Online - June 18, 2008

Go Greek

Greek Sandals

If Hermes could stop with the tricks and Dionysus could lay off the vino, perhaps Zeus could find time to anoint Panteleimon.

A third-generation craftsman residing in Athens, the god of sandals (friends call him Pantelis) spends his days creating simple, beautiful footwear by hand.

He uses top-notch calf leather tanned in Crete and puts the masterpieces together using shoe nails and special glue. There are a plethora of styles from which to choose, ranging from gladiators and slingbacks to thongs, slides, and those that wrap and tie around the leg. All start out a light brown hue but turn darker and mold to your foot with age.

Each of the 27 styles costs less than $50 a pair and claims to be unisex. But the idea of men sporting a pair of gladiators?

That’s all Greek to us.

To order, fill out the online form. To see styles, go to melissinos-art.com.