Sole (footwear)

“ A good shoemaker could average two pairs of shoes, welted, turned, or stitched in a twelve-hour working day. In any shoe the sole would be heaviest cow or ox hide, cut from that part of the hide over the animal’s hind quarters called the “bend.” Uppers would usually be of calfskin, sometimes of goat, sheep, or dogskin. Women’s shoes with leather soles very often had uppers of fabric, such as calimanco, ticking, silk, damask, satin, or poplin. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ At first sight they look like boots reaching from the knee downward, but when examined more closely, they are seen to be devoid of sole, having only a strap that passes under the middle of the foot, so that the heel and toes and great part of the sole are left unprotected. ”

“ If we want to see the foot unspoiled then we must go to the countries where fashion and manners have not affected it, where generation after generation has walked the earth on the bare foot, or with only the slightest protection of a sandalled sole. Then we see how finely it supports the body, what a thing of strength and beauty it can be!—firm heel, arched instep, springing muscles of the sole imprinting the ground with its firm tread! ”

“ The lining for insole, inside of shoe.
Soft Tip. A term applied to a shoe on which no boxing is used under the tip.
[208]
Soles and Sole Leather. Name applied to pieces of leather of various thickness on the bottom of a shoe, usually made from heavy hides of leather. There are many varieties of soles: a “full-double” sole has two thicknesses of leather extending clear back to the heel; “half-double” sole is a full outer sole, with slip extending back to shank; single sole is self-defining; “tap” is a half sole.
Sole Laying. Sole laying is the operation of laying the outsole. ”

“ The sole often wears out utterly, while the upper leather is quite good, or the upper leather bursts while the sole remains practically in a salvable condition; but your individual pair of shoes and boots are no good to you when any section of them is hopelessly gone to the bad. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The sole does not hit a road with monotonous regularity upon the same dry spot of blistering skin.
I find that in the mountains a boot of rather lighter sole is preferable, with either brads or Phillips rubbers. One must nevertheless beware of shoddy. After the second scramble amid rocks I have seen the whole sole of a boot part company with the upper. I have seen the heel come off. Well established lines of workingmen’s boots are safer than fair-seeming boots for clerks. On the other hand, boots whose nails come through are a nuisance, digging holes in the soles of one’s feet. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Did you ever stop to think how many different qualities you expect in a shoe? You want the sole to be hard and firm so as to protect your feet in rough walking; and also soft and yielding so as to feel springy and not board-like. You want the upper leather to keep the cold air from coming in; and also porous enough to let the perspiration out. Your feet are not exactly like those of any one else; and yet you expect to find at any shoe store a comfortable shoe ready-made. ”

“ I strongly object to the sandal, or fencing shoe, with a long projecting leather, which is supposed to assist the right foot in making a resonant sound. Practice does this with the common cricketing shoe easily and loudly enough, provided the sole is thin, but not too thin for protecting the foot. ”

“ 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 ”

“ It is rather difficult to say what is the best thickness for the sole; for while a heavy man must wear very thick ones when the ground is as hard as a brickbat to prevent the feet being hurt by the spikes or bruised by the ground, a thinner pair would be sufficient under different conditions. I always wear thick soled boots with low flat heels; by having the heels low and flat you are not nearly so likely to sprain or twist your ankle as you would be with high and narrow ones. To prevent slipping, it is necessary to wear spikes or nails in your boots or shoes. ”

“ A few tacks will make it last as long almost as leather. If a piece of sole leather can be got, even from another old shoe, one or two layers can be cemented on to make a sole. A short screw or nail through three-quarters of the heel greatly aids in making the layers adhere. ”

“ Very well; when I come for these shoes, I shall measure the width of the soles; if they are one-eighth of an inch less than three inches and seven-eighths, I will not touch them.'
"That struggle is all over. Mr. Smith will, for the first time in his life, keep his broad-sole promise."
BEAUTY OF BROAD SOLES. 'Besides the advantages I have named, broad soles are much handsomer than narrow ones. They make the foot look smaller. If one puts his foot into a shoe too short, and too narrow, and the toes and sides of the foot press out all around over the sole, it makes the foot look big ”

“ The hands and feet, and indeed all the details of beauty, are much cared for. The toes of the feet are exercised in a variety of ways, and are almost as elastic and pliable as the fingers, being, as well as the ankles ornamented with jewels. Soles, secured with sandals protect the under part of the foot. On many great occasions the sandals are dispensed with, the sole being secured by a preparation rendered adhesive by the warmth of the foot. This preparation is easily removed by the application of a sponge and water. ”

“ No shoes or even boots have more than a single sole (like what we call “pumps”) , which in wet weather imbibes the water freely. When the shoe without quarters is used, a slipper, with quarters, but without a sole, is worn inside, and the outer one alone is thrown off on entering a house. But in Persia, instead of this inner shoe of leather, they use a worsted sock. Those shoes that have quarters are usually worn without any inner covering for the foot. The peasantry and the nomade tribes usually go barefoot, or wear a rude sandal or shoe of their own manufacture ”

“ This allows the astragalus and the whole arch to sink down to the same extent, and, in time, all parts of the foot will adapt themselves to their changed condition, and the flat shank become a permanent thing. If any person will examine a slipper worn with a heel, or a boot having an ordinary sole, it will be seen that just in front of the heel the sole is depressed, or bent downward, from one-eighth to three-eighths of an inch. ”

“ It has been said that fashion should never be allowed to change the shape of the sole, or interfere with the form of the lasts used in the construction of the foot’s coverings. This restriction, however, does not apply to the materials of which they are made, nor the form into which the uppers may be cut. ”

“ There is no stiffness, no contraction of the heel or the sole of the foot; to the toes are given their proper functions; we see that only the sandal has been worn, merely to cover and protect{98} the integument under the broad and expanded foot, there have been no ligatures, no unyielding bandages, no cramping compresses—all is alike free, healthful, natural. ”

“ The weight of the body is by this means thrown in a disproportionate ratio on the toes, the joints of which are consequently overstrained. Moreover, with a high heel the sole is so oblique in its direction that the foot must be constantly gliding forwards and forcibly pressing the toes into the point of the shoe. ”

“ The lesson of these observations is that the shoe should give plenty of room all around to the foot, that the sole should be thinnest and narrowest at the "waist," where elasticity is wanted, broad and thick at the tread, where protection is most required, and that no one should be ashamed of the size of his foot. "A well-formed large one is a far pleasanter sight than the smallest one distorted." ”

“ Those who are incapable of getting into a shoe compared with which Cinderella's glass slipper would appear gigantic, have recourse to the stratagem of wearing a similar model fitted with a high heel set in the middle of the sole. ”

“ When the folds are all of the same length and but slightly gathered the sole is turned up nearly straight, as at the heel usually, and at the toe also of waterproof boots. When the folds are long and much gathered the sole slopes well in over the foot. Some boots, especially those intended for full dress, have the sole deeper on the sides than at the toe, so that the top of the sole comes to a point at the toe. The ordinary pattern is about the same height all round and follows the shape of the foot, being rather more gathered in over the toe than at the heel. ”

“ The upper can be sewed together without lining, only some eyelets being necessary for lacing, and when drawn over such a last as is judged likely to fit the foot it may be roughly fastened down all around with a waxed thread. After trial on the customer’s foot, the upper can be ripped off and the sole-leather used for an insole or something else, while if the shoe fits badly the last is easily modified, before making a permanent article. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ The sole can be curved too much as well as left too straight. Men’s lasts of medium size have been made with the toes raised an inch and a half above the level of the ball and heel; which is half an inch more than is necessary, or useful. Too much spring, in a thick-soled, stiff boot, prevents the straightening of the toes, while in a thin one, where the toes can be straightened, it may create longitudinal wrinkles in the upper, near the sole at the inside joint. An average spring of an inch in men’s lasts, and three-fourths of an inch in those for women, is not far from the proper standard. ”

“ For a number of rock surfaces a soft sole serves better than a nailed boot. It permits of a sharper flex of the ankle, and restores to the foot much of the sensitive and prehensile quality of the hand. Its more flexible surface will cling to or over excrescences and flat planes upon which a boot could find little or no support. It enables the foot to be thrust toe-forward into narrower horizontal cracks or pockets, and toe-downward, for leverage, behind flakes split vertically. It is more secure upon steep, smooth slabs, in back-and-toe chimney climbing and upon delicate traverses. ”

“ And the problem for the shoemaker to solve is to create a covering that will give the freedom and ease of the old sandal, combined with neatness and elegance of fit, with protection from dirt, cold, and dampness; and with propriety and beauty throughout. It will be something considerably different from any now worn, and may tax his ingenuity to a greater extent than is supposed. Professor Meyer is right concerning the form of its sole at the inside; but the curve at the outside is too much like the common style to be exactly the right thing. ”

“ We ought to be, and think we are, able to improve upon what was done by our ancestors of four hundred years ago; yet here is a sole that, notwithstanding its ridiculously long toe, is better adapted to fit the natural foot and preserve its shape than any of those made at the present day. A turn-up toe is not so objectionable, when of moderate length, as it leaves less necessity for a high heel. And if our shoes must have long and narrow toes, something like this is decidedly better, and no more ridiculous, than the cramping, distorting shapes now in use. ”