Dress and care of the feet /

by John Lord Peck

Here, then, is indicated one course of practical effort by which to avoid or ameliorate the deformity. All those movements of gymnastics which go to strengthen the foot may likewise be adopted with advantage. The toes must also be taught to do their share in the process of walking; and whatever action, in short, will cause the exercise of the muscles of the lower part of the foot, should be favoured, and will help to develop and raise the arch. But this effect cannot be produced immediately. It may require patience, determination, and steady perseverance. There is no royal road to recovery from flat-footedness, any more than there is to knowledge.

The coverings for flat feet should always be made upon lasts that are flat in the shank like themselves. A boot made on an arched last cannot possibly fit a foot whose sole is convex from heel to toe; hence such feet need lasts made expressly for them. The upper leather of the boot cannot, in this case, be too soft and pliable. It should be loose enough to allow the bending at the ball and the movements of the toes to be performed with ease. All the muscles must have a chance to act freely, and the blood be permitted to circulate without hindrance. At the same time there is no need of having big wrinkles, or any extra looseness in the fit of the boot, if only sufficient care is taken in the making.

Another thing to be considered is the stiffening in the shank of boots, more particularly in those of men. If a short heel must be worn a stiff shank had better go with it. A metallic shank, if strong, will then be useful, and perhaps generally effective in keeping up the foot. A shank-piece of leather is seldom so stiff but that a flat foot will bend it downward to adapt it to its own shape. So it will also depress the steel shank at the forward and middle portions, but probably not directly in front of the heel, where the most support is required. The shank, too, unless nearly straight, will be apt to press against the middle of the arch—or where the arch ought to be—so strongly as to cause discomfort; and it is a question if such a pressure does not itself tend to weaken the foot still more. It is thus doubtful if the metallic shank will be of any benefit to a flat foot, unless pains are taken to make it conform to a flat-bottomed last by straightening. Feet that are tolerably well-arched can wear it with no difficulty.

But, further: the stiffness in the shank of the boot interferes somewhat with the flexibility of the foot, and therefore no more of it than is necessary to pull off the boot ought to be allowed. By far the best way, and the only right way, is to wear a heel sufficiently long to give all the needed support, and a shank as flexible as it can be without breaking or clinging to the foot when the boot is drawn off. The foot—at least the heel and arch portion—is then left unimpeded in its natural action. If it be said that the stiffness is intended to keep the sole in its proper shape, it is replied that when the boot fits naturally and easily—not loosely—it will keep its correct shape without any help, while if it does not it will tread badly in spite of all the stiffness.

There is an additional elegance, and general appearance of elevation given to the foot by having the sole of the boot made as thin and light in the shank or waist as possible. This can be done in men’s boots by driving a row of pegs through the shank-piece, putting the pegs close together, to create stiffness, without increasing the thickness of the leather. The shoemaker will understand. A shank made in this manner will be firm enough in drawing off the boot, the thickly-driven pegs not leaving room between them for the leather to break; while it is much more flexible than a thick one. It is thus better adapted to the foot, at the same time that it is quite as reliable for its own proper purpose. One piece of leather may thus take the place of two or three. Where a metallic shank is used, there will of course be the appearance of lightness.

The model boot or shoe of the future, however, will be one in which there shall exist no need of stiffness in order to draw it off, but where this part of the sole will be so thin and flexible as to be easily pressed downward by the large ligament under the arch when the toes are raised, while it will cling upward close to the hollow of the foot when the arch is raised and the toes extended.

Another hint to the bootmaker may not be inappropriate. It is generally considered desirable to have the side seams correspond with, or meet, the forward corners of the heel. To effect this when a long heel is made it is only necessary to add half an inch, or more, to the width of the back-pattern at the bottom, before cutting. This width may be added at the bottom, and lessened gradually toward the top, or continued through the whole length of the pattern equally, as preferred. A corresponding amount must of course be taken off from the width of the front pattern at the same time. In a boot without sideseams the same rule applies in cutting the ends of the outside counter.

The front of the heel should not be cut out in curved form, as is sometimes done, because that is a virtual shortening of it; though there is no objection to cutting out the upper lifts of the leather, letting the point of the knife come out before touching the sole, which makes a shortened appearance without affecting the length at all where the sole and heel surfaces unite. A heel rounded out, lengthwise, would be preferable to one curved in, though it might not be thought so elegant unless indorsed by fashion. We speak thus particularly about the construction of the heel, because it is important; as the good or ill form of the foot’s arch seems to depend upon it more than upon anything else, except it be the strengthening of the muscles.

There is a third peculiarity of the Plumer last that is worthy of notice, and which consists in a hollowing out or concaving of the bottom or sole from the heel forward to the toe, but mostly through the ball. This hollow is designed to be filled up with leather in making the boot, so as to leave the bottom of the sole flat, while inside it is rounded upward. The object of this change in the shape of the last is to make it conform to the shape of the foot, which it does very closely. But, at the same time, so far as this has any effect upon the foot at all it has an injurious one. The form of the sole of the foot at this place is one that ought not to be conformed to by the sole of the boot. There is a low arch, transversely of the foot, from the ball of the great toe to that of the little one, its two opposite resting points. In nature it is somewhat like the great arch between the ball and heel. To raise the sole under it is like supporting an arch in the middle, which would be absurd. In this case it is entirely unnatural, and only of use in a boot that is very tight, or much too narrow, where it may do good by preventing the formation of a big wrinkle in the sole of the foot, lengthwise, which might come from the drawing together of the opposite sides. The following quotation strongly sets forth the impropriety of the new mode.

“There has been a good deal said of late about the transverse arch of the foot, and the necessity of supporting it to prevent its breaking down, and the unfortunate possessor becoming splay-footed. Did any one ever hear of an arch requiring support? * * * What is called the transverse arch is in reality a portion of an elliptic spring; and the moment you fill up the natural hollow of the foot you destroy its elasticity. What carriage-maker puts supports under the arches of his carriage-springs? The human foot is a combination of bones and strong muscles that act as springs, and at each point where it comes in contact with the ground is placed a cushion to prevent jarring. When the weight of the body is placed upon the foot, it spreads both in length and breadth, and it contracts again when the weight is removed; and any artificial support under the hollow of the foot prevents this expansion and contraction, and one may as well have a wooden foot, for all practical purposes, as one which has a support under the transverse arch.”[4]