Life Style Accessories

The US shoe market was worth just over $25 billion in 2009 according to report published in January 2010 by market researchers IBISWorld.
But there is more to shoes than that bald statistic suggests. A pair of Crockett & shoes, for instance, undergoes around 280 processes before it’s sent off to the stores. The craftsmen who still work in the factory in Northamptonshire, in the UK, the traditional home of the shoes’ designer, start with the highest quality German calf leather, which is not only nearly flawless but which has a softness and suppleness that reduces the chance of cracking.

How Shoes are Made
They then build the shoe stage by stage in a process that has changed little in over a hundred years. To start with the leather is clicked or cut by hand. Then the upper part of the shoe, which consists of the quarters at the rear and the vamp at the front, is stitched together with the tongue and shoe lining in a process called closing. Next, the shoe is stretched over a wooden last or mould, and it’s this lasting technique, which really fixes the style and shape of the finished product.

Even if he or she has heard of it a welt might do little excite your average shoe customer but for Crockett & Jones, and that other great name in British shoemaking, Church’s Shoes, the variety and quality of a shoe’s welt says a lot about it.

What as a Welt?
A welt is the strip of leather between upper parts of the shoe and the insole, which goes around the edge of the shoe. Hand-stitching it to these two main parts with a curved needle, a process known as Goodyear welting, is a skill that requires precision and strength and therefore takes years to learn. As a result of the pioneering work of one Charles Goodyear during the late nineteenth century, shoes with Goodyear welting are warmer, drier and more flexible than those without. But in cheaper shoes the welt, if it exists at all, is usually glued rather than stitched.

With a good quality shoe, padding is added to the bottom of the insole and then the outsole is sewn onto the shoe with a lock stitch that passes directly through the welt. Sometimes this stitching is embedded in the outsole for a neater look. Here a flap is cut around the outsole which is then sealed up after the stitching has been done. Finally, the heal is attached and the shoe polished before being boxed up.

Despite these long traditions, innovation is not just possible but essential. Over the last 20 years traditional shoe makers Have started to horse leather and the current fashion is for longer shapes and chiselled toes.

Trends in Shoe Fashions
Church’s began life in 1873 but it’s keeping up with the times. In 1999 it was bought by the Prada Group, since when stores have opened in Milan, Paris and New York, with more planned.
Even during the current difficult economic climate both groups are finding a ready supply of customers keen to pay anything between around £250 and £600 for a pair of shoes. But as Church’s, whose shoes take up to eight weeks to produce, is keen to point out, its Goodyear welting and other the aspects of handcrafting allow these shoes to be easily repaired time and again.

“This construction means that the sole can be easily detached from the bottom of the shoe and be resoled for a second life,” says the company in a press statement. “With proper care Church’s shoes will last a lifetime.”

How to Look After a Pair of Shoes
A pair of properly made shoes deserves the same degree of care and respect from their owners as went into their construction.
First, always use a shoehorn when putting on good shoes to avoid damaging the backs. It’s also advisable to use shoetrees to restore the shape of a pair shoes after they’ve been worn.

Avoid wearing the same pair of shoes on consecutive days to allow them to rest. Shoemakers advise people to wear their new shoes in dry conditions first to harden the sole. This will reduce water penetration.
Treat a pair of good quality shoes well and they’ll last for years.

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