Bespoke New York Adventures--Shirts and Shoes

I was able to take 24 hours out of my work schedule and travel to New York for a bespoke adventure. My plan was to meet with Mr. Kabbaz on Thursday night and return to Boston on Friday. The meeting with Alex took place as scheduled--it was a very enjoyable "hour plus" appointment, during which time I learned quite a bit about the architecture of a properly made shirt. I eagerly placed an order and cannot wait until I'm able to try on my first "trial" shirt. Alex appears to be obsessed with shirtmaking, and I mean that as a compliment.

I had assumed that would be the end of my bespoke adventure, but on Friday morning I had an hour to kill before leaving the city, so I dropped into Silvano Lattanzi's store on Madison. Who should I see there but Mr. Lattanzi himself, visiting from Italy to take measurements for custom shoe orders. Mr. Lattanzi had made a pair of bespoke shoes for me two years ago. The shoes were wonderful--they fit perfectly, they were very comfortable--but, after a year of wearing, one of the shoes began making a squeaking sound when I walked. Through an interpreter, I asked Mr. Lattanzi about this, and he said that such squeaking was not unusual, that it was in fact a hallmark of a hand-made shoe. He said it resulted from a piece of leather placed underneath the sole. I have no idea what he was taking about. Does this make sense? Can anyone help out here? For what it is worth, Mr. Lattanzi offered to look at the shoes and make any adjustments that were necessary. He also took my measurements again, this time for a loafer.

If anyone can make sense of the explanation for the squeaking, I sure would appreciate it. It made me wish I spoke Italian--speaking through an interpreter can be very frustrating!