Spanish Chopines

While I was making the venetian chopines I talked to our lovely Baroness, Mistress Isabel Maria del Aguila, and discussed the fact that Venetians weren't the only folk to make chopines. I didn't know the Spanish had done that too but that's the beauty of the SCA, you learn something new every day. Obviously then, I was keen to explore them further and since I knew such a well dressed Spanish lady my next steps were obvious, research the Spanish version of the chopine and make a pair for Her Excellency. There were several examples of extant Spanish chopines available online and the more I looked at art from the period the more examples I came across.
In period cork was the preferred  material for chopine bodies but I was unable to obtain any at a reasonable price so I used pine bored out to reduce the weight. The shape is more complex than it appears at first appearance and took several attempts to get right.
I made the vamps from leather and covered them in the fabric I'd chosen to cover the chopines. The vamps and covering were then sewn to the leather sole which was in turn glued to the wooden body.


I then tacked the covering to the bottom of the body and stitched up the back seam.






The bottom sole was then glued to the body and then stitched through the wood to bind both the sole and the cover.




This left a nearly finished chopine which looked thus. I added eyelets and laces and presented them to Her Excellency.

However, Her Excellency, being a member of the Order of the Laurel for her accomplishments in the Sartorial arts could hardly be expected to leave things there, so, with a little judicious application of some appropriate decoration, this are the finished chopines in all their glory.