The hidden gem where you’ll find Canberra’s well-heeled men

Posted on 20 October, 2025

What do Andrew Barr, the French Ambassador and Ricky Stuart all have in common?

They all wear the same footwear—handmade, custom-designed, Italian leather shoes, brought to them by Civic Shoes.

Not everyone may be aware, but at the back of Bailey’s Arcade in the city, Civic Shoes has been servicing Canberra’s best-heeled men from an expansive shoe emporium located next to the cobbler shop. It’s where Milton Vassiliotis works his magic.

But Civic Shoes doesn’t run on the traditional shoe shop business model.

While Milton does stock high-quality dress shoes in various styles and sizes, his specialty is in starting from scratch.

He is one of just a handful of cobblers across the country offering to build customers the perfect shoe from the ground up – where they decide the type of style, sole, stitching, colour, and leather, and the resulting shoe is made to measure the exact shape and size of their foot.

Civic Shoes has been running since 1973 and holds the distinction of being among the city’s most established businesses and certainly Canberra’s oldest cobbler.

Started by Milton’s dad Nick, who emigrated from Greece in the mid-1950s, Milton remained in Greece and studied radiography at university before working in a hospital. Sadly, he hated the job. Happily, a visit to Australia to help dad out in his shop was a watershed moment. It turns out, Milton loves shoes.

“To this day I love my job. I love shoes, I could talk about them all day!” he enthuses.

Milton took over from dad in 2001 and has garnered a loyal clientele and strong word-of mouth referrals from happy customers. Ironically, his training in radiography came in handy when he introduced high-tech scanning technology a few years ago to ensure the perfect fit for customers. But in the end, Milton believes hands-on measurements are still the best judge of a perfect fit and having a good personal rapport with customers is what sets him apart from the rest.

“When people come in for the first time, I explain how we work and once they wear their first pair of shoes, they are pretty much repeat customers from then on.”

Catering for a mainly business crowd, Milton has been delighted to see younger men come in in recent years to invest in quality footwear.

“A lot of younger people are on TikTok looking at investment pieces and proper shoe care, and they are really into shoes. It’s great to see.”

While there is an obvious market in special occasion shoes including wedding and formal shoes, Milton also creates high-end leather sneakers to elevate a casual look, as well as boots. He says once a customer spends some time in a shoe designed to fit their specific foot, “it’s difficult for them to go back to chain store-bought mass-produced stuff!”

He also notes that many men like to know that no one else is going to turn up in the same footwear to a black-tie event as them, and that they are happy to spend a couple of hundred dollars extra on a pair of investment shoes when they know they will stand the test of time.

“My shoes should technically last a lifetime,” Milton says, and he is always on hand to help with repairs or polishes to keep them looking in tip-top shape.

Using Saphir shoe products direct from France, Milton take pride in restoring and repairing leather products as well as creating them. In fact, for those who seek a truly coordinated look, Milton can provide shoes with a matching bag, belt, and even watch band.

And for women reading this, please note he loves nothing more than restoring leather handbags and also offers a small range of women’s shoes, and of course can create a classic brogue for a woman if she is keen.

There is nothing about the technical aspect of shoes that Milton doesn’t know, and there is no foot he cannot fit. He delights in helping customers with irregular feet who are not able to buy from a conventional shoe shop.

Once he has made your shoe, Milton keeps the lasts (the 3D foot moulds he makes for each customer) in storage for three years. If you want another pair, he can rustle one up, no problem. That’s been convenient for the Finance Minister of Namibia, who met Milton when he was posted to Canberra (Civic Shoes has a loyal following from the Diplomatic Corps) and now Zooms Milton on the regular to order new shoes. The Embassy then picks them up and sends them back to Africa. A perfect fit every time.