How do you get a president to fill your shoes?

It takes persistence and patience.

Perry Ercolino decided a couple of administrations ago that he would like to make shoes for a sitting president. The son of Doylestown’s longtime shoemaker, Ercolino has continued in the family business, but with a difference.

He makes custom shoes. He starts by taking measurements and sends them to England where a skilled artisan translates this information into a pair of hand-carved lasts, the three-dimensional model of the foot. The last determines the shoe's fit, and a custom-cut last ensures a custom-fitting shoe. The last also gives the shoe its shape; thus an elegant last is an essential element of an elegant shoe.