 ABOUT USHi there, I’m Catherine from Amber & Jade. I’m the girl who loves designing and making her own shoes. I’m going to put down my pencil and leather swatches and tell you a little about myself.
The best shoes in the world are the ones that fit your feet properly and that make you look, and feel like, a million dollars. This is true for feet of all shapes and sizes.
Most shoe sellers make their shoes by designing a shoe for a small foot and then adding a ratio to each dimension to make a larger shoe, known as ‘sizing-up’. So they don’t make the design changes necessary to support and flatter feet of different sizes. For larger feet, their shoes tend to be disproportionately very wide, deep, high-heeled and also very unflattering. Other shoe sellers buy from wholesalers who use similar ‘sizing-up’ methods.
We want to feel fabulous and so, for our shoes, we’ve started from scratch, with a blank sheet of paper, and set about designing shoes that fit and flatter feet properly.
To start with, we make the shoe shape, or the ‘last’, and decide upon the height of the heel. After many samples, a lot of tweaking, and a very patient factory, we finally decide upon the shoe shape that is the most flattering for the foot. For a larger foot, typically this is more rounded rather than pointed, so that feet appear feminine and dainty. And the heel is slim but not too spindly, so it can support a larger foot well.
Then there’s the upper part of the shoe. We don’t just grab the scissors (if only it were that easy!) but we ensure that the design has structural features so that it stays on the foot yet still appears dainty. For a larger foot, this includes reinforced leather sides and a very slightly higher reach above the heel, to hold the foot in position better, to minimise gaping and to stop feet ‘stepping out’; horizontal rather than vertical lines flatter the foot.
And by the way, we select only the highest quality leathers and fabrics and we cover all of our shoes with leather soles. So they look and feel more special, mould to the shape of feet and don’t split like plastic.
Then it’s over to you. In fact, we let our customers decide what we do next, so let us know what you think.
Before I go, can I make a quick suggestion – tell one of your friends about us. They’ll love you for it…. as then they can feel as fabulous as you do.
Catherine Owens - UK Shoe Size 10
Founder |
