Every woman should own a pair of comfortable, black leather boots that accentuate her legs, remain stylish year after year and give her the confidence to venture out in the cold. I found my beloved Enzo Angiolini boots a little more than three years ago, at the end of the season. The knee-length boots are fitted without a zipper, and perfectly cradle my ankles. The two-inch kitten heel makes them suitable for long walks. Best of all, they were heavily discounted.

The catch? Well, reporters are supposed to pound the pavement. And I tend to do so with extra enthusiasm. So halfway into the season, without fail, I manage to scratch the leather off the stem of the heel, which, by that time, I have already rubbed down to the metal underneath.

Since I couldn’t bear to part with the boots, I became friends with the local shoemaker, a meticulous Italian man who worked out of a little shop on Victory Boulevard in Staten Island. His shop smelled of leather, oil, shoe polish, and … pride. He was a true craftsman.

Then, last spring, he shuttered the doors. Rent had gone up and it was about time he retired, he said.  He isn’t alone. Today, only 7,000 shoe repair shops exist in America. Only a decade ago, there were 12,000. “The trade is dying off; people go to college and do other things,” says Jim McFarland, a third-generation craftsman and member of The Shoe Service Institute of America’s board of directors. “Instead of repairing shoes we buy new ones and there’s a lot of cheap footwear out there,” notes Ilye Romanov, the 25-year-old entrepreneur who gave my boots a new shot at life.

Too busy to find a repair shop after the Victory Boulevard one closed, I had stuffed the boots into my closet and forgotten about them — until I heard about Romanov’s AmericanHeelers.com, which bills itself as the world’s first online shoe repair. The two-year-old company offers heel stem recovery ($29.99) in addition to shortening the length of high heels ($29.99), dyeing shoes ($21.99) and fixing tassels ($11.99). The company has recently branched out into orthopedic work, building up shoes for those with leg-length discrepancies, through a second Web site, www.orthopedicshoelift.com.

The process is quite simple and not all that different from getting movies through Netflix. Customers log onto AmericanHeelers.com and choose the shoe repair service needed. Within two to three business days, a postage-paid, self-addressed bag will arrive in the mail. Customers stuff their shoes into the bag and drop it in a mailbox. A cobbler based in the American Heelers headquarters in Ohio fixes the shoes. Those who chose not to prepay by credit card are billed via Pay Pal. The shoes are then mailed back within five to seven business days (about the same wait time one would expect at a traditional shoe repair shop).

Romanov, whose father has owned a shoe repair shop since the early ‘90s, when the family emigrated from Kiev, says he created the site because he “saw there was an opportunity.”

“Most other businesses have online presences; the shoe repair industry really does not,” he explains.

Romanov had not grown up planning to join the family business. He never learned the trade and instead, attended the Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University. “My father never wanted me slaving over one shop,” he says. “That’s why he sent me to college.”
Upon graduating, Romanov began a career at a boutique equity research fund. As a sideline, he persuaded his father to let him create a company Web site. The site launched in November 2006, and orders came pouring in, mostly through referrals.

Today, American Heelers employs four full-time cobblers. In 2007, an estimated 1,000 customers placed orders. The company is on track to grow its customer base to 3,000 in 2008, with the average customer spending between $50 and $65.

“My goal is to revolutionize the way people get their shoe repairs done,” he says. “Eventually, the goal is to shift the industry from a brick-and-mortar business to the Internet.”

Tamar S. Snyder is a New York-based journalist specializing in business, personal finance, education and careers. She holds a master’s in journalism from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and is a frequent contributor to AOL and MSN. Her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Inc. Magazine, Edutopia Magazine, and The Jewish Week.

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Attending to Wounded Soles

The world around us is changing. Maybe we have been a stay-at-home mom and now we’re facing the prospect of working out in the work force. We’re used to play dates at the park and McDonald’s luncheons. Our old t-shirt and comfortable jeans won’t cut it anymore. We’re already feeling overwhelmed as it is - I mean, maybe our only professional references have long since died or we can’t even remember their names. We’ve been changing diapers or shuttling kids to soccer practices for the last decade - and now we must change our tune.

One of the first things we may think of is our budget. How are we supposed to dress for success if we’re going back to work because we need more money? Clothes cost money. And nice clothes, even fashionable clothing, costs even more money. We may have to dip into our pockets for the essentials in women’s clothing, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Let’s go over some basics that we should have in our closets - these basics should cover the gamut: from casual to work to evening wear.

• A button down white shirt. This can be flattering to your figure if you choose a style that has darts for shaping. It’s also versatile - can be worn under a suit, or with a pair of jeans as an outer layer with a stylish camisole underneath, or even buttoned up with a skirt.
• A simple skirt. Choose between a pencil skirt or an A-line skirt. If the pencil is too hip-hugging - an A-line skirt may be perfect for the curvier woman.
• A suit. This could be essential if you’re searching for a job. Look for a three-piece suit: jacket, skirt and pant. This way you’ll get the most out of your money. The jacket can be worn with a pair of jeans for a more casual day, or over a dress. The pants can be worn with a variety of different tops. And the skirt can double up as the ’simple skirt’ essential listed above. The various combinations of outfits can be accentuated with different styles of shoes.
• Jeans. Maybe your work, or the interviewing process doesn’t allow for jeans, but every woman needs a good pair of jeans. Buy jeans with a dark wash for better matching, and jeans that are long enough if you want the versatility of wearing heels for a dressier look. Choose the boot-cut or slim cut - whatever suits your figure best. Jeans can be dressed down or up; wear with a silk blouse or even a simple t-shirt.
• Black dress. This is a must. You can dress this up or down. Choose one with a hemline that’s flattering to your body shape. In the summer, wear with a pretty pair of sandals. In the winter, pair with a blazer and boots. And for an elegant evening out, complement it with a pair of fashionable high heels.
• The layers. This is where you add the color and the variety. Stock up on t-shirts and camisoles, chunky beads, belts and bags.
• A wool coat. A classic wool coat can take you through years of changing fashion — just mix it up with trendy accessories; a large wrap scarf, hat etc.
• Sunglasses. Everyone needs a pair of these — to protect our eyes and for fun. There are so many styles out there that can complement every face shape.

So now we have an idea what we need to make an easy and ever-changing wardrobe, but still, money is tight. Let’s go over a couple of ways we can find these basics at a nominal price.

• Clothing swap. Make a party out of it. Have your friends bring gently used clothing and let everyone choose among the items. This way you can get rid of the old, and bring in some ‘new.’
• Online retailers. Online shopping or internet stores save us money by not actually running a physical store, so good deals can be found. Do some comparison shopping from the comfort of your own home.

Make a plan, purge your wardrobe, have a clothing swap, and then bargain shop for those essentials via the internet or wholesale clothing. Our own personal style may change as we age and it’s always rejuvenating to rid ourselves of our clothing clutter and really scrutinize what we need. Let’s remember to always be authentic to our own health and beauty and develop our own style which enhances our body type and shape.

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Women’s Clothing - Dress For Success on a Budget

The unisex sandals are made from recycled plastic and come in three styles and eight neon colors. Unlike Crocs, they’re equipped with an orthopedic sole and an inch-high wedged heel, offering extra support. The Hoki sandals have been featured in Elle, the April issue of the French Cosmopolitan and the daily fashion and style e-newsletter, DailyCandy. And Israeli celebrities, including singer Gal Uchovsky and comedian Uri Gotliv, have been spotted wearing Hoki sandals.

Part of Hoki’s draw is its deeply entrenched history. Half a century ago, the sandals were commonplace among housewives and old men working at the docks near Tel Aviv, those who wore the grubby-looking sandals while spending all day on their feet.

Slavin, 40, discovered an old pair of what would become the Hoki sandals while bicycling along Jaffa Road during the summer of 2006. “It was a very industrial road with very ugly stores,” she says. “It looked like Downtown Broadway near Chinatown 10 to 15 years ago.” As she was riding past the storefront, she spotted what she calls an “old man’s store” with dozens of dusty shoes strewn across a net. “For 50 years, he’s taking this net outside, never cleaning it,” she jokes. Something about the shop caught her eye (“I hate malls,” she says), and so she got off her bike to take a better look. Lo and behold, the shop owner unveiled a single pair of blue sandals in her size, which she says was a miracle since she’s a “38,” a very popular size. She bought the sandals for 20 shekels (about $6) and put them right on. “When I buy something, I always want to wear it immediately,” she explains.

Upon arriving back home, she turned the shoe over and noticed the name of the factory — Zivanit, a factory run by a kibbutz in the Golan Heights— written on the sole. Slavin called up Kibbutz Ein Zivan, where the man in charge told her that they hadn’t manufactured the sandals in at least 15 years. She pressed on — “I was obsessed with this,” she admits — until discovering that the kibbutz had sold its molds to another factory named Dafna.

So Slavin set up a meeting with the CEO of Dafna. She brought her flip-flop with her and told him about her plans to create a “new thing in fashion” in which she’d manufacture and market the retro sandals in vivid colors — shocking reds, metallic purples, bright pinks and shiny blues. In her mind, she would create a fashion fad by reviving the poor man’s footwear. “It’s a romantic story,” she says. “I took a sandal from the lower class and put it at the forefront of the fashion stage.”

ut first she faced more hurdles. The Dafna factory had thrown away many of the molds it had bought and converted the rest to steel, and the

CEO worried that the mold for the sandals no longer existed. Creating a new mold would cost thousands of dollars. And the CEO couldn’t understand why Slavin would be interested in the decidedly un-hip sandals. “He looked at me and must have asked himself, ‘Who is this kookoo coming over here?’” she says. She left his office slightly defeated.

But less than 24 hours later, Slavin received the call she had been hoping for. The Dafna factory had located the old mold and was willing to give it to her — rights included — for free. “They didn’t recognize the potential,” she says.

By February 2007, Slavin had arranged for the Dafna factory to produce 3,500 pairs of the plastic sandals in yellow, red, khaki and pearl white. She then assumed the role of publicity agent, singling out stores in Tel Aviv that she hoped would carry her sandals. Katomenta, the first store to carry the Hoki line in Israel, sold them for 119 shekels (about $35). “Everybody who thinks he’s someone buys there,” she says.

The company’s name, Hoki, is distinctly Japanese, not Hebrew. “I knew I wasn’t going to do business just in Israel, so I looked for some kind of name that everybody can say,” Slavin says. To help brainstorm names, Slavin made an appointment with the head of the Japanese embassy in Israel. The Japanese representative insisted that she come back with a pair of sandals in tow, adding that he had to see the product first to ensure she wasn’t insulting the Japanese language. Once she returned with the product, the Japanese representative suggested the name Hoki, which means a street broom (the Japanese have at least eight words for brooms, Slavin learned).

In 2007, Hoki sold more than 30,000 plastic sandals, bringing in revenues of $300,000. What’s the secret behind Hoki’s growing popularity? “They’re very comfortable,” Slavin says. “OK, it’s plastic. Sometimes you sweat in them. But the story behind them is very compelling. People like to buy something with a story.”

The business has largely been run like a “one-man band,” as Slavin describes it, with a sister managing the finances, a business partner in the south of France and individual distributors focused on placing the shoes in specialty stores in Europe, Canada, Asia and now New York.

Two months ago, Slavin scored big when a Brooklyn businessman who had previously invested in Crocs purchased a 45 percent stake in Slavin’s company. Slavin is currently developing a line of boots in addition to a jewelry line and new flip-flop designs. She’s also working on a line of purses, inspired by her grandmother’s collection.

“I hope it will be the next Crocs in the sales point of view,” she says. “But not in terms of fashion. Crocs are not fashionable.”

E-mail: tamar@jewishweek.org.

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The Next ‘Crocs,’ Direct From Tel Aviv