Anna Sinclair
- Nov 17, 2016
- 4 min read

WHAT DO YOUR SHOES SAY ABOUT YOU? : SOLE SURVIVOR

What do your shoes say about you? How much do you care for them? Do you believe they really paint a picture on what your internal thoughts look like? I have been coming across many articles and studies on line that say you can tell a whole lot about a person based on what style and type of shoe they are wearing. I know first hand that many of my lady friends always look at a mans shoe right away. I wonder if men do the same? I set out to get some answers from a real cobbler to see what they thought.

What is a cobbler you ask? It is the old name for a shoemaker who's profession was to make/sew shoes. It was called a cobbler as they "cobbled" together pieces of leather to fashion shoes. I dropped off a pair of my favourite old boots just in time for fall/winter, and got a chance to speak to Lo (Lorena) from Sole survivor in Toronto about her thoughts on shoe upkeep. Let's face it, she has seen a bazillion shoes and believes they really do say something about her.

Take this QUIZ on what your shoes say about you

I make shoe contact before I make eye contact- LORENA

INTERVIEW

I wanted to know a little bit more about Lo and what inspired her to open up shop. I got a little glimpse into what it's like to be in her shoes in this super cool Dundas location. Read below...

1: What inspired you to open shop? Why shoes? It wasn't so much a inspiration as more of a "push" to pull me out of my depression. I knew that working with my hands and doing something creative throughout the day is what my mind body and sole needed - the "shoe" aspect of it all was just a happy accident but I am glad we found each other I couldn't imagine what else I would be doing right now...

2: What is your craziest repair that you have done? I am not sure if this crazy, but it was most defiantly the most interesting repair we had gotten in. We had to turn a regular boot into a horses leg with hoofs :P

3: If you were a pair of boots what would you say to your owner? I think I would talk about the importance of feeling grounded and connected to the earth and that the right pair of shoes & soles can do just that and maybe say something like "have you looked at your sole lately"

4: What does a pair of shoes say about a person? "I make shoe contact before eye contact" ;) I think a pair of shoes can make or break an outfit and it says a lot about a person on how they take care of their shoes - sometimes you see a well dressed man that has spend a lot of time and money on his outfit/look yet when you see the shoes it's almost as of they forgot or didn't care about what they look like and that makes me wonder why someone wouldn't care about something (like their outfit..) 100%

5: Do you meet interesting people at the shop or is it one of those " drop off my shoes" kind of days? There are for sure some very interesting customers that we get through - we have a gentleman that works in the white house under the Obama administration and whenever he is in Toronto he makes sure to bring us his repairs. We've also have some famous people that are our regulars (like Feist & Claire Dannes to name a few)

6: Do you ever get any sentimental story's for repairs ? Like special restoration type of shoe repairs ? All the time! Sometimes I think people are just holding on to the "material" aspect of it but there are the times that I get customers that are bringing in their grandparents old leather goods that they want to preserve and use today . Those types of repairs I love because I feel that goods back in the day had more quality to them but also that I get to be part of the story of that item and that I helped it last for another decade or so (it's a sweet thought to think you were part of a story/history).

7: What is the oldest pair of shoes and most expensive pairs of shoes you have repaired at the shop? At our Kensington Market shop we get a lot of shoes from the vintage stores around us (such as Courage my Love and Flashback) they have a huge selection of vintage items so sometimes we get shoes suitcases or even jackets from as early as the 20's.

8: How do you match materials and shoe properties for your customers? This can be challenging sometimes as suppliers have a smaller selection of materials than what the big brands use. We also discuss with the customer what their #1 need is then we try to work with that. What is it that they would want to keep about their soles/shoes and we try to fill in the blanks and we always try to stay as true to the original shoe unless it's a customization repair.

9: If we were in your shoes for a whole day , what would we learn about you? Haha maybe that I am a fast walker and stand too much on my feet. Being grounded everyday is very important to me...thus making sure I am comfortable is also very important.

10: What shoes are you currently wearing right now? Going back to the above question, being comfortable is a must for me because I am on my feet all day - when I am at work I tend to wear light runners like Vans and Converse but outside of work I try to wear nicer boots and/or heels sometimes too.

THE REPAIR

I was really happy with my knee high boots. They were repaired right in time for fall and they look amazing. I was super close to throwing out these $400 boots and looks like I get to wear them all over again. I used to always get compliments on these boots and I loved that feeling and was sad when I tore them up pretty bad at an event. I will defiantly be coming back with my next pair of bad boys. Thanks so much Lo for the amazing job:)