When life hands you lemons make cool shoes.
…have you heard that before?
Years ago I was rock climbing at Seneca Rock in West Virgina and made a mistake.
I fell 75 feet and hit the ground. With both feet broken, one ankle in pieces, and a lot
of help from my climbing partner I hiked a mile to a vehicle.
The first hosptal did what they could, then transfered me to the University of West
Virginia Medical Center. The doctors there put me back together, but warned it was
unlikely I would walk right again.
I accepted that challange. As you can imagine, I was going to need special shoes.
My searches turned up lots of “comfortable” shoes and lots of support shoes, but I
didn’t like how they fit and they looked clunky. The more I searched, the more
dissapointed I became. Maybe you could pull it off, but walking around in ugly,
clunky shoes with a limp was not my best look.
Can a shoe be beautiful and supportive? Being an engineer, I decided to find out.
The Comfort of Moccasins
The Security of Monk Straps
First I have to tell you about a bigger problem. A worldwide problem that crosses all
species. If I were honest, I would say it is probably every man’s biggest concern.
More important than home or career, the most important job of every male is to find the
right partner. Our primary job is to capture the attention of a desireable mate.
Some species have built in advavntages. To help them out, nature gave Lions their
beautiful mane, Peacocks their tails, even Cardinals were given a special color.
Human males have none of those, but we do have D‘s Mocs!
Personal experience has proven that in a group or all alone.. If you are wearing D’s
Mocs when an Alpha (male or female) approaches, it won’t matter if you are wearing
leopard, snake or alligator.
Alphas recognize Alphas.
I want to tell you what it feels like when a stranger runs up to you at a gas station,
asking about your shoes.
…but first I have to tell you about “The Fire”,
In February of 2024 our most recent dog rescue, chasing a possum (we
think), began digging under the building. …We didn’t notice she was
digging beside the electric cable.
Three days later we lost everything inside the shop, except the animals.
There are pictures on facebook, at D’s Mocs, if you want to see them.
The Fire Inspectors believe she losened the wire, allowing it to get hot,
inside the wall.
I wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone.
We were very happy to have Insurance, but that created a difficult
decision. Build back or move to the carribean?
…I could make shoes by the beach…
As life and God will have it any of life’s problems are clearer with a new
point-of-view. A seeminly random interaction with a stranger forced us to
look at it differently.
On our way home from the carribean (where we had been talking
seriously about our retirement). We stopped for our third tank of gas that
day. Road weary and slightly unfocused, I was pumping gas, when a car
pulled up behind us. Not terribly unususal, until the guy jumped out and
sprinted toward me, pointing at my shoes and asking about them. Long
story short, I had an order for two pairs waiting when we got home.
For the rest of our drive home, we debated our future.
We had a shop and orders but no machines, no patterns and no lasts. If
you’ve ever made a shoe, you know how important the last is. Ours were
all custom made.
D’s Mocs
D’s Mocs Began With A Rock Climbing Fall
…fit like a glove
I love our shoes and they have gotten better over the years. Still
there’s always some room for improvement.
This was my chance,
We went to work.
The biggest changes we made are:
The shape - a round moccasin toe to a shoe shape
The name - Garnet Mocs to D’s Mocs
…Plus half a dozen smal upgrades
Happily the changes have improved the look, the fit and the
durability. Now most customers say D’s Mocs, “Fit like a glove”
We hope you agree - tell us what you think!
