Quality made Reproduction vintage shoes and Victorian and Edwardian style boots from the early 1800s - 1940s.
Making a custom made shoe is truly a work of art
More than 100 operations go into the construction of a custom made shoe. The first and and most important step is in the creation of the shoe last, a hand-carved wood or molded plastic replica of the human foot. It alone determines the contour of the arch and how evenly the wearer’s weight will be distributed throughout the foot, both of which are critical in establishing the comfort of a shoe.
A different last is needed for each shoe style, whether it’s a handmade shoe or massproduced. Lastmaking is an art that demands great skill and a trained eyd for fashion.
After recording over 35 measurements from a "footprint" that shows the distribution of body weight, the artisan judges the symmetry of the toes, calibrates the height of the big toe and the contour of the instep. He also estimates how the foot will move inside the handmade shoe or boot.
The lastmaker challenge is to address all these ratios without compromising the architectural beauty of the handmade shoe design. For a heeled shoe/boot, he visualizes the heel height, then proportionately determines the size of the throat (top line of the shoe). Next the appropriate height of the shoe’s quarter (height of heel back) is established: too high and it will rub the tendons; too low and the show will fail to grip the foot properly. Most critical to the fit of the shoe is the measurement of the shank curve (arch support), the area that includes the ball and instep of the foot, because this is where the body’s weight fall when the foot is in motion.
Then, using the last as a guide, the patternmaker cuts out the shoe’s upper and lining, bevels the edges to ensure a good fit and sews the pieces together. Next, he constructs the toe box, adds the counter (the stiffner for the shoe’s back) and soaks the leather so it will easily conform to the lines of the last. A master craftsman carefully positions the upper on the last, tautly stretching it bofore nailing it tightly in place. The upper dries on the last for 2 weeks before the sole and heel can be attached.
In the final steps, finishers trim the welt, pare the heel, burnish the sole and add the insole lining. Last but not least, the shoe is polished and buffed - and ready to wear.
That it why our shoe⁄boots take 6 weeks to make.
Read more > March 4, 2007, 11:58 am