Not sure if this has been covered here before, but according to internet lore, the renowned shoe KOL Gary Tok first dabbled in shirts before ultimately succumbing to the allure of bespoke footwear. A natural progression, so to speak.
Over time, @shirtingfantasy’s Instagram has similarly evolved into a veritable shoe account—hence the moniker, "Shirt enthusiast on a sole search" (not soul search, mind you). It follows much the same trajectory, albeit with a bittersweet tinge.
So, on this fine rainy day in 2026, more than a year since the last dispatch, @shirtingfantasy would like to kick off a new series of posts. The humble, if perhaps slightly unrealistic, wish is to rejuvenate this blog. Readers are still more than welcome to ask questions about shirts or suits; it is merely the writing speed that has lagged, though hopefully not the thinking and content generation. (N.B. @shirtingfantasy can also be found on Instagram under the same handle, and on Red Note as @何生今年再買鞋).
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| Lazyman from Marquess. Restrained proportions, British soft square toe - not sharp chisel. Still, it has all the bells and whistles of bespoke. Shoes picked up during Shoji San's May 2026 trunkshow in Hong Kong, China. |
Here are some random menswear musings, transported and translated from @shirtingfantasy's other outlets for rumbling thoughts.
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Reflection 1: The modern shoe enthusiast's obsession with extreme sole specifications, often at the expense of overall harmony and proportion
originally published in Chinese on @何生今年再買鞋 on 24 April 2026 under the title 《純粹與古樸》
Once upon a time—and perhaps still to this day—a rather unhealthy trend took root amongst handmade shoe enthusiasts. Much like the ancient King of Chu’s infamous penchant for narrow waists, where "what the superior loves, the inferiors will pursue to the extreme", the soles of handcrafted shoes have devolved into a mere game of stacking specifications:
- The waist must be bevelled, and the narrower, the better.
- The sole must feature a fiddleback design, and the sharper, the better.
- The heel must be a Cuban heel, and the more miniature, the better.
Let us not even mention design or materials. The prevailing logic seems to be that the higher the technical difficulty, the better the shoe; the more "instantly impressive" it looks in a photograph, the greater the masterpiece. This relentless pursuit of specifications speaks directly to the primal, caveman-like enthusiasm of menswear geeks. The fact that one can compare the specs of bespoke shoes just as one would a custom-built computer is, to them, one of life's absolute joys!
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| Koji Endo's sole work. One wouldn't say it's the cleanest in Japan - at least not at the level of Main d'Or, who can just pull out a (random) shoe from his production line and get the third place in the "notorious" competition. However, the clean and harmonious lines of the natural colour sole (worn once before this photo was taken) make @shirtingfantasy think that this pair of shoes is good enough - from the pure perspective of shoe enjoyment. |
However, at their core, shoes are practical, durable goods. Functional decorations should stem from actual utility rather than mere one-upmanship. While international shoemaking championships have undeniably elevated consumer awareness and fostered healthy competition amongst cordwainers, shoe bloggers and manufacturers desperate for clicks are often reluctant to state the obvious: that comfort and looking good from a normal social distance remain the most vital core values of any footwear.
To whip out a zoom or macro lens to scrutinise the bottom of a shoe, and to treat this as the primary or sole pursuit of the hobby, is quite simply missing the forest for the trees.
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While @shirtingfantasy cannot promise to grace these pages with another update too soon—life, as always, has a habit of getting in the way of good footwear and fine shirting—he wholeheartedly welcomes readers to share their thoughts, agreements, or even their macro-lens grievances in the comments below or via Instagram.
Until then, goodbye!
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