photographer, took advantage of the opportunity to get a comparison shot of the three shoes. In the picture above, the shoe on the left is on 640 last in a tan soft, grained calf that Gravati calls Rodeo; my shoe is the one in the middle; and the shoe on the right is on 500 last in smooth black calf. As you can see, the toe on the 701 is elongated and narrower in comparison to the other two. 640 is a standard square-toe last that has been a Gravati mainstay for several years. 500 is a traditional round-toe last that has been in the repertoire for even longer. The contrast between the three is not quite as dramatic in the picture as it is in real life, probably in part due to the angle and in part due to the fact that Johnny didn't have the time to set up a light box; but I hope that it can still be seen.

Incidentally, Johnny took the picture with a professional-quality SLR digital camera on the 10 megapixel setting, and he has the equipment necessary to print the picture on a 7 foot by 3 foot canvas. I don't know about you, but I think that that would make perfect wall art. Thanks, Johnny.