el blog

Ca-Breezies Battle Mother Nature's Enblazoned June

By Meghan Dryzga

 

Did I sleep through spring? Because I could've sworn just a week or two ago... It's fine, Nature Mom. Clearly you're testing my versatility and ability to readily adjust to your erratic moods. That, OR Mother Nature is pregnant or experiencing menopause... Flank the nation with your hot flash, Nature Mom; I can take it. (Let's see, we'll need one umbrella for her unexpected downpours of emotion and a cardigan for her occasional cold shoulder. Put those in the car, honey.)

You know who else can take Mother Nature's unadulterated heat? My ankles. Why? Because it's capri season. Well, it's shorts season. But if you're a career woman, traipsing into the office in your fave pair of high-thigh khakis isn't going to win you any "office appropriate" awards. So we all find a spectacular pair (pairs?) of staple capris and pretend they're as airy as your Friday Night Patio Bar Skirt. (I capitalized that. It seemed important.)

So here's the trouble with capris. If you're short and shopping the standard-fit rack, capris can look a lot like a mistake. Like, too short to be slacks, too long to be shorts, kind of mistake. A peddle-pushers kind of mistake. A "crooked smile that says your intuitively trendy neighbor is confused about your fashion intentions" kind of mistake. A "Honey - I'm not mad, I just need to know if you put my work pants in the dryer. They seem to have shrunk. Otherwise, this is an exceptionally good day for me, as I may have just fit into our 'tweenager's girl-size pants..." kind of mistake.

The solution? It's not found with a seamstress and a 2-inch hem. Nope, any pin-stuck woman relegated to the back of the dry cleaning shop inhaling questionably quease-inducing levels of cleaning fumes and wearing an apple cushion as a bracelet will not be trusted with my hems. My short sticks leave a very small margin for hem error that only my mother can manage.

Believe it or not, it's easier than that, certainly far more fun and unquestionably more versatile (take that, menopausal Nature Mom). Enter, "cantaloupe conundrum," the summer-struck peep-toe heels that hoist up my height and air out my calves like a floor-level fan in a pedicure parlor. The perfect combination of girlishness smoldered in summer and professionally pruned; tall enough to tip the hip-scale but not quite tip me over (let not my low center of gravity fool you; when it comes to balance, I'm like a baby deer... a land-legged seafarer).

So go on, Nature Mom. Let summer's heat seep through the office walls. My feet are dipped in cool cantaloupe that push my calves under my ca-breezy capris for summer sun to finally see.

 

WE ARE PROUD TO BE SNOBS

By Nicole Tongson:

Once upon a time, (well, at the end of the eighteenth century according to the Oxford Dictionary as well as many other respected sources), a snob was a cobbler. The shoemaker, or snob was at the very bottom of the social ladder and was known to be of humble origin and lack a title.

Although the word has almost a complete opposite meaning today, we are proud at Eidia Lush to have found our team of true professional "snobs".  They are by FAR the most talented artists I have ever had the pleasure of working with (and I come from a long background of professional art and design, so this is a big statement). 

It seems as though over the past few years, shoemaking has become known as somewhat of a glamorous profession. Students are flocking to design school to become shoe designers and claim they have the chops and skills to make shoes.  I can tell you by being immersed in the industry now for several years that it is far from glamorous.  To be a shoemaker, you have to have patience to the fullest degree.  While feeling the pressure of hundreds of unmade orders sitting behind you, you need to pay very close attention to EVERY SINGLE detail that crosses your eye.  In today's society, we don't understand the concept of patience and NOT rushing, which is why you'll find a lot of true cobblers to be of an older generation.

I took a trip to California last weekend to visit 3 of our main cobblers in the workshop and will be posting some amazing pictures next week of where your Eidia Lush masterpieces are created and how.  In the meantime, if you love the idea of true cobbling being still alive in the United States as much as I do, then you'll love the collection of "cobbler" themed images I've collected from Getty Images below:

Cobblers come in all shapes and sizes, from all countries and cities...the only problem is that it is a dying trade (one which is practically already dead in the United States). Because of the man hours invested in each pair of handmade shoes (for one pair of Eidia Lush shoes it takes more than 20+ solid hours), cobblers can't compete with mass manufacturers from China and other shoe exporting countries.  By buying Eidia Lush shoes, you are helping bring back this trade to the United States.  We are proud to have our team of professional cobblers (or snobs).  Design your own pair of shoes today and support them!

Girls Night Out

By Nicole Tongson

Tonight we're participating in a Girl's Night Out to benefit the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life (Team BCH) in Miami, FL.  If you're lucky enough to attend the event in person, be sure to grab one of our free hand-made shoe bags! If you're stuck up here freezing in the north like myself, read on...

To help support the women behind this event and their amazing cause, we are extending our donations to be applicable to all our of followers nation-wide.  If you design and purchase a pair of Eidia Lush shoes using code GIRLSNIGHTOUT2010 before Dec 31st, we will donate $20 to their cause.  You design and we donate...it's that simple!

It's All About the Details

By Nicole Tongson, CEO & Owner of Eidia Lush

A work-packed, hands-on weekend with the shoes has brought me closer to them than ever.  After getting some very valuable feedback from you, our customers over the past few weeks, I locked myself in our studio, cranked up the radio and forced myself to think, "How can we make these shoes perfect?  What things can we do to make them even better?" 

While having a heart-to-heart with my babies (yes, I refer to them as my babies now), I came to the conclusion that our team of craftsman are human and we are spending hour upon hour hand-perfecting every stitch, cut, and detail...coming as close to perfection as humanly possible.  The fact that our shoes are not manufactured in a factory or assembly line is their biggest charm quality-wise.  They are worked on by one of our experienced craftsman from beginning to end.  This one person has your shoe vision in mind from the very minute they pick up your order slip to the time it's loaded up in the delivery truck getting shipped out.  This person knows your name because he or she will see it on their order box every day they work on it.  This person knows what your style is because they will put together your custom design piece-by-piece.  There really is love and hard work put into every pair.  For a person cannot do this trade without having love for it, and a person cannot succeed within our company without having immaculate attention to detail.

So what can you expect from our shoes?  What are some of these 'perfect details' I'm referring to and what are some of the minor issues we're still working on making perfect?  Please see some of the up-close-and-personal photos I took of one of the shoes that was recently shipped out.  

You can see we've nailed everything in the looks department...these shoes are hot.  The fabric is smooth on the outside, there are virtually no imperfections...

...until we get to the sole.  You can see here that towards the bottom of the heel, the sole has a slight imperfection in the way it was glued back on.  This sole will not, by any means, come off because of the industrial-strength glue we use...but we need to figure out a way to have it be applied perfectly, without any bumpity bumps.

For our insoles, we custom cut them and hand-brand them.  We joke with the team that once they've been with us a year, they get branded with the same logo.  We all kind of hate using the brander because the burning smell STINKS...but look how pretty it comes out!

Now here's where we have the most problems...the back end of the inside.  No matter how spot-on our patterns are for the fabric used, we always usually get a few wrinkles on the inside.  Some experiments are under way on how we can eliminate these pesky little wrinkles, but until we've figured it out 100% here is what the inside of your shoes may look like:

 
In a nutshell, you'll be getting a gorgeous head-turning shoe that is literally made with love.  Almost every day one of us comes up with a way to better the process and/or end product.  We love getting feedback, ideas, and suggestions...and we really do listen to what our customers have to say, so keep em' coming!

For being a reader/fan of ours, use code ELBLOGROCKS to get 15% off your very own pair of custom-designed Eidia Lush shoes.  We're looking forward to making them already!

Women's Feet Are Getting Bigger!

By Danielle Blasko

 

Currently, the average size shoe for a woman is size 6 but just five years ago the average woman wore a size 5. Further, sales research in 2009 showed that the sale of ladies’ size 9 shoes increased by 23 percent and sales of size 6 shoes rose 17 percent, proving that women’s feet on average are growing.

 

Basing their stock on averages (and demands), most companies only carry the range of “standard shoe sizes:” sizes 5 through 9.  However, faced with changing statistics, shoe companies are being forced to reconsider the definition of standard sizes. More shoemakers are starting to carry size 10s in all styles in order to meet the demands of the evolving feet of women. 

 

Eidia Lush is at the forefront of the progressive companies that are carrying size 10 heels in all styles. As demands increase and the company is able to manufacture shoe parts, we will continue to expand the selection of available sizes to meet the needs of all Eidia Lush Girls.  

 

And for you lovely ladies who just don’t fit the mold, we want you to know that Eidia Lush has not forgotten about you! If you have a larger (or smaller) or wider shoe size than we are presently able to offer as a permanent option, we offer Total Custom Design and Special Requests services that allow you to re-design your own shoe Eidia Lush custom design style!

EIDIALUSH.COM — NOW OPEN FOR BUSINESS

The time has come to turn some heads … with shoes designed by you!

The waiting is over. EidiaLush.com has officially arrived on the scene and we promise you that the shoe business will never be the same.


At Eidia Lush, we’re all about you. Your style, your personality, your choice. With dozens of styles and patterns to choose from, you’ll be sure to create a one-of-a-kind shoe masterpiece that will command attention wherever you go.

 
Our step-by-step design process at EidiaLush.com makes it easy unleash your inner shoe artist. So what are you waiting for? Let the shoe designing begin!

Solemates

By Kelly LaVaute

It's the closest thing I've ever felt to love at first sight. There's a moment, a connection, a thought....can I take them home with me tonight? I could, but it's oh so wrong. Will I regret it in the morning? Do I really want to be that girl?

Relax, Mom. They're shoes, not the 22-year-old Brazilian with the shiny 6-pack abs. I'll never be *that* girl.

Haven't you been there? Innocently strutting through the mall, aiming for a new pair of jeans and then you wake up and find yourself drowning in shoe boxes with a very annoyed Macy's clerk. Or incessantly refreshing the UPS website to check the tracking for the new pair of pumps, count down the moments 'til 5 and race home to find that familiar-shaped package on your front door and even though your bladder may burst, the bathroom can only come after you've modeled the new kicks for the cat. You like Mommy's new shoes, right? RIGHT?!

My worst days can be remedied with a 4-inch heel or metallic wedge. And it seems I'm not alone -  while people all over the world are tightening their belts, their shoes are not suffering. From the Detroit Free Press:

While we're spending less overall, 28% of women -- 8% more than in 2007 -- ranked shoes as the thing on which they are most likely to splurge.

In real life terms? The money that I do have isn't intended for my 401k, it's earmarked for a new pair of ankle boots. Now that's an investment I can believe in.

And while companies go bankrupt and sales falter in nearly every business category imaginable, my stilettos are saving the day:

Grocery stores continued to see strong growth on a year ago, while the only other sector to improve was footwear and leather, with a balance of plus 64%.

- Press Association, July 28, 2009

Now if only my favorite grocer could stock their freezer cases with ballet flats, we could really turn this recession around. Because really, I could stand to skip a meal but I don't think I'll be able to pass up that adorable flat with the patent leather detail. Naughty, naughty girl.