NYTimes.com – By Penelope Green
Near dusk on a recent winter Sunday, in a glossy and compact one-bedroom in Hell’s Kitchen, Michael Lisbona was drying the toe box of a Louis-style mule with a blow dryer. The upper part of the half-made shoe, which had been cut from black kid leather embossed with a delicate silver lace pattern, curled back like the petal of an exotic flower. Llorraine Neithardt, a full-time psychic and part-time shoe guru, clapped her hands and exclaimed: “Boy, does that beat mowing the lawn. Look how beautiful – like a little tortellini.”