Dress and care of the feet /

by John Lord Peck

Callosities upon the heel, sometimes so bad as to be called corns, are often troublesome, and mostly so to those persons whose feet are bony and spare of flesh. In these, if they are not broken down, the heel bone, at its upper part, projects backward distinctly. If the boot worn slips at the heel, there is no flesh over the bone to ease the pressure and friction of the leather, and the skin must thicken for its own protection. After a while it becomes so thick, callous, and hard, that every pressure upon it hurts the bone, as much as before it was formed. It has become similar to a hard corn, and must be removed. This can often be done without any softening, by carefully cutting, scraping, or lifting up gradually with the knife. It will probably grow again, and need relifting occasionally as long as the irritation continues. It is due to flat feet to say that they usually escape these annoyances, as well as sores of the instep.

Slipping of the boot at the heel, is almost always the fault of the boot-maker. It may come from bad cutting, from bad fitting of the upper, from bad lasting, and from badly shaped lasts upon which the boots are made. When the cutting is wrong—which affects men’s boots mainly—it is the leg through the ankle that is too large, or there is some defect that will not allow the upper to last properly. Sometimes it is fitted badly, so as to produce the same result. More often than either of these it is the workman, who neglects to draw it over the last in the right way; sometimes from want of knowledge, and sometimes from carelessness or indifference. The error consists in not drawing it over the toe sufficiently tight to make it fit closely at the heel.

A bad fit upon the foot is another cause, in addition to those mentioned; and it is also true that the heels of well-arched feet are more liable to slip than those whose arches are more or less flattened down.

Still another and very decided influence in producing callosities on the heel, is a counter that is hard and stiff at its upper portion. Counters of this kind are very common, and ought to be as commonly avoided. The stiffness of a counter should be at the bottom of it, where there can hardly be too much, while the upper half, or more, should taper to a thin edge, that is soft and flexible. Then, while firm at the proper place, it bends and fits snugly to the heel, preventing its slipping; when, if it stands up straight and stiff throughout, the foot will slip almost invariably.

Lasts, particularly boot lasts, are at fault in this respect generally. Those upon which shoes and slippers are made are so shaped as to force the shoe to set tightly at the heel and ankle. The principle upon which they are formed is well known, and is a correct one. It is difficult to see why it should not be carried further in its application, and govern the making of lasts for boots and gaiters as well as of those intended for low shoes. The necessity is the same in both these styles; there is only a difference in degree, which is greater in the low shoe and slipper than in the high gaiter and boot. The tightness at the ankle which prevents slipping, is supplied, more or less perfectly, in side spring gaiters, and those that are laced. Lacing compels the boot to fit closely, whether it does so easily or not. In men’s boots, where there is no lacing this effect is produced only by having them so small about the heel and ankle that the foot can hardly move at all after it is crowded inside. This may, or may not, be too tight for comfort, but it is doubtful if there is need of its being so for the sake of having a well-fitting boot. The fit can be produced in the same way as in the slipper or shoe, and the demand for doing it is the same, only not to the same extent. The slipper has nothing to keep it on the foot, unless strings are resorted to, except the tightness lengthwise caused by the peculiarity of the last. A boot, by covering the instep is held more securely, yet it often slips at the heel, and is all the more likely to do so when the foot is well arched.

It seems to us that the way to remedy this trouble in boots is precisely the same as the means taken to prevent it in shoes: that is, to make more spring in the last forward of the instep; in other words, a greater curve on the bottom. The amount of this spring or curve need not be so great as in the shoe last, for the reason just stated, that the boot is confined at the instep, while the shoe is not, to the same extent. A good shoemaker would not like to make an Oxford shoe upon a boot last, although it is laced well up toward the ankle. Why should he be willing to make a boot on it, when the boot is confined at the instep no more than the shoe? There is the same danger of slipping in both cases, and why should it not be guarded against in the same way? Every one who has made or sold shoes knows that a slipper, or low shoe of any kind, will fit on the foot much better if made on a shoe last; that it is less liable to be loose at the sides, and to show big wrinkles across the ball; that, in short, it must be made on such a last. The same reasoning and the same rule applies almost as well to the boot or gaiter. If there is any exception, it is the side-spring boot, with its elastic sides to draw the surface smooth, and even this is not an exception when the material is leather, though it may be when cloth of any kind is used. In fact, there is no kind of foot clothing manufactured but would have a better fit upon the foot, both in front and at the heel, sides, and ankle, if a last more closely resembling the common shoe or slipper last was used in the making. There may not be, and we are confident there is not, a necessity for having it so flat in the shank as the common slipper last, nor so wide through the same region, but the upward curve of the forward part should be nearly or quite as great. The curve of the shank might be very nearly the same as that of the hollow of the foot, while at the toes it may curve, we will say, one-half as much as the whole bend of the toes in walking. This form makes it a shoe last at the fore part, while the shank is but little different from the ordinary boot last. The part between the heel and instep need not be so wide at the bottom, nor, perhaps, so narrow at the top, as the best shaped lasts for shoes. It is believed possible, however, to make the shank sufficiently wide, at a slight distance above the bottom, to accommodate the foot easily, while it may be suddenly narrowed below sufficiently to allow a narrow-shanked sole to be made upon it, if desired, without difficulty. If so, this would be the blending of taste with comfort in the fit. The outside edge would be a little lower than the other, as it is in the foot. Perhaps the whole may be well described as half-way between the extremes of the two different styles. There would be no difference between those designed for men and those for women, except in width and bulk—none in the general form.

It may be feared that a tongued boot—patent leather or Napoleon—may be more difficult to draw on the foot if made upon a last of this style. We believe that it can make but very little difference, probably not any after the boot is bent in the shank, while it will do much to prevent slipping at the heel when cut with a large ankle, as is usually the case. The pitch of the leg will be very nearly the same when on the last as when the boot is worn.

It may be observed, however, that an improvement has lately been made in many lasts by giving them a greater degree of this curve on the bottom. But it is easy to carry it to an extreme. 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.

Forms of lasts have always been subject to change. Fifteen or twenty years ago boot lasts were made very hollow in the shank, and very much curved upward at the toe. After that came the stub-toes—flat in shank, and with scarcely any curve at all; and, in addition to all the changes fashion has imposed, besides the two indicated, every manufacturer seems to have a style of his own, more or less distinct. The principles which should govern their form seem to be very loosely understood, and hence all the differing shapes and styles.

All this is exactly the opposite of what it should be. We have no more right to change the shape of lasts every few years than we have to change that of the foot, and to do this, for it amounts to nothing less, when Nature has formed it exactly in the best way to adapt it to its design and use, is simple absurdity. To change either is just as foolish as it would be to make hats that would flatten the head on the back or sides, and compel it to grow in an upward direction. The whole matter of the shape of lasts is something which fashion has no right to meddle with, unless, it may be, to round or square the toes. It has no right to narrow them beyond a certain limit, nor even at all except from the outside. The business of the last-maker is to learn what is the true shape of the natural, healthy foot, and then to imitate it as closely as possible, making only the slight differences for different kinds of coverings that have been pointed out. And when so formed, let it be considered as a thing not to be altered, except to make it resemble the foot still more perfectly. Fashion and taste may change and dictate the cut and style of the upper parts of the boot or shoe to almost any extent, but they must not be allowed to shorten the length of the heel, nor to interfere in any manner with the shape of the last.