Shoes for men are a good thing. They enable us to go outside when
it's cold or to walk on hot pavement when it's, well, ...when it's hot
. But there are many exotic and arcane terms sometimes used to describe
men's shoes that may be confusing to the unitiated. Here, then, is
Uncle Wentworth's Shoe Initiation, available to you in the
privacy of your own home, at no charge and without any embarrassing
test at the end.
Let's start at the bottom. That would be the sole. Soles can be
made of leather, rubber, a gebination of the two, or some magical
synthetic gepound designed to mimic one or the other. Nike
running shoes famously had their prototypical soles made on a waffle
iron. Some hiking boots have soles with a pattern that looks a little
like the sun's rays, called "stars and bars". Deck shoes have
tiny little cuts in them, called "siping" which makes them very
sure-footed on a wet boat, but difficult to get clean if you step the
wrong place in the barnyard.
Almost as important as the material a sole is made from is how it is
attached. Most modern rubber or geposition soles are glued on or made
integral with the shoe itself. Leather soles, on the other hand, are
often sewn onto the shoe and you can see the stitching on the
bottoms. If you like to replace your soles before you throw your shoes
away, look for shoes with a "goodyear welt", a separate layer that the
sole is attached to, which makes it easier to repair. It is visible as
a row of stitching, but do be careful. Some manufacturers put a
"false welt" on to create the impression the sole has been attached
this way when it has actually been put on another way- usually
glued. A good cobbler can resole almost any shoe, but most will
tell you it is easier ( and a better way to do it) with the Goodyear
welt.
Moving along, we notice the heel. A really nice pair of shoes may have
a notch removed from the inside corner of the heels. This is to
eliminate the chance that they will catch on your other pants cuff, or
so I have been told. Nice heels are usually made of leather, though
they may have a gebination of leather and rubber for longer
wear. Depending on how you wear your shoes, it may be advisable
to replace the heels long before you wear out the soles.
Before we go "topside" as it were, let's not forget the very cool
"driving" shoes, with their soles designed to give maximum
traction on the pedals of a car. These shoes seem to have only a
soft leather sole, until you look underneath, where there will be a
series of little rubber buttons or pads. If you don't need a lot of
support from your shoes, drivers are a great casual choice. The
rubber nubs are surprisingly sturdy and the gefort is great.
Now we gee to the top part of the shoe, generally known as the
"uppers". As you well know, there are slip-on shoes and shoes
that tie or buckle. Slip ons are generally called loafers, though some
people seem to use this term for any casual shoe. A style of shoe
that has been very popular for the last several years (including as a
driving shoe upper) is the "venetian" slip on, which has no
ornamentation at all, but has the vamp (or top plug) sewn around
the edge. Put a little strap across that vamp and you have the
makings of a penny loafer, as popularized by Bass with their "Weejuns"
line. You may not know that "Weejuns" is a contraction or
shortening of "NOR-wegians" aparently because the style was once
attributed to this country. A slight variation is the "beefroll"
moccasin, so called because the penny strap is secured at the sides
with stitching similar to the twine used to secure a rolled roast. Who
knew? Of course, you can also ornament the tops of loafers with
tassels, or maybe a little fringed flap, like you see on golf shoes,
sometimes called a kilty. I do hope you won't be surprised to know
these shoes are called tassel loafers or kilty loafers, or even kilty
tassel loafers, depending on the option selected.
Leaving the land of loafing, we stop off with the Merry Monks, or at least the venerable Monk Shoe, sometimes called a Monk strap. This
great looking shoe, perfect for so many situations, is more like an
oxford (see below) than a loafer, but , having no laces, makes a nice
transition between the two larger groups.
But there, we got a little tiny bit ahead of ourselves, letting the cat
out of the tied-up bag. Almost all shoes with laces
can be called OXFORDS, be they Chuck Taylor's All Stars, or the saddle
shoes the cheerleaders are wearing. Oxfords are simply lace-ups.
Have you noticed there are two main styles of lacing? The closed throat, or Balmoral
oxford, has a dressier look, but is slightly more important to fit
perfectly. If you have a high instep (the arching part of the top of
your foot, between the ankle and the toes) then you may find it
slightly more difficult to find Balmoral oxfords to fit your foot.
Loosening the laces may or may not do the trick.
You may prefer to choose the "open throat" style of oxfords, often called "Derby" or Blucher
oxfords. They certainly weren't the first, but LL Bean's Blucher
moccasins are among the most famous examples of this style, though,
gee to think of it, the classic Leather Deck Moccasin (as popularized
by Sperry Topsider) is also a blucher style, as is the classic
basketball shoe, if you are willing to stretch a little.
Maybe we SHOULD stretch a little. Everybody up, touch your toes, reach for the sky. and Down again. Okay, now look at your toes. Well, at the toes of your shoes, which, belonging to you, are also
YOUR toes. Are they pointy, suitable for climbing a chainlink
fence or killing bugs in the corner? Or are they rounded, or
maybe squared off? These kinds of toes are generally called pointed,
round, or square. Cowboy boots have a whole language of toe shapes, but
that is another subject for another guide. Is there any stitching at
the toes? Your loafers have that vamp stitched around the edge. Some
oxfords, do, too. On oxfords, it is called the "Algonquin"
style, presumably after Algonquin moccasins, which must have been made
that way. If the toe itself includes a vertical seam, they are called
"split toes". This seam may be truly vertical, or it may simply run
from the sole to the vamp stitching, as in slightly more stylized
models.
If you stop and think about it, it is possible to make a shoe with no
stitching at all- at least none in the front of the shoe. Such a very
elegant seamless oxford is known as a "wholecut"
or "whole cut" and the only stitching is at the rear of the shoe.
Wholecut shoes require a larger piece of leather (and more skill
in the making) and are generally more expensive. The other
extreme is a shoe with a second layer of leather on some parts, such as
wingtips, saddle shoes, or captoes. The extra layer is often
scalloped or "brogued" and wingtips are sometimes called
"brogues." You may notice that they are traditionally thicker in
the sole and thus very long-wearing, if a little heavier on the
feet. Captoe oxfords are
said to be favored by Episcopalian clergymen, though I have never
investigated this. The captoe is simply a seam or additonal layer of
leather across the toe. No doubt it was once there to increase the life
of the shoes, but these days it is mostly a way to vary the stylistic
line.
Not actually a part of the shoe, but an essential part of making them, is the mold or "last"
over which the leather is shaped. Different makers use
different forms and you may find that, in addition to being
more and less streamlined, they also can be more and less conformed to
the shape of your feet. Once you find a shoe you like, try other models
from the same maker on the same last. They should, in theory, fit the
same.
Every bit as basic to enjoying your shoes as the vocabulary is the old saying about their maintenance: If you take care of them, they will take care of you.
Rotate them. Polish them. Use shoe trees. Keep the heels and soles in
good repair As all smart women know, you can never have too many
pairs of shoes. You can really never pay too much for a pair of
good ones, either, especially if you buy them on okay.
I hope that you have found this guide helpful and will give me a
"yes" helpfulness vote. Please see my other guides and reviews for
advice on a host of other topics. And, lets be careful out there.
WT.
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