When did shoes become comfortable?

When I look at shoes of the 1800's and before I think they must have been very hard to wear. Leather which shrunk when wet, the lack of left and right foot, using buttons for closing them.

I have owned basic leather shoes and their is no way I can stand walking in them for long.

So when do you think shoes were comfortable like we have now?
 
In 1917 the Converse Rubber Company introduced a shoe made from rubber and canvas. The "All Star" was the first mass produced basketball shoe in the US.
 
While comfort is somewhat a matter of opinion, distinct left and right shoes existed in medieval times. Lace closing also existed, though not as fancy as modern laces they did allow for some adjustment.

I've never encountered the 'shrink when wet' problem, and I'm in the SCA in the Pacific Northwest. :-}
 
Leather can stretch when it's wet too if you pull on it hard enough, so maybe both together it all evens out?

What strikes me as uncomfortable, however, are things like the wooden shoes the Dutch wore... those must have been really hard to stand in.

There is at least one benefit to the old shoes. Since this was before assembly lines, most shoes were probably somewhat custom made. Which means that it was far easier to find shoes that fit. (Would have made my life easier, seeing as my shoe size has a W in it, and a lot of shoe styles don't come with that).
 
"Proper" clogs are actually very comfortable to wear and great for posture too.

Properly fitted, welted (Goodyear or otherwise) shoes which have been at least hand finished (if not hand made) are extremely comfortable and probably always have been.

If you cannot afford or obtain proper, hand made footwear made in Northampton, England then, Sir, you are clearly a peasant and deserve no more of my time in regard to this matter. :D

Regards,
Frank
(Clearly, NOT a shoe fetishist!!) :)
 
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Leather can stretch when it's wet too if you pull on it hard enough, so maybe both together it all evens out?

What strikes me as uncomfortable, however, are things like the wooden shoes the Dutch wore... those must have been really hard to stand in.

There is at least one benefit to the old shoes. Since this was before assembly lines, most shoes were probably somewhat custom made. Which means that it was far easier to find shoes that fit. (Would have made my life easier, seeing as my shoe size has a W in it, and a lot of shoe styles don't come with that).

That is true. In the old days communities would have there local shoemaker who made all the towns shoes from children to adults. Boots, dancing shoes, ladies shoes, fine footwear, cheap footwear, they made it. Plus they would repair what shoes needed mending.
 
In 1917 the Converse Rubber Company introduced a shoe made from rubber and canvas. The "All Star" was the first mass produced basketball shoe in the US.

I think alot changed once people could buy shoes from a catalog and not be dependent on the local cobbler.


Catalogs were the WalMart of their day.
 
Huh?

I have owned several pairs of dress shoes especially for daily wear with my Navy uniform over the years, almost all of them made from leather, with a leather sole and a wooden heel (Lloyd's for the most part). Those were NEVER uncomfortable andd I spent whole working days in them...
Rubber soles for leather shoes (except for working boots and such) is just bad style.
 
Spot on, Jotun!

Proper shoes will last a lifetime if properly looked after (can be repaired).Buying cheap and god forbid, un-stylish shoes is always a false economy. Yuk!

Regards,
Frank
 
Yes - very tongue in cheek! :)

I suspect we ALL come from peasant stock if you go back far enough. Excepting Lord Church of Brouge, of couse! (Bad shoe joke!)

Regards,
Frank
 
After carrying my daughter round wellington zoo (definately the hilliest zoo in the known world) all day today I'm wondering when shoes are going to become comfortable
 
Considering this is such a conflict-centric forum I think the question best asked is, "When did boots become comfortable?"

In 1917 the Converse Rubber Company introduced a shoe made from rubber and canvas. The "All Star" was the first mass produced basketball shoe in the US.

During WWII the US military is supposed to have had an advantage in that they clad all their troops in boots with moulded rubber souls. I know the British had their commandos wearing similar footwear, otherwise I have no clue as to what extent all the other forces on either side were moving towards universal adoption of this gear.

Many British and Empire war memoirs talk about hob-nailed boots being uncomfortable, but it wasn't until I watched a Nat Geo documentary about a couple of modern day Canadian infantry officers going to France to re-enact life on the WWI battlefields that I saw an account of just how unpleasant these things must have been to march and fight in.
 
About army boots, what caused so much trenchfoot? Wasnt it partly to blame on low quality socks and ill fitting boots?
 
Leather stretches when wet and shrinks as it dries. When my father was in basic training in Georgia in World War II, they took his entire company into the swamps and made them stand in the water until their combat boots were thoroughly soaked. Then their officers marched them until dry. Dad said those were the most comfortable boots he ever owned, and one of his regrets when he was finally wounded in Germany was that he lost the boots.

I've read that early mass-produced boots made for 19th C. armies were not made left-right, but the users were expected to wear them into the correct shape. Can't verify that at the moment, though. Anyone know?
 
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