Why are handcrafted shoes worth buying?

Each of us has different needs and attitudes towards shoes. For some it is just a shoe, for others it is an important item of style and everyday comfort. There is so much to choose from in footwear that sometimes it is very difficult to understand what makes one shoe different from another, why manufacturing technology affects comfort, price and durability. We often get a question from people who are less interested in footwear why it is worth choosing handmade shoes. 

During 26 years of work, we have accumulated a lot of experience, information and feedback from customers. From all this, we have distinguished 4 main reasons why you should choose handmade shoes instead of mass-produced shoes. 

• Comfort

The feet are the foundation of our body, so the quality of the shoes and their help to keep the body strong and in correct posture is very important and often underestimated. If the shoes do not help you to walk and stand firmly and correctly, your whole body, not only legs and spine, can suffer. Therefore, it is very strange to us when people buy shoes based only on the price, without thinking about how this can affect their health. 

The main advantage of handmade shoes is comfort, they simply fit and adapt better to your foot. There are many reasons for this. First of all, it is the production process, where the leather and lining of the shoes are tightly stretched by hand, carefully going through every millimeter of the shoe and working on it, no machine can do it so responsibly and tightly. Second, it is the internal materials used. And third, but no less important, is the glue that is applied almost everywhere inside the shoes. So, when you put on handmade shoes, the glue warms up from the warmth of your feet, and together the well-stretched leather and inner materials, coated with high-quality glue, begin to adapt little by little to the curves and structure of your feet. As a result, handmade shoes are at first a bit stiffer than mass-produced shoes, but after a day or two of walking around in them when they adapt to your feet, you get a sense of their true comfort that no mass-produced shoe will ever match. Once adapted to the feet, handmade shoes continue to retain their strength and stability, unlike mass-produced shoes that are made using steam instead of glue, so they are simply soft but cannot conform to the foot.

•  Quality and durability

Handmade shoes are of much higher quality than mass-produced shoes. First of all, this is due to the fact that much higher quality materials are used in the process. Only the best quality leather is used, each piece of which is carefully selected. Also, the highest quality inner materials are used, which allows the shoes to maintain a beautiful and firm shape for many years. We've all had mass-produced shoes and know how quickly they lose their shape, stretching all over the place in just a month or two. And although we can still wear them, their aesthetic appearance is ruined. Handmade shoes usually keep their quality for at least several seasons. Currently, we have several dozen customers who have been wearing our shoes for 10-12 years. Of course it requires maintenance, but a mass-produced shoe could never be worn for more than two years. And usually they don't keep their quality even for a year.

• Sustainability and circular economy

Quality over quantity. This is the essence of all high quality items. A study conducted in the United States showed that, on average, every woman has about 17 pairs of shoes in her closet. And uses only 3 of them.So maybe if instead of those 14 mass-produced pairs, you would buy 2-3 pairs of high-quality shoes, you would not only contribute to sustainable fashion, but also save money!

The second thing why handmade shoes are more sustainable is the production process. Only sewing, scrubbing and press machines are used to make handmade shoes. Everything else is made by hand with special pliers, a hammer and a knife. None of these devices use a lot of electricity or other resources, and have no negative impact on our nature.

Third, but also very significant thing is that all handmade shoes can be repaired, re-soled and thus given a second life. Their soles can be changed, decorations can be added or they can be renewed by painting. This way you can give your shoes a few more seasons of life and contribute to the development of the circular economy! We are always ready to fix your shoes for you, to bring them back to life!

• Uniqueness

The last but equally important advantage of handmade shoes is uniqueness. All manufacturers using this process create only unique, exclusive designs. And when making shoes by hand, only a limited amount can be made. For example, a mass production factory with a team of 20 people can produce from 300 to 600 pairs of shoes per day, depending on the available equipment and the complexity of the shoes. Meanwhile, we also have about 20 people in our team, but we can only make 15-30 pairs of shoes per day by hand. So not only the design is unique, but also the fact that the amount of such shoes will always be limited and the chance of meeting another person wearing the same shoes is very small!

Also you can customize all our shoes according to your wishes, change their colors, leather textures and thus create your own unique shoes! 

Greetings from Kėdainiai!

Ben Maslauskas