(WHY DOES NOBODY TALK ABOUT) CLOWN SHOES? | TBAMFW # 20

Clowns on record jackets can be found aplenty (Charles Mingus' "The Clown", The Dickies' "Killer Klowns From Outer Space", the complete records output of the punk band Das Klowns), but clown shoes seems like a taboo.

Converse All Star Clown Shoes

Source: John Manzanet's Pinterest

Clownshoes 

An insult inferring that the receiver is a walking joke, including their actions, habits, appearance, and ultimately, their existence. 

Source: Urban Dictionary

Fat Mike's NOFX

Cokie The Clown 7"EP/CD EP (Fat Wreck Chords, 2009) - Back cover

I had written a song called “Cokie The Clown,” about a bitter birthday clown who gets out of rehab and takes petty revenge on his audience by dosing them with various drugs. 

Fat Mike (Burkett) | NOFX singer/songwriter/bass player

From: NOFX The Hepatitis Bathtub And Other Stories (Da Capo Press, 2016)

And that's just the beginning, you should read the rest of the story. Or the whole book, but we're digressing here. 

Mike's photograph appeared on the back cover of the 7" EP "Cokie The Clown", so it doesn't really count. In the end, we're left with a band called Yeastie Boys, from Orange County, California, featuring a rotating cast of Golden Boys previously in Adolescents, TSOL, Hated, Chiefs …

Orange County's Yeastie Boys

Self Titled demo (2012)

Unfortunately the picture above shows their demo, hence not an official record. Meaning, up until now, no one dared to put - prominently - clown shoes on record covers. A taboo still waiting to be broken.

The Dickies

Killer Klowns From Outer Space (Mini LP Enigma, 1988)

"Oh no, not clown shoes! I must be in for some pretty bad news!" Flora's mother, Ella, said when Flora telephoned her that evening.
"What do you mean, Mother? I've just given you some pretty bad news"
"It's a song, "Clown Shoes" I've been trying to remember the words for years, and who it was by. Was it Johnny Burnette? 

… anyway, in the song, this girl sends her boyfriend a pair of clown shoes to tell him they're through. It's hilarious - as if sending clown shoes was standard dating protocol. Do you think there was a special clowns' shoe department in the shoe store, or that they had to buy them from a circus? Anyway, it ends up with the boy putting the clown shoes on. Sad. 

Shena Mackay
From: Crossing The Bordder/Trouser Ladies (Storycuts, 2011)

Bérurier Noir

Enfoncez L' Clown (Compilation - Last Call Records, 1999)

 ______________________________________

THESE BOOTS ARE MADE FOR WALKING
S H O E S  &  M U S I C
______________________________________

Weekly World News | December 13, 2004

...the hottest thing in haute couture.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE ARPAD FAMILY

In this fantastical interpretation of footwear, Arpad presents an intensely inventive and unique rendition of the platform sole, an important feature at the time. Although the source of inspiration is not known, the arched supports strongly recall building or aqueduct forms, underlining the parallel numerous clothing designers have made between fashion and architecture. 

Source:
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NY

1939 | Steven Arpad | The Viaduct-Style

Source: Shoes - Linda O'Keffe (Workman Publishing, 1996)

Also not available is a thorough Steven Arpad biography, in spite of shreds of information we've taken from yellowed digital sources. It's easier to find Arpad-inspired shoes than actual Arpad info - take for instance this Albanese of Rome platform here below - however, for a moment, we thought we could score.

1972 | Enzo Albanese (AKA Albanese Of Rome, Enzo Of Rome)

The Roman Viaduct-Style

Steven Arpad's son, James, emailed us after we first wrote about his father's work and things looked promising.

September 5, 2012 

Hello,

A friend sent me your site with the article about my father, and I am so pleased to have you interested and to be looking for me. 

I left NYC after he died, and moved south to Atlanta, Georgia to care for my mother who was terminally ill. I stayed here and no longer do fashion design. 

Please email me back as I would enjoy sharing with you about my father.

James

We did it right away, twice, and finally James Arpad wrote back saying he would love to contribute to make available all the information about his father. A wonderful task - he said - especially for the great designs and talent to be discovered by his grandchildren and the world at large. 

In a later email James Arpad asked us about the celebrated encrusted Ferragamo pump owned by Marilyn Monroe he saw in a magazine. 

The pavee jewelling technique was invented by my father, and he had done the jeweling for the Marilyn shoes for Ferragamo, but the magazine did not credit him, they just said Swarovski.

The ruby crystal shoe was showcased at Florence's Ferragamo Museum and he was wondering if the museum did credit his father's work.

I remember a particular Women's Wear Daily article from the 50's or 60's that wrote about my father inventing the art of Pavee crystal application, and how he was doing jeweled shoes as well as handbags and jewelry with it. It may be available online before I find it in my warehouse.

It goes without saying that there was no trace of Steven Arpad being mentioned at the Ferragamo Museum. After that, things came to a halt. We wrote James again but his mail address stopped working and we were left with nothing.  

From the personal wardrobe of Marilyn Monroe

Salvatore Ferragamo rhinestones encrusted pump

Sold at Christie's for $ 48,000 to Wanda Ferragamo

Source: The Marilyn Monroe Collection

Almost nothing, as our quest for Arpad's data has borne some fruit:

Arpad, with a long career in creative fashion in Paris and New York, is the originator of several new techniques in making jewelry and other accessories. 

One is called "pavee", which is the cementing of stones or other materials on leathers, fabrics, furs and cotton to make designs or jewelry. Another process is called "emaux", a chemical method of applying color to materials to give them a porcelain, mosaic or ceramic look. And a third, without a name yet, gives leather a surface finish in florals, geometric, abstracts, any design Arpad works out... 

Arpad does jewels and other accessories for the fashion collections of such designers as Norman Norell and Pauline Trigere. For Miss Trigere's fall and winter collection he used "pavee" on furs and evening clothes. to get an idea of the paste-up job involved Arpad said one triangular stole at trigere's alone used 54,00 stones. His factory has some 160 persons doing the various treatments. 

Gay Pauley

United Press International/Eugene Register Guard | August 23, 1964

Another Arpad collaboration almost went unnoticed:

Beth Levine collaborated with Steven Arpad, a rhinestone specialist working with Balenciaga in Paris, to make the first fully jeweled shoe. When Beth wore a pair of prototypes aboard a ship to Paris, buyers saw them and they became a sensation before she even returned home. 

Helene Verin

(Beth Levine Shoes - Stewart Tabori & Chand, 2009)

1963 | Evening Shoe, Pavé | Beth Levine

Satin, black, gold copper and clear rhinestones in tiger pattern, leathe sole and lining

Source: Beth Levine Shoes - Stewart Tabori & Chang, 2009

Curious to note Arpad as a "rhinestone specialist" and not as a shoe designer, a career he left behind probably a decade earlier. 

Another late discovery is the outstanding heel work here below from 1956 which makes easier to understand why we are so curious about his career(s).

1956 | Steven Arpad | Gilded heels

Photograph: Ernst Beadle 

Source: DEVODOTCOM

In the meantime we managed to find bits of information about James Arpad who followed his father's step as a jewelry designer.

Red lapel ribbons, like those worn during the Academy Awards presentation to show support in the struggle against AIDS, are still being seen around town, including a glittery jeweled version. 

The beaded pins are the work of James Arpad, a jewelry designer, who is donating the profits to an AIDS charity. "I thought I would take it one step further and make it something of permanence," Mr. Arpad said. The pins are hand­jeweled with Austrian crystal pave on leather, to approximate the feeling of the ribbon.  

"A few people wore them at the Oscars, including Richard Pryor," Mr. Arpad said. "And Elizabeth Taylor wore one at last week's Amfar benefit." Originally created by a group of artists in downtown New York about a year ago, the red ribbons have become a fashion accessory. 

Mr. Arpad's version cost $100 and can be ordered by calling ----- The profits will be donated to the Design Industries Foundation for AIDS. 

Woody Hochswender

The New York Times - April 21, 1992

Red Ribbon Appeal

World AIDS Day 1 December

James Arpad

Jewelry design

1989 | Earrings by James Arpad

Source: Texas Monthly

Jewels are cool, but we always come back for shoes and Steven Arpad's shoes never cease to amaze: like those few models from the MET collection on exhibit at San Francisco's Legion Of Honor (High Style - The Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection, March 2015).

As far as we are concerned, we'd love to finish what we started, so would somebody, somewhere, provide any additional info about Steven Arpad and/or his son James?

JEWELLED

THE CURIOUS CASE OF STEVEN ARPAD

STEVEN ARPAD
BEFORE AND AFTER THE GUGGENHEIM BUILDING

1939 | Steven Arpad

Evening shoes | Black silk and black painted carved wood

Source: ANISANAÏS

1921 | I.MILLER OPENS BUILDING | FIFTH AVENUE AT 46TH ST., NEW YORK

1921 | I. Miller & Sons

The I.Miller Semi Annual Sale

The new I. Miller Building and Shop, at Fifth Avenue and 46th St., New York were opened with an informal reception and dance on Monday evening, February 14. It is an eleven-story structure, and I. Miller & Sons, Inc., will use the main and mezzanine floors as salesrooms. These are elaborately furnished with comfortable settees, are handsomely decorated and show novelty in style of display. 

The children's shoe department is located in the basement and is finished in white enamel, with an ingenious arrangement of swings and chairs, and a display of baby shoes surrounded by all kinds of toys in show cases. The Millerkin sales girls and nurses will look after the juvenile customers. The third floor will be used by the private and general offices for the firm. 

A large crowd was entertained by I. Miller, his family and attaches, at the opening, and congratulations on the splendid establishment were showered upon the enterprising firm. A fine orchestra furnished the promenade and dance music, and refreshments were served in profusion. 

The New York Clipper | February 16, 1921

1921 | I. Miller & Sons

Stage Shoes

WHO ARE THESE FOUR LEADING ACTRESSES? 

Who are the best loved actresses in the drama, comedy, opera and film divisions of American stage entertainment ? Their names are being sought by I. Miller who has just completed an imposing structure at 46 St. and Broadway, with the end in view of honoring them and their professions by placing their statues in four golden niches on the exterior of the structure, where Broadways throngs, may view them in passing. 

Thirty-five years ago Mr. Miller came to America from Europe, a poor young man whose trade was that of designing shoes. In appreciation of the patronage of theatrical people, which was the foundation of his success, he desires to make the building a testimonial to their friendship. When the niches were included in the structure's scheme of exterior decoration, the idea came to Mr. Miller to use them in honoring the four departments of entertainment mentioned, through the use of the statues. 

He was at a loss, however, to know just how to go about the task of making selections. Friends in the amusement business suggested he permit the amusement-loving public to decide. The plan pleased him and was adopted. In the near future an inquiry will be launched through a novel plan B which, it is hoped, the identities of the four best-loved actresses in the four lines will be learned. A competent sculptor then will be commissioned to make the statues and these will be placed in the niches with appropriate ceremonies. 

Vaudevilla News, 29 October 1926

I.MILLER
I N D E X
DeLuxe Shoes

I. Miller Building | New York

Here a close up of the Marilyn Miller statue

Source: Jerry Miller | The Wandering Shoe

FOOTNOTE

"The competent sculptor" was Alexander Stirling Calder, a successful sculptor, but today he is remembered as the father of Alexander Calder, the author of the signature “mobile, whose suspended, abstract elements move and balance in changing harmony”. [Source: Calder Foundation website]

1980 | SERENDIPITY | THE ZEBRA SHOE

1980 | ZEBRA CLUB | San Diego

Source: The Chè Underground (San Diego Underground Scene Of The 1980's)

The Zebra Club - later renamed Saigon Palace - was an underground rock club in 1980's San Diego. It is now a meat market. Flyer artist is unknown.

1995 | Stéphane Couvé Bonnaire

Source: The Art Of The Shoe

Giraffe shoe and zebra shoe in kidskin and velvet painted entirely by hand. Heels of carved wood covered with hide evoking the hind legs of a giraffe and a zebra. Created by Stéphane Couvé Bonnaire, winner of the competition under the category for the stiletto heel organized by the Style Bureau of the National Federation of the Shoe Industry in 1995. 

Marie-Josèphe Bossan

The Art Of The Shoe (Sirrocco, 2007)

It seems unlikely that a French shoe designer knew about San Diego garage-rock; then again it seems unlikely that a footwear website knows about the same matter. By the way: we wrote already about Fullerton's Nu-Beams (appearing at the Zebra Club May 17, 1980).

U P D A T E S

1927 | I.Miller presents the Summer Collection

Featuring THE TWIRL (top left)

I.MILLER
DELUXE SHOES | INDEX

TBAMFW # 16
RAIN BOOTS - SEA BOOTS - WATER BOOTS - RUBBER BOOTS

1935 | RENÉ MAGRITTE & FRIENDS
LE MODÈLE ROUGE/THE RED MODEL

SS33 | BARROW'S - W. J. DAWOS
HISTORY OF

1973 | W.J. DAWOS / BARROW'S
THE LOST INTERVIEW

1961 | THE MISSING ARTISAN
JACQUELINE KENNEDY SHOES

1965 | ANDRÉ COURRÈGES
THE WHITE GOGGLES A.K.A. LUNETTES [FEATURING SALVADOR DALÌ]

(BEFORE AND AFTER) 1971
BIRTH OF THE 100% GENUINE LEATHER TRADE-MARK

JUDY GARLAND'S RUBY SLIPPERS

EN VOGUE AGAIN

CHELSEA BOOT/BEATLE BOOT
THE ORIGIN, THE STORY & THE LEGACY

1927 | I.Miller presents

THE TWIRL

1927 | The Eternal Flapper

Edna Wallace Hopper says: buy I.Miller

50'S | FROM THE VAULT | ITALIAN RELICS | FERRARA | VIGEVANO

1950s | Calzaturificio Ferrara, Vigevano 

Photograph: Pierluigi Omodeo Salé

1950s | Calzaturificio Ferrara, Vigevano 

Photograph: Pierluigi Omodeo Salé

Photographs: Pierluigi Omodeo Salè
From: "Calzatura - Documenti Di Fotografia Dagli Anni '50 Agli Anni '70"
Edited by Nella Zanotti - Diffusioni Grafiche, 1991


CALZATURIFICIO FERRARI
PART 1 | PART 2

CREAZIONI VESPA
PART 1 | PART 2

1950s | Calzaturificio Ferrara, Vigevano 

Photograph: Pierluigi Omodeo Salé

50'S | FROM THE VAULT | ITALIAN RELICS | SULTANISSIMA | VIGEVANO | PART 2

1950s | Sultanissima by Calzaturificio Sultana, Vigevano 

Photograph: Pierluigi Omodeo Salé

1950s | Sultanissima by Calzaturificio Sultana, Vigevano 

Photograph: Pierluigi Omodeo Salé

1950s | Sultanissima by Calzaturificio Sultana, Vigevano 

Photograph: Pierluigi Omodeo Salé

50'S | SULTANISSIMA | VIGEVANO | PART 1

Photographs: Pierluigi Omodeo Salè

From: "Calzatura - Documenti Di Fotografia Dagli Anni '50 Agli Anni '70"

Edited by Nella Zanotti - Diffusioni Grafiche, 1991


CALZATURIFICIO FERRARI
PART 1 | PART 2

CREAZIONI VESPA
PART 1 | PART 2

CALZATURIFICIO FERRARA
VIGEVANO

1950s | Sultanissima by Calzaturificio Sultana, Vigevano 

Photograph: Pierluigi Omodeo Salé

50'S | FROM THE VAULT | ITALIAN RELICS | SULTANISSIMA | VIGEVANO | PART 1

1950s | Sultanissima by Calzaturificio Sultana, Vigevano, 

Source: Archivio Centrale dello Stato

Sultanissima was a trademark patented in 1958 by the shoe factory “Sultana di Merlo & Bianchi” of Vigevano. It was applied to their most elegant women’s shoes.

Sultanissima era il marchio creato nel 1958 per caratterizzare la produzione da donna più elegante dal calzaturificio vigevanese “Sultana di Merlo & Bianchi”, che già esisteva da alcuni anni.

1950s | Sultanissima by Calzaturificio Sultana, Vigevano 

Photograph: Pierluigi Omodeo Salé

1950s | Sultanissima by Calzaturificio Sultana, Vigevano 

Photograph: Pierluigi Omodeo Salé

50'S | SULTANISSIMA | VIGEVANO | PART 2

Photographs: Pierluigi Omodeo Salè

From: "Calzatura - Documenti Di Fotografia Dagli Anni '50 Agli Anni '70"

Edited by Nella Zanotti - Diffusioni Grafiche, 1991

CALZATURIFICIO FERRARI
PART 1 | PART 2

CREAZIONI VESPA
PART 1 | PART 2

CALZATURIFICIO FERRARA
VIGEVANO

1950s | Sultanissima by Calzaturificio Sultana, Vigevano 

Photograph: Pierluigi Omodeo Salé

C.L.A.M.S. | BOLOGNA

1959 | C.L.A.M.S.

Calzature di Lusso Artigiane Mercatali Sauro

Bologna

The shoe factory C.L.A.M.S. was registered at Rome's Central Patents Office in 1957. CLAMS stands for Calzature di Lusso Artigiane Mercatali Sauro (Artisanal Luxury Footwear Mercatali Sauro). The holder was Nazario Sauro Mercatali from Modigliana, who had graduated in Business Administration during the war with a thesis on "Cost control in industrial enterprises" at the Bologna University. The shoe factory - based in Bologna, Via Bondi 23 - was an EMCI member (Italian Fashion Footwear Board). 

Il calzaturificio C.L.A.M.S. fu registrato all’Ufficio Centrale dei Brevetti di Roma nel 1957. CLAMS era l’acronimo di Calzature di Lusso Artigiane Mercatali Sauro. Il titolare era il Dott. Nazario Sauro Mercatali di Modigliana, che si era laureato in Economia e Commercio durante la guerra con una tesi su “Il controllo dei costi nelle imprese industriali” a Bologna. Il calzaturificio era membro dell’EMCI (Ente Moda Calzatura Italiana), ed aveva sede a Bologna, in via Bondi 23.

1959 | C.L.A.M.S.

Bologna

1959 | C.L.A.M.S.

Bologna

1963 | C.L.A.M.S. | detail

Bologna

1963 | C.L.A.M.S.

Bologna

1964 | C.L.A.M.S. | detail

Bologna

1964 | C.L.A.M.S. | detail

Bologna

Sources:

E.M.C.I. (Ente Moda Calzatura Italiana / Italian Fashion Footwear Board) Bologna Catalogues

Archivio Storico Università di Bologna

1964 | C.L.A.M.S.

Bologna

1973 | COLETTE | PARABIAGO, MILAN

1973 | COLETTE | detail

Parabiago, Milan

Source: Ars Sutoria

1973 | COLETTE

Parabiago, Milan

Source: Ars Sutoria

1973 | COLETTE FOR BIKI
JANUARY | HAUTE COUTURE ROME

COLETTE
I N D E X

1973 | COLETTE

Parabiago, Milan

Source: Ars Sutoria

TBAMFW # 19 | BACK TO THE BOOTS

The Hollowbodies - Lame

(Polydor, 1996)

Jaimi Faulkner - In My Father's Boots CD Single
(V2, 2013)

Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds - The Boots CD EP

(Blenheimvineyards.com, 2013)

Mr. Big - Mr. Big

(Atlantic, 1989)

Joe South - Walkin' Boots

(Mine, 1970)

The Killers - Boots CD Single

(Island, 2010)

WORKING BOOTS
IN ART

SHOES
& MUSIC

Ben Webster - Stormy Weather

(Polydor, 1970)

FOOTNOTES

The title Back To The Boots was stolen from a small label/mail order out of Berlin; from their catalogue we strongly suggest Daisy Chain's "She's A Boxer".

We don't endorse any of the above records save for Joe South and Ben Webster (higher resolution cover required of the latter).

Back to The Boots | label & mailorder

Germany