Cobbler RUINED my louboutins! Is there a CL ER/hospital for ruined shoes?
- Thread starter chicbabacool
- Start date
i had something similar happen to me!! i took my black leather helmuts to the cobbler for the same thing. the rubber soles were in black and i knew that but i had pretty much wrecked the sole so i didn't mind. he did a really good job applying the rubber sole thing but he painted the rest of the soles (the part where you see the red when walking) with black paint! he thought he was doing me a favour so that i wouldn't be walking around with red and black soles.
it wasn't as bad but i know what it feels like to have your special shoes come back in less than perfect shape. i feel for you. hope it all goes well.
it wasn't as bad but i know what it feels like to have your special shoes come back in less than perfect shape. i feel for you. hope it all goes well.
there is a wonderful artisan in beverly hills : mr stepani at stepani leather creations... he has salvaged shoes destroyed by lesser cobblers for me in the past. he is awesome and will gladly show you his work... he does work for the local saks and chanel i think as well as many others and he specializes in exotic leathers, especially alligator. it takes some time to get your stuff back but the work is exquisite.
we travel alot and you can't trust referrals. i usually take in a lesser pair of shoes for repairs and see the quality of the work that comes back. it also gives me a chance to chat/look around the store at other work. if i am satisfied the good shoes go in for work. if i can wait i wait and get them done at stepani's.
some people just do not have the skills and training to do delicate work. *****ing them out will not make it better and a redo will just be a redo of bad bad work... what is the point?
i have had a beloved purse ruined as well as shoes destroyed by "professonal" cobblers without a clue... luckily the purse was still under warranty and mr stepani has saved all of my shoes!
we travel alot and you can't trust referrals. i usually take in a lesser pair of shoes for repairs and see the quality of the work that comes back. it also gives me a chance to chat/look around the store at other work. if i am satisfied the good shoes go in for work. if i can wait i wait and get them done at stepani's.
some people just do not have the skills and training to do delicate work. *****ing them out will not make it better and a redo will just be a redo of bad bad work... what is the point?
i have had a beloved purse ruined as well as shoes destroyed by "professonal" cobblers without a clue... luckily the purse was still under warranty and mr stepani has saved all of my shoes!
Ok, so here's the scoop from Arty:
The red treads that are sold by that one vendor on eBay are PLASTIC! Yes, plastic. They sell the same material in big sheets and he bought some of it for use as a FLOOR MAT. He showed me how the soles and the mat were the same material, and it totally was. He said that it RUINS the leather of shoes to put plastic soles on them.
What he said he's going to do is strip off the bad soles and put on new red rubber soles. His rubber soles are a dark red color and they're super thin, unlike the eBay soles that are super thick. I mentioned him to the SA at the Louboutin Boutique on Horatio and she said that he's amazing and does wonderful work. He showed me a finished pair and he does unbelievable work.
Ladies, if I knew how much better I was gonna feel at this point I never would have spent all night crying. I cannot WAIT to get them back. He said that he'll probably have them (and my new pair) shipped to me by Friday.
Moral of the story is DON'T TAKE YOUR CL's TO YOUR LOCAL COBBLER, unless your local cobbler is experienced with luxury shoes. If you want to preserve the red soles, ship them to Arty's Shoe Service. It's the only place the CL Boutique knew of that put quality red rubber soles on shoes.
Thank you Leddatomica for the recommendation!
The red treads that are sold by that one vendor on eBay are PLASTIC! Yes, plastic. They sell the same material in big sheets and he bought some of it for use as a FLOOR MAT. He showed me how the soles and the mat were the same material, and it totally was. He said that it RUINS the leather of shoes to put plastic soles on them.
What he said he's going to do is strip off the bad soles and put on new red rubber soles. His rubber soles are a dark red color and they're super thin, unlike the eBay soles that are super thick. I mentioned him to the SA at the Louboutin Boutique on Horatio and she said that he's amazing and does wonderful work. He showed me a finished pair and he does unbelievable work.
Ladies, if I knew how much better I was gonna feel at this point I never would have spent all night crying. I cannot WAIT to get them back. He said that he'll probably have them (and my new pair) shipped to me by Friday.
Moral of the story is DON'T TAKE YOUR CL's TO YOUR LOCAL COBBLER, unless your local cobbler is experienced with luxury shoes. If you want to preserve the red soles, ship them to Arty's Shoe Service. It's the only place the CL Boutique knew of that put quality red rubber soles on shoes.
Thank you Leddatomica for the recommendation!
chicbabacool so glad this tragedy will soon come to an end for you. I cant wait to see pictures of the fixed soles and of course the new pair!
Im glad to hear your CL's can be fixed my cobbler snapped the heel on mine whilst changing the tips on them 
but because it was under the leather i didnt find this out till later... anyway they are being shown to the buyer from the store I got them from, I just hope they can be fixed...
but because it was under the leather i didnt find this out till later... anyway they are being shown to the buyer from the store I got them from, I just hope they can be fixed...
I still have not picked up my shoes yet...but now im getting scared!
At least now I know where to send the rest of them to.
Post pics when you get them!
Whew! Chic, I feel better reading about your experience with Artie's. I am keeping my finger's crossed.
They came back Arty's in GREAT condition! They look fabulous now! Although the rubber still goes far up, that can never be fixed since the evil cobbler ground it down. But now it's seamless and the rubber looks great!
I'm SO relieved!
I'm SO relieved!
Arty's did a wonderful job on CLs. I haven't used them before, but I am going to check them out after seeing the gorgeous job arty's did on your shoes.