Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-04-13
LASTS AND SHOES.
A Good Heel Base to Prevent Weak
Ankles

Ankles
book full Of feet and room full Of lasts
They are diagrams of feet in the book, the
oldest looking profles you ever saw. Don't
| have diagram OF your foot made il you want
to retain any of the sanity that human nature
is wont to indulge in with regard to a pretty
foot The shoemaker laid before TIE STAR
man book with hundreds of profes Of feet
drawn from life. They were the feet Of
prominent citizens, public men. Senators. Rep
resentatives, cabinet officers, Presidents per-
hsps. Consideration for whatever vanity the
possessors of these feet might retain after see
| ing the profile, restrained the shoemaker from
giving the names of any of the originals. The
drawings were of the soles of the feet sou,e bio
ana some not so big. the majority of them
| full of knobs and knots; some broad some mar
| row; some straight, some with twists and pro-
trGSlons that had been the work of many wears
| OF tight shoes-such footprints in the sands of
| time might cause the students of antiquities
| five hundred years from now to marvel much
| TO guess the manner of man or beast that oc
cupied the earth in the 18th century One i'm
preston was exactly that OF a very large oyster
| shell, the heel whitfield down and twisted like
| the nick of the shell. These diagrams are To
! assist the shoemaker in shaping up the last to
make shoes for these feet; they are to locate
the knots, twists. and protruberances that must
be provided for in the shoe.
| SPECIAL LASTS.
In back room were more than five hundred
special lasts or casts upon which the shoes are
to be built. constructed to meet these eccentric
measurements. They were all arranged on
shelves and properly marked and numbered, so
hat Mr. Eminent Statesman might order a pair
! or shoes by telegraph and be sure of having
them made with all the alcoves. turrets and bay
windows necessary to accommodate the various
knots and joints of his foot Some of these
lasts were twisted and unlike ANYTHING in
human anatomy as the roots of a water beech.
| One was OF such strange shape that the re-
| porter asked If the possessor of that foot was
| not a cripple
The shoemaker laughed Gle has as straight
and handsome foot as most any man in town
/ He has the last made that way so as to give
/ room for every joint of the foot TO work at
WILL and when the shoe is built IL looks neat"
| There Is no sort of resemblance. TO the eve be-
/ tween the completed shoe and the profile or
| the last. The shoes made on these eccentric
lasts were as shapely as need be-
WEAK ANKLES.
The shoe artist laid aside his work for n few
moments TO talk with the STAR man about weak
ankles, and he explained the thing that so
puzzled the young physician, why weak ankles
| are so common among women. The trouble"
| he said. "hes in the seat of the last There's
where 1T lies. 1t is not whether the shoe is
laced or buttoned, cut high or cut low. square
| shoe that the trouble lies. The seat of the
| last Is that part that corresponds to
| the heel of the foot IL the shoe is broad enough
there TO let the back part of the foot in so that
| the whole bottom of the heel will rest on the in
sole there will be no weakness of the ankles [
| think that laced shoe is undoubtedly better
than any other sort because it adjusts itself to
| the foot. but the buttoned or loW-cut will not
cause weak ankles.
| TIE NEED OF BASE.
| 1t is not want of support that makes the
weakness; it is the weakness that renders sup
port necessary. Ladies are troubled more than
men. because the cut of a ladv's last is more
| unnatural and defective than those for men A
! low-cut shoe, buttoned shoe, or even a high
heeled shoe Will not of itself cause this weak
ness. A sharp high heel will help. but the seri-
Gus difficulty As the want of a broad. firm base
for the heel to rest on. The in-sole of the shoe
IN the back part where the heel rests is as [
| say. what We call the seat. The seat Of the last
Is the heel Of the last and it determines the
| breadth of the space for the heel of the
! foot to occupy. If the bottom of the foot at the
| heel measures % inches across and the insole
1t has to rest on is only inches. it must spread
| over on either side and slip and twist for want
of base TO rest on. The foot will twist lust
| the same whether the she is a button or a lace
| The sole of a woman's foot at the heel is very
little, If any, narrower than mans, in proper
| ton to the lengtM At all events a woman's
| ''B' last. No 5, should be as broad at the seat
as a mans "A" last of the sumo number. but it
1 is not.
| IT Is UNIVERSAL CUSTOM
to make wOmen's shoes disproportionatelv mar
row there in order to give neat appearance
at the heel. As a rule. should say all womcn's
shoes should be at least quarter of an inch
/ broader at the seat than they are. In fact the
/ foot ought TO determine the breadth of the last
/ there. but it is a custom to make women's shoes
/ at least quarter of an inch narrower where
/ the heel rests than they can safely be- The
shoe may be narrow and pointed-toed with
concave heels, if that one thing is cared for. TO
| have the back part of the shoe and the seat
| large enough to let the heel of the foot well in
| without bullying out at the Sides
| wELL-PRoPoRTIoNED WOMAN
has good broad heel and the entire bottom of
il should rest the insole, if this rule is fol-
! lowed. If women's shoes were made as mems
| are IN the back part they would suffer no more
| from twisted ankles. Care should be taken
| however, not to have the shoe too broad there
| That would be as bad as being too narrow. Just
the space should be given that would let the
| heel down in the shoe on its full base A shoe
should not bind at any joint of the foot.
and it does not need to, to make
| it fit snugly. 1t should fit tight
| wherever there is no joint, and that is all
| that is necessary TO snug tit. Weak ankles
are common, because it is the universal custom
| to make the seat of the last for a woman's shoe
| dispropOrtionately narrow. All the great last
manufacturers both in England and this
| country do this. We do not make women's
shoes, but know about this, and may talk
| freely.