SCONIFORM | Barbara Shaum

Photos by Simons Finnerty.

It was impossible to categorize this post. Icon? Scene? Uniform? All of the above. Barbara Shaum is a New York legend, but also something of a well-kept fashion industry secret. She barely has an online presence and isn't the self-promoter that has become second nature to modern generations. Shaum has just been quietly hand-making leather sandals and belts in a cramped East Village studio for decades. Like, decades as in FIVE. Shaum opened her leather shop in 1962 and has been cranking out the goods ever since. She's well into her 80s now with no plans of retirement on the horizon. And almost more impressive than that, she was the first woman to enter the male-only McSorley's Bar. This video tells the story...
Thanks Simons for leading me to this wonderful Sconiform and sharing your photos. Beyond being a photographer and a world class gentleman, Simons also works for Sid and Ann Mashburn in Atlanta, which is the only online retailer of Barbara Shaum sandals that I know of (but please chime in with other stockists if that's not the case). So if you can't get your feet traced by Shaum in New York, click on over. And according to The Mashburns, Barbara Shaum sandals really do last forever and keep looking better with age.

The Barbara Shaum Socrates Sandal ($415) shown above and The Barbara Shaum Franciscan Sandal ($415) are available for women (and men) at Ann (and Sid) Mashburn.

WEEKEND EXTRAS:

+ Speaking of sandals, Teva is making a comeback. I've crowd sourced this and people are on board with the return of the original river shoe's original design ($55).

+ Silver Lake's Mohawk General Store opened Mohawk Man last week. It's two doors down and too good not to check out.

+ Cool new book about TIE-DYE out this week.

+ Do you know where the word "seersucker" comes from? The answer via a Brooks Brothers tweet.

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