Did You See The Words: How To Make Your Own Historically Accurate / Fashionable Shoes: The Italian Edition

So, a few weeks ago I was invited to go to a shoe-making workshop. This lovely woman named Ana has her own shoe company called "Lucina" that makes not only fashionable, but historically accurate versions of shoes worn in ancient Rome. She conducts extensive research to find historical patterns and uses those patterns as the basis for all of her shoes. Different shoes were worn for different activities and occupations.

The shoes I made were ACTUAL gladiator sandals. Meaning real, Romans wore these shoes in BATTLE. This isn't your trendy Nordstrom's B.S. This is le-git. Every pair of sandals I've tried on at her showroom has been the some of the most comfortable shoes I've ever had on my feet. Comfort is key and all of her shoes are made with super high-quality leather. The Romans did conquer the world on foot, after all.

I had three options of the shoes I could make.....and I obviously chose the shoes that would cost me the most to buy....(which would have been around $250 - $300 in the states...ZING!)

Here are the steps:

1. Start with a pattern!

2. Trace out the pattern for both feet and slowly/carefully cut it out.

(Experts use x-acto knives, I use sharp speciality scissors)

3. So many steps were skipped between these photos...but basically you cut out the pattern, you mercilessly stab holes into the leather where the pattern says you should (for sewing!). You think the holes are big enough, but you realize they're not when you can't get a needle through them, so you repeat this process about 5 times. Then you start putting it together! You sew both sides of the shoe to the bottom of the shoe and it makes this little bootie looking thing...as so.

4. Then you go back to Ana's factory and she helps you glue your bootie to the sole. Then you tell her that your hands are red and sore from all the cutting and sewing and that you absolutely refuse to sew the bootie to the sole by hand. You ask her nicely to do this with a industrial sewing machine and she obliges. You also have to cut out a piece of dye-free liner for the inside of the shoe so that your feet don't absorb any dye (this would be bad for you feet) and you also glue this to the bottom/inside of your shoe.

I also wanted the back of mine to look a little more refined so I sewed an extra piece of leather in the back.