TREVOR's Stilt Shoes Gallery
Shortly after I first learned to walk on professional strap-on stilts in the late 80's, I stiltwalked in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Holyoke MA. At that time, the wooden ends of my stilts were showing below my stilt pants, and all along the parade route, smart-alecky men kept yelling at me, "Hey! You lost your feet!" Every single one of them thought that was just so, so funny. And all of them thought they were being oh so refreshingly original, too.
Anyways, about halfway through the parade route, I decided that I was plenty tired of hearing that particular jibe already. Not only was it distracting from what I was trying to do (entertain the crowds), but it was rather annoying to keep hearing the same wiseacre comment over and over and over again. It's a very long parade.
So the very next day I put socks and a pair of sneakers on the bottoms of my stilts, and I've never had to put up with that particular problem again. Instead, I continually get nice comments about my shoes. Much more pleasant to deal with.
I do have to use screws to keep the shoes on the silts but most people don't really look that close. Besides, I colored the heads of the screws to match the shoes to make it even less obvious.
However, sneakers wear out pretty fast. Especially the canvas kind that I like. So over the past two decades, I've gone through quite a few pairs of shoes.
In the following photos, you'll catch all my various stilt shoes (as well as my two pairs of stilt socks and all of my home-made stilt pants, too).
Hope you enjoy my Stilt Shoes Gallery.
Bare feet!
St. Patrick's Day Parade
Holyoke MA
March 19, 1988
Black Sneakers with black laces
Hartsbrook School Holiday Fair
Hadley MA
October 7, 1989
My first pair of stilt shoes lasted longer than any others: 9 years — probably because I stiltwalked less back then. In this photo, someone had commented about my argyle socks, so I'm holding the legs of my stilt pants up so that everyone can admire my cool socks. You may also have noticed that it's a different pair of pants than in the first photo.
Black Sneaker with red laces
Flying Colors photo shoot
Hatfield MA
Spring 1990
This is actually the same pair of shoes as the previous picture. But that winter, when I made my new stilt pants I also put red laces in my shoes. I think it looks better. It also came in handy when I went to a strictly red & yellow & black color scheme in 2001.
Red Sneakers
Brianna & Jeffrey Lertora's birthday party
Agawam MA
May 25, 1998
These red sneakers only lasted about a year. For some reason, I wore right through the heels unexpectedly fast. You can also see the new stilt pants in this picture. But still the same pair of argyle socks.
Dark Red Felt Slippers!
Green River Hot Air Balloon & Music Festival
Greenfield MA
July 17, 1999
The red sneakers in the previous picture lasted only a year, but these red felt slippers only lasted a few months! That lasted so short a time, in fact, that this is the only photo I could find with them in it. (If you look carefully, you can just barely see the toe of the left foot, too.) When I attached them I knew that they were just a temporary lash-up, but they had been sitting in my closet unused for so long! Plus new stilt pants, and new yellow socks, too!
Red Plastic Work Shoes
Hartsbrook School May Fair
Hadley MA
May 13, 2000
I just thought that these were the coolest when I saw them at the discount shop. And I'm pretty sure this event was their public debut. They lasted longer than the red sneakers, but not by much: they lasted a little over a year and a half. Of all the shoes I've had on my stilts, these red plastic ones got the most positive comments... and from both men and women, too.
Yellow Sneakers
Green Fields Market Member Appreciation Day
Greenfield MA
June 6, 2003
The yellow sneakers were my faves. With the red laces (still the same ones from the original black sneaks!), they matched my new red & yellow wide-striped pants really well. I only wish these shoes had lasted longer than two years.
Black Thick-Soled Sneakers
City of Northampton's 350 anniversary parade
Northampton MA
May 22, 2004
These black sneakers had very thick soles. I expected them to last a really long time. When my stilt shoes wear out, it's always in the same way: the uprights of my stilts (which go down into the heels of the shoes) eventually wear a 2"x2" square hole right through the soles. So the thickness of the heel seems to be the dominant factor in how long the shoes last. So these elevator shoes had bottoms that were at least 1.25" thick soles with an even thicker heel. But, despite my expectation that these would last longer than my original black sneakers, these shoes have "only" lasted about 5 years. They are now on their last legs (pun intended) and will be replaced very soon. In fact, I've already bought their red and black and gray replacements.
And, in fact, here they are:
Red & Black & Gray Sneakers
Gale Free Library
Holden MA
July 25, 2008
These red and black and grey sneakers went on really easy (unlike some of the others that were just a bear to attach). They're not as bright as some of my other stilt shoes, but I still like them. They look good!
Since I put them on, I've taken the right shoe off twice and put it back on with ease (I like that). Now, why did I take just the right shoe off? Twice? Well... let me tell you. Remember what I told you just above that my stilt shoes always wear out the same way? The upright wears a 2"x2" hole through the heel? Well, I didn't catch it in time, and the left stilt wore all the way through the left shoe at a gig where I was walking on cement all day. The cement shredded about an inch of wood off the end of the left stilt! It's really uncomfortable to wear stilts that are uneven, so I had to shorten the right leg. But that didn't occur to me until after I'd gotten all excited and put the new stilt shoes on. And, I didn't cut off quite enough the first time (better not enough than too much), so I had to take the right shoe off twice to get the stilts the same length, okay?
413-247-3322
trevor@trevorthegamesman.com
PO Box 463, Haydenville, MA 01039
