Features
A Seminar On Shoes, Part II
By James F. Brown
Sep 21, 2008 - 1:10:22 PM

LOOKING GOOD FOR LOTS LESS

– Dress Like A Fortune 500 CEO On A Mailroom Budget

In this column, we’ll cover the parts of a shoe.

A shoe can be divided into four broad areas: inner and outer, upper and lower. The inner of a shoe is the inside area, where your foot goes. The outer is the area that is, of course, outside. The upper of a shoe hides the foot, is visible when wearing the shoe and is attached to the shoe’s lower. The lower is the shoe’s sole and heel.

            A shoe’s upper contains the following parts:

            Vamp — the front part of a shoe that covers the toes.

            Toe Box — additional material that forms a “roof” over the toes to maintain the shoe’s shape. In work boots, this can be made of steel for protection.

            Quarter — the sides and back of the shoe, behind the vamp.

            Throat — in women’s slip-on shoes, this is the back edge of the vamp, and the forward edge of the opening that the foot slips into.

            Tongue — in men’s shoes, this the flap behind the vamp. In slip-ons, it’s short and abbreviated. In lace-ups, it’s longer and buffers the top of the foot from the lacing. In Blucher shoes (with open lacing), the tongue is a continuous part of the vamp. In Balmorals (with closed lacing), the tongue is a separate piece of leather stitched to the back of the vamp.

            A shoe’s upper may be lined or unlined on the inside. A lined upper is more comfortable and is a sign of higher quality and workmanship, but may also be warmer because of the extra layering.

            A shoe’s lower has these parts:

            Insole — the inside bottom of the sole that supports the sole of the foot. It can be partially lined, from the heel to the ball of the foot, or fully lined (a sign of higher quality), from the heel all the way to the toes. Often, the insole is shaped and padded with heel and arch supports for comfort. Orthopedic shoes may have additional supports and other features that are custom fitted to the feet of an individual with special needs.

            Outsole — the very bottom of a shoe, consisting of the sole and heel. This is where the shoe contacts the ground. It’s also the part of the shoe that almost always wears out first. Dress shoes have leather soles with separate attached heels. These can be resoled and/or reheeled when the outsole becomes worn. Casual shoes with thick rubber or plastic soles cannot be resoled and must be discarded when the outsole wears out. Athletic shoes and some slip-ons don’t have a separate heel; the sole is wedge shaped to provide lift at the heel. Hiking and work boots often have thick, durable, 1-piece Vibram soles with deep tread patterns for improved traction on mud, snow, gravel, and other unstable surfaces.

             The next column will cover shoe construction techniques and quality.