Say 'cobblers' to the recession

Fashion has had a falling out with the credit card, or should I say that the other way around? In these horrible purse-tightening times, it seems that we are sadly running out of excuses to justify that pair of shoes or this season's Balmain jacket. However, all is not doomed, because this year it looks like fashion has found a new friend.

When I tell you who, try not to laugh. Some of you actually may find a dictionary helpful because this word has been gone so long that I don’t know if you’ll know what I’m talking about - cobblers. No, I don’t mean your grandma’s name for some strange fruit and pastry dessert, I mean that old man with his burgundy apron and his white beard. Now that might just be my cobbler, but look closely and you’ll find yours.

One morning last week, coincidentally after a night out, I had collected my shoes from where I had kicked them off, only to discover that I had worn the heel down so much that the metal had now begun to show. I feared that one more outing and the heel would actually collapse beneath me. Not only that but the sole would probably disintegrate and I would be partly barefoot - in a hole-in-my-shoe kind of way.

Well there was nothing for it but the bin. It saddened me that my trusty black stilettos had come so far and this was how it ended. It had taken me a good three months to soften the leather around my feet so that when I wore them it was like putting on a glove. Now I had to endure the tight fitting shoe that was sure to cause a blister on the back of my heel and a wobbling, painful hike home. I say hike because for me, it feels like a workout.

What should become of my shoes now, I wonder? When almost by magic, Desmond the cobbler comes flying through my windows with a cape of gold and red. OK, maybe not, but metaphorically speaking – my shoes have been rescued!

I happened to be having a spare key cut when I noticed a row of tan
boots, black platforms and ruby red Mary Janes. Could it be a shoe
graveyard? Oh no, these shoes were revived with brand new heels
and polished so much that I could see my open-mouthed face staring
back at myself. It took just five minutes for my stilettos to join the party.

When I picked them up the next day, I swear they looked like new. A
brand new soul, sorry I mean, sole, a brand new heel and so shiny
that I could not believe it when he asked me for five pounds. Yes,
five pounds for the revival of my favourite shoes. Five pounds and I
wouldn’t have to endure the ‘wearing them in’ courtesy month. Five
pounds and I could impress everyone with how money-conscious
I am. Well, I tell you, in these tough times, five pounds is a lot more realistic than the lucrative price of those Louis Vuitton shoes; Madonna probably had to keep her leg in the air like that just to stop it being stolen.

What I do know is that now is the time to revisit past traditions.
Go to the cobblers, or have a dressmaker alter that maxi-dress
which drags behind you. Don’t bin it and declare it a waste of
money. There are opportunities for clothes long after they have
expired their trend of the moment label. Customise, use the
fabric as a headscarf or as cushion covers … again this is
something you can have done at an alterations shop. It’s time
to get creative and cost-effective because this year it’s about
making what you have last … just a season or two longer anyway.

Before: My battered boot