Footwear

“ You need to exercise more care in the selection of shoes than of any other article of your outfit. Tight boots put an end to all pleasure, if worn on the march; heavy boots or shoes, with enormously thick soles, will weary you; thin boots will not protect the feet sufficiently, and are liable to burst or wear out; Congress boots are apt to bind the cords of the leg, and thus make one lame; short-toed boots or shoes hurt the toes; loose ones do the same by allowing the foot to slide into the toe of the boot or shoe; low-cut shoes continually fill with dust, sand, or mud. ”

“ The workman, it will be noticed, cuts the leather upon a sloping bench, exactly like that of the shoemaker already engraved.
The warmth and mildness of the East, rendered a close, warm shoe unnecessary; and, indeed, in the present day, they partake there more of the character of slippers; and the foot, thus unconfined by tight shoes, and always free in its motion, retained its full power and pliability: and the custom, still retained in the East, of holding a strap of leather, or other substance, between the toes, is represented in the Theban paintings ”

“ Another female’s shoe is given in fig. 4; it is a low slipper-like shoe, and is secured by a band across the instep, having an ornamental clasp, like a brooch, to secure it on each side of the foot; it was probably a coarsely-made piece of jewelry, with glass or cheap stones set around it; as the people of this country at that time were fond of such showy decorations, and particularly upon their shoes. The noblemen and ladies always decorated theirs with ornaments and jewels all over the upper surface, of which we give two specimens in figs. ”

“ It is quite clear that the foot must get into the shoe; and if the shoe differs in shape from the foot, it is no less plain that the foot, being the more pliable, must necessarily adapt itself to the shape of the shoe. If, then, fashion prescribes an arbitrary form of shoe, she goes far beyond her province, and in reality arrogates to herself the right of determining the shape of the foot. ”

“ The infant's shoe, made with a strap round the ankle, is good if made in the way I am about to describe; but if the child's legs or ankles are at all weak, high boots should be worn both indoors and out. As soon as the little one begins to walk it needs more protection to the feet than the woollen stockings I have described. The boots and shoes should then be made of what is called "glove" kid—a soft and yielding material. They should fit exactly on the foot, as too roomy a boot chafes both stocking and skin, causes corns, and allows the foot to turn over in walking. ”

“ Originally, closing, making the boot, shoe, and slipper, and even ladies’ and children’s shoes, was the work of one individual; now they are separate branches, and the closer has not only risen in this country, but his work is universally celebrated from this circumstance, for its strength and beauty. Perhaps nothing in the way of workmanship is equal to what is termed blind-stabbing: the leather, held between the workman’s knees, is pierced with a small pointed awl, which he holds together with the flax or silken thread that is to follow, in his right hand ”

“ Shoes thus cut, and made on such lasts are almost invariably bent in the shank in order to conceal the ignorance of the manufacturer or designer. But the foot is sure to betray the deformity of the last and the cut of the uppers. Boots and shoes thus made are literally spoiled, unless the wearer can keep the ankle back to an angle of forty or forty-five degrees, which is the position of the foot when thrown forward, while in a sitting position.
No. 5. represents a side view of a lady’s last for high-heeled boots, and its block. ”

“ One of the close-laced shoes is given in pl. I., fig. 4, from a specimen in the British museum. It embraces the foot closely, and has a thong or two over the instep, for drawing it tightly over the foot, something like the half-boot of the present day. The sole and upper leather are all in one piece, sewn up the back and down the front of the foot; a mode of construction practised in England, as late as the fourteenth century. ”

“ Stockings, Washing the Feet, &c.—Much more of comfort to the feet depends on the stockings than people are aware of; nothing can be worse than a stocking too large or too small, the more common case is its largeness, and when I see a cotton or thread stocking tucked under at the toe, and by the perspiration of the foot and the tread, become quite hard and compact, a hard ridge of a seam pressing on the toes, which show the marks produced by the pressure all over the surface, I wonder how persons can expect comfort. ”

“ DESIGN FOR A BALL DRESS.
But though the stay, when properly used, may be upheld, there is nothing that can be said in excuse of the wicked fashion—wicked, because the cause of much deformity and disease—of the high heel and pointed toe. We all know the mischief done by the very high heel, and from an artistic point of view it is to be condemned, making, as it does, the prettiest foot look like a hoof and destroying all freedom and dignity of gait. ”

“ The best fitting boot or shoe is one made of the right shape to adapt it to the particular foot; which is just snug enough to confine it without any uneasy feeling; and into which it goes easily and naturally to its proper position. There is sufficient length to allow the toe to move without pressure on the nail, and sufficient width to let the toes lie side by side, in which position they appear much better than when piled one over another. There are no wrinkles made by loose leather—none by over-tightness. ”

“ While the shoe is to be attached to the foot by nails, we must be content with the concave seated one, taking care to place the nail-holes as far from the heels, and particularly from the inner heel, as the state of the foot and the nature of the work will admit; and where the country is not too heavy nor the work too severe, even omitting the nails on the inner side of the foot. Shoes nailed on the outer side, and at the toe, are more secure than some would imagine, while the inner quarter will be left free, to prevent contraction, or to arrest its progress. ”

“ A boot or shoe ought to fit easily, yet snugly and smoothly, all over the foot—around the heel and ankle as well as the forward part There is no necessity for pinching the instep or crowding the toes; no occasion for loose [Pg 134] leather at the ankle and heel; no propriety in wrinkles over the instep of a flat foot, nor having a slipper loose at the sides. All boots must have wrinkles at the ankle, and all kinds of covering must have some across the foot at the joints. There need not be any of marked size elsewhere, nor should these be as large as they commonly are. ”

“ The inner margin of the boot or shoe must be made straight to the line of the big toe, and the toe of the boot must be wide enough to allow movement in the child's toes. The waist of the sole, which corresponds to the arch of the foot, should be to a certain extent elastic, and, if any heels are worn, they must be broad, low, and under the natural heel. ”

“ A false habit, tending in the same direction, is that of changing the shoes of children to make them wear evenly or prevent their treading over to one side at the heel. It is a practice productive of far more harm than good—a saving of shoe-leather at the foot’s expense. After one foot has shaped a shoe to itself, to put the other into it [Pg 26] forcing the great toe into the curve made by the little toe and outside of the foot, must do much toward bending the toe permanently out of place. ”

“ The best materials may have been used for sole and upper leather; the most exquisite closing and stabbing been put in till the work “looked like print;” the workmanship may have been “firstrate,” but deficient in the primary and most essential part—the suitable form of the last on which the article was to be moulded. The boot or shoe would not be a suitable or comfortable covering for the foot, and the unfortunate wearer again finds that he has put his feet into the “shoemaker’s stocks.”
Every one who wishes to be comfortably fitted, should have a pair of lasts made expressly for his own use ”

“ The unchanging nature of a commodious fashion capable of adoption by the lower classes, may be well illustrated by fig. 2, plate II., which delineates the shoe or sandal worn by the rustics of ancient Rome. It is formed of a skin turned over the foot, and secured by thongs passing through the sides, and over the toe, crossing each other over the instep, and secured firmly round the ankle. ”

“ In reality, the great toe is pressed into the middle of the boot, where it overlies the second and sometimes part of the third toe, while the tip of the great toe, which is an inch or more in thickness, is forced into the small space whence the wedge end of the last has been removed. Nor is the case much better even if the shoe is worn a size or more larger than the foot; for, however this may be, in walking the high heel forces the toes down into the wedge. ”

“ There should be plenty of room in the shoe for the toes to do this, and it is largely because the toes are so tightly confined in pointed shoes and can not spread out that Americans are such poor walkers. The ridiculous high heels are unsightly and injurious and make walking difficult, yet they do not deform the foot, the most beautiful and exquisitely designed of all our organs except our hands, to the same extent as do the short and pointed shoes so commonly worn. ”

“ A Tartarian lady of 1577, is exhibited by John Wiegel, the engraver of Nuremburgh, in his work on dress, in the boots delineated in fig. 8. They are remarkable for the sole to which they are affixed, and which was, no doubt, formed of some strong substance, probably with metallic hooks to assist the wearer in walking a mountainous country where frosts abound.
Descending toward the south, we shall find a lighter sort of shoe in use, and one partaking more of the character of a slipper, used more as a protection for the sole of the foot in walking, than as an article of warmth. ”

“ So I presume when you are walking briskly, that if your foot were at liberty to spread, it would reach four inches and a quarter.
"This shoe sole, which you think is immense, is two inches and a half wide. Now what do you suppose becomes of the inch and a half of foot which has no sole to rest upon? Either the upper leather holds the foot, and prevents its spreading, or the foot spreads on either side beyond the sole, and presses down upon the edge of the sole.
"Very few girls walk in a firm, strong way. ”

“ When he takes his flies off the line he will either stick them into his cap to dry, or hook them into his sleeve. When dry he pulls them out, which often tears a thread or two of the cloth.
It is surprising how much of the sole of the shoes you can see when behind a person walking—and it is equally surprising how much meaning you can read from that shoe. It is said that to wear out soles and heels equally is to give evidence of business capacity and honesty; to wear your heels down on the outside means that you are a person of imagination and love of adventure ”

“ Indeed, they were so wide at times, as to oblige the wearer to stride much in walking, a habit that was much ridiculed by the satirists of the day. There was a print published during this reign of a dandy in the height of fashion whose legs are “incased in boot-hose tops tied about the middle of the calf, as long as a pair of shirt-sleeves, double at the end like a ruff-band: the top of his boots very large, fringed with lace, and turned down as low as his spurs, which jingled like the bells of a morris-dancer as he walked.” ”

“ Changes of fashion as regards boots and shoes have been many, but the changes have been almost invariably from one evil to another. At one time the toes have had such long and narrow points that they were turned far up and fastened by a chain to the knee, while at another they have been perfectly square; at one time the heels have been half a foot high, at another they have been quite flat. ”

“ The sole is made of wood, rudely cut by hand with a knife, and over the instep passes a piece of patent leather reaching from the toes to the ankle, which is nailed to the sole by rows of brass-headed tacks. The toes and heel are entirely without protection, and it requires a great deal of experience to keep the shoe on. ”

“ With such ill-made boots (see Plate 8, Fig. B) owing to the bones of the feet being prevented from exercising their proper movements in walking, the muscles below the knees, which are connected with those bones, waste for want of use. The foot, cramped into a motionless mass by the boot, thus becomes in its function, or rather want of function, very like the deformed "lily" of the Chinese, and the shrunken, calfless leg is in a similar way used simply as a stump. ”

“ At this early period the various parts of the foot are soft and pliant, they are growing very rapidly,and are easily injured by pressure of any kind, Hence the shoemaker has to provide a proper width for the spread of the toes, and must also take into consideration the curve of the inside of the foot, while allowing for the softness, elasticity, and mobility of the parts, and for the increasing size of the foot, both in length, breadth, and thickness. Yet this is just the time when the little one's feet are crammed into ready-made boots or shoes utterly unfitted for their requirements. ”

“ The following extracts from Watson’s Annals of New York, will further elucidate the fashions as to boots and shoes in the British colonies in America.
“Before the revolution, no hired man or woman{139} wore any shoes as fine as calf-skin; that kind was the exclusive property of the gentry. The servants wore coarse neat’s leather. The calf-skin then had a white rind of sheep-skin stitched into the top edge of the sole, which they preserved white, as a dress-shoe, as long as possible.” ”