Collection: Men's Turkish Shoes

                          Carpet shoes that are Woolie Wonders

These men's Turkish shoes are made by cobblers in Istanbul with decades of experience working with these woven fabrics. Each kilim, knotted carpet or tapestry is hand selected to assure the provenance and condition. Details are important especially when seeking organic dyes and older carpets.

The wool uppers of our bespoke carpet shoes are built on leather soles and leather insoles. There is a small heel [usually 5/8" ] and the soles and heels can be redone as needed. Not only are these shoes attractive - they are great walking shoes. Many people when replacing the soles will use a thin durable plastic sole.

These colorful  carpet shoes are not 'closet trophies' only to be worn on special days. Versatile means they work with most of the items in the closet. Denim pairs well with most of our shoes and slippers.

Kilim is flat weave fabric that has a myriad of uses ranging from carpets, tapestries, saddle bags, drapes, bed cover to name a few. Kilim is a rugged material and well suited for shoes. We select kilims that are older and that have been dyed using organic dyes. The dyes and the patterns make every kilim unique. We do not have kilim woven just to be cut into men's carpet loafers.

The organic dyes used in kilim can range from madder root or pomegranate for the red colors to indigo for the blue shades while hibiscus or walnut leaves make the greens. Browns come from walnut hulls or oxblood while the color black from oak apples [oak galls]. The yellows are from ox eye chamomile and turmeric. There is chemistry here.

The balance of the colors in natural dyes used in our designed shoes is what the eye finds so appealing. The colors are set so as not to bleed using a fixative such as alum, iron, copper, tin or chrome. Alum and cream of tarter sets the clearest colors. Natural dyes have richer or more complex colors than synthetic dyes that many Turkish shoes are using.  Gentle time and light only makes organic dyes more appealing while the synthetic remains almost unchanged. We like items that age well.

We hope you enjoy our wearable art, our sustainable shoes.

And by golly - The only issue you may have with these kilim shoes is endlessly people asking you about your beautiful shoes.