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them away, they could shorten your life.
Put your weight onto your hands and
you naturally spread your fingers out to
distribute your weight. This is how our
toes were born to be - free.
Hello, my name is Alan James Raddon
- Shoemaker. I have been designing and
making feet-shaped Shoes with low heels
since1987. Shandals® since 1992 and Rope
Soled Slippers since 1976.
I come to Shoemaking with attitude.
I ran the very first Wholefood Shop and
Restaurant in Wales back in 1972 in
Aberystwyth. We sold organic grains, pulses,
vegetables, herbs and books. I am a retired
Reflexologist, I practice Tai Chi and I love
to dance.
I have a keen interest in Complementary
Medicine and healing and that is why I
will never, ever make Pointy Shoes. Pointy
Shoes squash your toes, so restrict your
circulation, but more importantly they
impede your stability and balance. Falls are
the major cause of accidental deaths, injury
and loss of independence in older people.
In Pointy Shoes we gradually,
imperceptibly become less mobile, less
active, we put on weight, become less
agile, less flexible and more vulnerable to
diseases.
Pointy Shoes will prematurely age your
feet, so will prematurely age you. Throw
Yet, by the time we grow old, our feet
are damaged in some way or other. We
have got athlete's foot, corns, ingrown
toenails, hammer toes, flat feet, crooked
toes, blisters, calluses, Morton's Neuroma,
bunions, knee and hip problems and aching
painful feet.
The Shoes I make have healing
properties because they are feet-shaped,
they are broad over the Metatarsal Arch,
have a straight inside edge and a low heel.
The Lace-up design holds the feet firmly
back into the heel of the shoes, leaving the
toes free to heal. All these qualities bring
wonderful relief to tired or sore feet.
Corned squashed little toes heal and the
circulation improves, so cold feet warm.
Hammer toes have a chance to straighten.
Crucially your natural balance and
stability is enhanced in my shoes as the
toes spread and each toe, especially the
once cramped little toes, take their fair
share of your body's weight.
Weakened under used muscles are
exercised, so strengthen. Tendons and toes
stretch and spread, so the feet rejuvenate.
Stronger toes are reflected in stronger
arches, ankles and legs. Combined with a
low heel, the back of the legs stretch, which
is reflected in a more upright elegant posture.
Your natural gracefulness of movement,
élan, dignity, stature, and youthful vitality
is restored and reinvigorated.
Walking becomes an entirely different
experience - a smooth, rolling, rhythmic
energising walk with immense strength,
agility and control of movement.
Clients become light on their feet. They
find themselves on their toes more and the
joy of dance is rekindled.
My clients range from teenagers to
octogenarians, teachers of Yoga and The
Alexander Technique, Tai Chi Masters,
Acupuncturists, Reflexologists, Craftsmen
and women, Artists, Poets, Psychiatrists,
Psychologists, Philosophers, Doctors,
Nurses, young vital men and women, those
with severely damaged feet, as well as
Lords, Ladies and film stars like Sir Alec
Guinness, Emma and Sophie Thompson,
Phyllida Law, Billy Connolly, John Cleese
and pregnant women carrying extra weight.
"I dance as never before."
"My golf has improved."
"I bless you every morning I put on my
shoes."
"The shoes are a great success and
I am saving £24 every 4 to 6 weeks on
Chiropody fees."
"Since buying Shandals® I have a new
lease of Life."
"I only take off Shandals® to go to bed."
"Without my Shandals® my career as a
Dance Teacher would have continued in a
lot of pain. Now I am pain free."
"I admire excellence; there is not a lot
of it left in the world. Take a bow."
"For once it is a pleasure to write a
cheque."
"Bless your hands."
There are other reasons and unique
qualities about my Shoes that solicit such
wonderful quotes from my clients.
The alternative is to use one layer of
soft leather with Dinky Tyre Soles, which
have more grip, so you are less likely to
I use a very special leather not used in
traditional leather shoes, but which was
designed specifically for Hydraulic
Engineering to create oil seals under great
pressure and heat.
Most manufactured shoes are
designed to be thrown away after the soles
have worn out. They are designed with
Built in Obsolescence.
They are designed to be consumed, so
you have to buy a new pair when the soles
wear out. It is a waste of skills and energy,
precious materials and your money. And
they end up polluting beaches or as rubbish
in landfill.
I have designed my shoes to be repaired
with double out-soled stitching for extra
strength and durability.
slip or fall over and they are lighter and
more flexible than my Classic Shoes.
I like both, but tend to choose the latter
to wear nowadays.
One of the unique features of my Shoes
is the hand-made leather laces. I take long
one-inch strip of leather, skive it from 1.8
to 0.5mm. Then glue two lengths of waxed
polyester braid on either side to reinforce
the laces, then roll the edges over and sew,
then scissor them into two laces.
I usually make the laces from the same
leather as the uppers so that they match,
which looks fabulous or alternatively I
make them from another colour like blue
laces with black shoes or red laces with
I protect the soft leather soles with
rubber soles that can be replaced when they
wear out.
In my original Classic Shoes, I use two
layers of thick soft leather for the soles,
which are protected from wear with thin,
hard wearing rubber soles.
British racing green shoes.
The combination can be really effective,
especially when they match the colour
scheme of your clothing.
So, it is a good idea to consider ordering
a number of different coloured laces when
first commissioning a pair of Shoes or
Shandals.
It is soft and flexible, so your unique
footprints embed into them.
I make The Uppers from soft, full
grain Italian leather in over thirty five
beautiful colours.
I then fully line The Uppers in super
soft suede or leather.
Shandals®
My Shandals come in two width
fittings, worn without socks or stockings
Shandals can be worn indoors as slippers
and outdoors throughout the year because
the circulation improves.
Shandals are unisex and uniage as they
are the shape of normal healthy feet, but I
originally designed the Lace-up Shandals
for a client with bunions back in 1992.
The Arch tends to collapse, flatten
with a bunion: a bit like in Judo when the
wrist is twisted and the whole body has to
somersault.
The combination of a straight inside
edge and big toe thong guides the big toes
straighter, which lifts the arch, which is
then embraced and supported by the soft
Uppers when the laces are tightened.
These qualities combined with an open
toe box gives wonderful relief to tired
damaged corned feet.
If you have damaged feet or bunions
then I recommend the Lace-up Design
because of the support they give and
because they have the most adjustment
over the arch and are the most therapeutic
and healing of the three designs I make.
The Buckle Design has less adjustment
over the arch than the Lace-up Design. The
Buckles are solid brass and come in a
silver Nickel finish.
Or you can have solid Silver or 18ct
Gold buckles if you prefer.
The Slip-on Design has no adjustment
over the arch, so you either fit into them or
not, although I can make minor adjustment
to the patterns. Those with normal healthy
feet tend to fit into them best. It is the
design I wear most.
"Then in May I got my first pair of
Shandals. What joy!! What bliss!! I could
walk! No hobbling and limping, no bent
back, no sticks, aches and pains. I can
walk the dogs, garden all day, shop in
town; they have truly added a mile to the
distance I can walk."
Rope Soled Slippers.
Indoors I wear my Rope Soled Slippers,
a pair of red Slip-on Shandals with rope
soles which match my red leather armchair.
I came to Shoemaking in 1976 after my
Wholefood Shop and Restaurant in
Aberystwyth closed. I had the idea of
writing a book for Vegetarians on How to
make Rope Soled Footwear.
For 10 years it was a hobby, but in 1986
I decided to start using leather to make
repairable Rope Soled Slippers. For outdoors I chose a soft leather for the soles
to reflect how the feet embedded into the
rope soles and the rest is history.
The designs of the Uppers are exactly
the same as my Shoes and Shandals® with
Uppers made in soft Italian leather and
fully lined in supple suede and stitched to
5-6 mm thick, soft leather soles.
The Rope Soles are made from over
200 feet of 5mm Jute thread. I hand plait
eight separate threads into a rope 12 to
15mm square, roughly 10 to 12 feet long
for each Slipper. These are coiled and hand
sewn into soles, then Invisibly Stitched by
hand to the Uppers.
The resulting comfort is unsurpassable,
blissful - supreme.
Personally, I like to keep my Rope Soled
Slippers on my night storage heater, so
that there will be a warm welcome for my
feet in the morning or when I come home
at night. Such luxuries are a real pleasure
and set the mood of the day and one's
homecoming.
Worn indoors they will last years, but
eventually the rope soles will fray and
wear.
Fortunately, because I designed my
Rope Soled Slippers to be repaired, new
soles can be sewn onto the Uppers. You
have the choice of sending them back to
me for repair or repairing them yourself - I
can supply you with the Jute and my book
'How to make rope soled footwear'.
At the moment I am the only Rope
Soled Slippermaker in the UK, perhaps the
world, and I sign and date each pair.
Nowadays it is a rare luxury to have a
pair of shoes made for you by the actual
designer, in almost any colour you fancy,
in beautiful, lush, high quality materials,
especially when it is combined with a fast,
unique, personal service.
When you want to talk to me, you will
not have to go through a call centre in
Delhi or listen to endless automated
options, I am available to speak, to any
time of the day, most days a week.
When you buy a pair of Shandals, Shoes
or Rope Soled Slippers from me you are
not just buying a pair of shoes. You are
buying my service, my expertise, my
intellect, my philosophy, my integrity and
my unique Art Form.
You are buying the thousands of hours
and countless thousands of pounds I put
into developing The Perfect Shoe.
Are your Golf Shoes handicapping you?
Why are Manufactured Golf Shoes
pointy? Take off your Golf Shoes and
socks and put your feet next to them and
you will see their pointy shape is nothing
like the shape of your toes!
In the 22 years I have been making hand
made shoes, I have never seen healthy feet
that are the shape of most Golf Shoes.
However, I have seen plenty of
damaged feet with bunions and quashed
little toes with corns and white clammy
skin that are the shape of most Golf Shoes.
What are pointy shoes doing to your
feet? What are pointy Manufactured Golf
Shoes doing to your game? In my opinion
they are impeding your balance and
stability which will affect your swing.
My handmade Golf Shoes have a Broad
Toe Box, so your weight is distributed
evenly over your ten spread eagled toes.
The soles are soft so your unique
footprints will imbed into them giving you
a real grip on the Earth - a strong, powerful
balance, from which, I believe, will come a
strong, powerful, steady, straight swing.
When I look at the Spikes in most
Manufactured Golf Shoes there seems to
be no logic to them.
I have designed my Golf Shoes with one
spike for the big toe, one for the second
and third toe, one for the fourth and little
toe, two for the metatarsal arch, one for the
Arch and three for the Heel. Eighteen
Spikes in all - one for every hole.
For dry sunny days I recommend my golf
shoes with the single 5-6mm leather soles.
For wet, winter days the 10-12mm soles.
For the Nineteenth Hole I have designed
the Twin to my Golf Shoes, but without
spikes, but in the opposite colours - the
leather Lining becomes the Upper and
the Upper becomes the Lining and with
matching reinforced leather laces.
Personally, I don't like all these
personalised bits and pieces on most
manufactured Golf Shoes, I like a slab of
colour, so I offer up to 35 colours in soft,
full grain Italian leather.
Don't forget the Groom!
I know the Groom gets to get the
Bride, but what with the expense of the
Wedding Dress the Bridesmaids Dresses
worn just once, the rings, hosting the
reception, the Honeymoon and setting
up home, there is usually little money
left for the Groom, in a way he gets
forgotten.
Most Grooms hire a suit and shirt
and if he is lucky his Mum buys him
new socks and underwear.
That is until now.
I aim to redress the balance.
To the 35 colours in the soft, full grain
Italian leather I've added a premium
leather that Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Aston
Martin and Jaguar have used for their car
seats, a leather renown for its quality and
durability, suppleness and natural finish.
Used in the House of Commons and
Windsor Castle and favoured by interior
designers, boat manufacturers and now
by me, this leather makes for the very
highest quality Shoes you can buy.
My Shoes for Grooms are the Rolls
Royce of Bespoke shoes.
"I worked for Rolls Royce Motor
Cars for over 30 years. Henry Royce
once said. "The best is the cheapest in
the end. The quality remains long after
the initial price is forgotten." I think of
that when I look at my shoes (...bought
11 years ago.) with their new laces.
Being made for men my shoes are
extremely practical because they are
designed to be repaired, so they could
last for many Wedding Anniversaries.
Perhaps the two Fathers should
have a pair too!
So if you're weary of thinking what
special gift to buy the Groom, why not
commission a pair of hand made,
bespoke, shoes in his favourite colour
now and give me Alan James Raddon a
ring on 01545 570 904 and have a chat
about colours, prices and dates.