Today's Shoes

Day

Gravati cap-toe bals with reversed seams in Radica 033 calf with single leather soles (16496, 500 last).

Evening

Gravati plain-toe five-eyelet blucher boots in antiqued tan calfskin with a rubber lug sole (15950, 640 last). Gravati calls this calfskin Betis, and it's a third approach to antiquing. (For reference, the other two are the use of unfinished crust leather into which coloring waxes have been worked and sponged leather, which is sponged while the dye is still wet to give the leather a variegated appearance.) It's regular aniline-dyed leather that has been treated with a chemical like alcohol or acetone to disrupt the finished surface. Coloring waxes are then worked into the leather using buffing wheels. The finish is a bit unstable -- creases tend to lighten, which can look strange on darker shades. However, everything works perfectly with the tan color.

Today's Shoes

Day

Gravati reversed-seam cap-toe bal in Radica 033 calf (a beautiful red-brown variegated calfskin) with a close-cut waist and single leather soles (16496, 500 last).

Evening

Gravati plain-toe saddle bals in medium brown peccary (Gravati calls it Nicotina) on both the main body of the shoe and the saddle with combination leather/rubber soles (15578, 640 last).

Today's Shoes

Gravati cap-toe bals with reversed seams and leather soles in Radica 033 (chestnut) calf (16496, 500 last). I ought to have this shoe made up in Radica 03 (caramel), Radica 01 (dark brown), and Radica 055 (burgundy). It's one of the great shoe designs that I have seen.

Today's Shoes

Day

Gravati reversed-seam cap-toe bal in Radica 033 (16496, 500 last). Imagine the shoe above, only in a variegated red-tan leather. Radica is a line of aniline leathers that are sponged while still wet to give them a marble-like variegation. Lobb Paris calls it "museum calf", but Gravati prefers to call it what the tannery calls it. Color 033 is the most eye-popping of the colors offered. The reversed seams make this shoe an interesting and subtly different take on the traditional cap-toe.

Evening

Gravati saddle bal with both the vamp and the saddle in nicotina (mid-brown) peccary (15578, 640 last). Peccary is a wild boar-like animal indigenous to South America, and leather made from its hide is similar in appearance and feel to deerskin but much more durable.