BOOTS AND SHOES

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 137, 8 December 1930, Page 9

BOOTS AND SHOES

THE LATEST PRODUCTS

BRITAIN'S BIG SHOW

AN ELASTIC LACE

.(From "The Post's" Representative.) LONDON, 9th October. There avo 459 firms exhibiting at tho annual Shoe and Leather Pair this week. To the general public the exhibition is interesting as a forecast of tho footwear fashions for the coming year. ' Novelty and development are to be seen in ladies' shoes, of course, rather than in men's. The keynote in ladies' shoes is soberer colours, as against the blues and greens which were in evidence last year. Rsal and imitation reptile skin are to fes found in quite as great abuadanco as last year, but dark browns and blacks outnumber all the other lines. Where reptile skin is used there appears to be a tendency to trim the shoe with plain leather or suede. ■ , Among the ladies' shoes which immediately attracted one's attention was a fancy court with brown lizard vamp and suede quarters, trimmed with brown kid and piped with gold. From the same Belgian firm was a tie shoe in blue sued© and blue kid trimmed with lizard. "While speaking of foreign articles, tho all-rubber children's beach shoes may be mentioned. These ar& cast all in one piece, and naturally are seamless. The firm responsible for; them is manufacturing at the rate of 8000 pairs -a day. The shoes" have been made for the past four years, but this is- the first time the firm. has exhibited in England. . Among the new patterns in highgrade upper leathers introduced by British manufacturers this year is the ingenious treatment of calfskin to give the appearance of tweed. This novel idea, which has been widely adopted iii the case of women's sports and walking shoes, promises to be very popular. Another novelty is the us© of fish skins. Owing to the carbonite of lime in fish skins, it was found that needles were always breaking in the Manufacturing processes, but one firm seems to have got over this difficulty. • , In ladies' shoos the one-bar with button or buckle continues to be very general. There are English shoes with python grain trimming and those in hazel and bulrush glace kid; those in bulrush kid. with lizard collar; welter walking shoes in nigger-pin seal morocco, with baby Java python panels; those in patent leather and lizard, and in kid and lizard.' Then there are one-bar shoes in brown suede and,pig grain to tone, and models in' patent and fancy grain with military heel. •'■ , NEW LEATHER DESIGN. An interesting new design comes from a Northampton firm. It is called Honeyshark Calf. The design of the leather has been reproduced from the cutting of a tanned and dressed membranous lining from the intestines of a shark. The imitation resembles the real very, closely. There is a slight .tendency to make men's ordinary shoes a little more flecorative. Otherwise, they are much the same as last year. Men's sports shoes, however, are now being made with greater decoration. Instead of the entirely white tennis shoes, for instance, these are to be seen |l™ i ? ie(i ■with red and green stripes. Wellington rubber boots for children areTDeuig made in black, tan, blue, green, and red to match the coloured mackintoshes worn by children. . "We have at last a practical, elastic shoe :lace. This lace, when once' fitted to a boot or shoe, does not have to be either unlaced or laced to remove the shoe or put it on. Everyone will immediately appreciate that this means a great saving in time and patience, and has.the additional advantage of being extremely neat. ,The method of fixing the lace is simplicity itself, it being held firmly m position by a small fastener which' slides into the back of the eyelet m the shoe so that there is no roughness that'can cause discomfort. It is made in all colours. Experts may note at this exhibition the fruits of the modern method known as rationalisation, as applied to the"shoe and manufacturing industry. Several of the exhibiting firms are now running three or four factories, each being organised for specialisation in a particular'grade of footwear. EXHIBIT OF MACHINERY. One section of the Pair is devoted to machinery, and many improvements ana entirely new appliances for increasing efiieiency are to be seen. Particular interest attaches to the growing use of the continuous wheelfeed models. Fine stitching is the fetish of the present time in shoemaking. The finest stitching may be seen at the Fair in a closing seam having 33 stitches to the inch, so perfectly formed as to avoid, the weakness of over-perforation—a mechanical miracle which could not be equalled by hand. This is mado on a wheel-feed model. Of special importance is the increased use of chain-stitch machines for both toe-capping and silking. It is to be noted that most shoe machines of new design are fitted to take selfcontained motors. At first it was urged on behalf of these small-power units that they were cheaper in the long run because of the economy of current, but they are now regarded with special favour because they are "safer" than the usual lines of shafts End belts. Another exhibition illustrating the 'development of the leather industry in relation to the Imperial resources of boot and shoe manufacture is in progress at the Imperial Institute. In addition to tanning materials and leathers of all kinds, there is shown _a representative collection of historical and present-day footwear. Perhaps the most interesting exhibit among the Hatter class is a pair of shoes belonging to Camera, the Italian boxing giant. ' Scientists hold that the pre-eminence of leather soling is due to the fact that whilst it will keep out the wet, air and vapours can penetrate it. This fact is interestingly demonstrated at tho exhibition by a working model, in rtfeieh air is passed through a piece of j irdiwjry British solo leather, which! forms the base of a tank of water. In one part of the pavilion there can be seen at work two" types of the 120 different machines used in tho manufacture of welted shoes,' with men beside them pursuing the same processes by hand. Another machine illustrates the manufacture of lasts from Canadian maplewooa, while leather under«oinc the processes of tanning is seen at various f/ages, both moist and dry ; Foot anatomy and tho diseases which ill-fitting boots or shoes may .bring about can be observed in a series of exhibits prepared by the Chelsea Polytechnic. ____________