Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-13
OUTLOOK BETTER
IN SHOE INDUSTRY
Masculine Prediction for
Blends Noted Even in
Women'S Footwear.

Special Dispatch TO The Star.
NEW YORK, January 13.-After
the usual dull season at the years
end, the shoe industry today finds
the pins "all set up in the other al.
ley" Manufacturers again have some
thing definite to shoot at, and are roll
Ing the production bali down the run
ways briskly, aimed for a ten-strike
This is shown by the volume of
sales piled up at the Chicago style
show and at the convention now in
progress at Boston, where the Ma
tional Association of Shoe Wholesalers
is in session. Fail demand was excel
lent. Then came the usual Winter
slump. Now increased orders are
putting impetus on the production
ball and style is giving it the hook"
that mows down the pins and piles
up profits.
Factories in the Middle West, New
York and Pennsylvania and New Eng
land are planning active operations
during the next three months and
feel they are safe in doing so without
enoountering the danger of piling up
excessive inventories. The purchas-
ing power of the public is fully as
strong as 1t was last Fall and the
makers are counting on a heavy
Spring demand.
Low Shoe Predominant.
This is likely to be more freely
expressed in women's shoes than in
mems footwear. In both, the low
shoe is predominant. High shoes have
almost been forced off the market ex-
cept for sports wear, such as skiing,
skating, hunting and horseback
riding. High Winter shoes for men.
once universal, have lost out to the
spat and the overshoe and the wooden
socks. For women, the wooden spatee
has furnished the warmth and protec-
ton necessary. The Russian boot,
which Paris and London tried so hard
to make popular has never had an
American appeal, probably because
American streets are cleaner than
those abroad. No manufacturer on
this side of the Atlantic went deeply
into boot production.
Heels seem destined to be higher
than ever, and toes will be shorter
The French influence is accountable
for this to SOME extent, but the desire
TO make the foot LOOK shorter is the
main factor. The Boston style show
today is seeking a New England Gin
derella, but almost any normal femi-
nine foot would do for that character
in the modern footwear. Dealers and
manufactures declare higher heels
for men also are coming with lifts of
III to 2 inches.
The lighter tan colorings are COM
ing to the fore in mems shoes with
wing tips feature. Some shades are
almost blond" For women two and
sometimes three colors are utilized in
one pair of shoes. The pastel hues
are in demnad with calls for such
shades as parchment, stone, rose
blush, steel gray, stroller tan, Au
tumn brown and raisin. For evening
the paisley colorings are popular.
Much Business Booked.
More business has been booked at
the Boston convention of wholesalers
than at any similar exhibition since
1920, according to p. Milhado of the
Shoe and Leather Exchange.
The leather producers have i'm
proved their position, but fluctuations
of price have not been sufficiently
wide to disturb the shoe manufactur-
ers. Leather supplies are at a low
level, but the packers report hide
stocks are closely bought up. Leather
production probably will be able to
stand an increase within the next few
months.
The popularity of leather garments
for Winter wear is accounting for a
large quantity of hides. Patent leath-
ers are in demand, but the outstanding
feature of the situation is the demand
for women's novelty footwear and the
consequent drain on leather stocks.
The better understanding arrived at
between the employers and employees
in New England has aided that Sec
ton to overcome to large extent
certain advantages enjoyed by the
Midwestern makers, so that there is
no longer either feast or a famine
anywhere in the industry. The Mid
westerners have been hit to some ex-
tent by the situation in Mexico, which
10 a heavy importer of their wares.