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post #16 of 23
10/25/11 at 5:17pm
Thanks for all of your contributions DWF. I've learned a lot by reading your posts. Happy St. Crispin's Day.
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post #17 of 23
10/25/11 at 6:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DWFII View Post

Thanks MT.
Actually, I was the host this year of the Annual General Meeting of The Honourable Cordwainers' Company--my guild. Federal law mandates that 501 c-3's have an annual meeting. So we schedule it on the weekend closest to St. Crispin's Day and people come from all over the world to hear presentations on technique, Traditions and history, as well as renew friendships and talk shop. It is a three day event with the evening devoted to feasting and celebration...with some members wearing kilts, frock coats and full pegged boots, or period attire.
We had quite a crowd this year and on Sunday there was a large group in my shop...upstairs and downstairs. As mentioned elsewhere I took possession of my new shoemaker's bench just days before so it was a particularly satisfying event for me.

Wow.....how hopelessly old fashioned, quirky, nerdy, and WONDERFUL that event must be. A world few of 'non cordwainers' could even imagine I would venture to guess.

I would have loved to be a 'fly on the wall' for that one!

Thank you for posting the link to the book. Fascinating......................
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post #18 of 23
10/25/11 at 6:34pm
Thread Starter 
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Originally Posted by hatguy View Post

Thanks for all of your contributions DWF. I've learned a lot by reading your posts. Happy St. Crispin's Day.

Thank you. And happy St. Crispin's Day to you as well.
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post #19 of 23
10/25/11 at 6:56pm
That book has been a fascinating read, so far. I haven't gone far into it, but it is quite thoughtful and well-balanced. I can understand why it might be considered a definitive reference for a field.

I am noticing that it pre-dates a lot of biomechanics research (an area closer to my own background) that I can only assume drives much of athletic and orthopedic footwear design today. It makes me wonder when we'll see some of the premier "dress" bootmakers taking a stronger biomechanics-focused approach to shoe design. I would not expect these smaller artisan companies to have the will nor the werewithal to do so at present, in the same way I would not expect Nike to have the thoughtfulness of elegant crafting, and for the most part I have yet to find a sneaker that looks or is built anywhere near as good as my dress shoes, or a dress shoe that reduces load shock anywhere near as effectively as my sneakers. I'm looking forward to the day that I can have my cake and eat it. (Translation: dunk on the other guy in my dress shoes.)
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post #20 of 23
10/25/11 at 7:22pm
Orthopedic footwear, probably. Athletic? Not as much. Most athletic footwear these days is simply overpadded with lots of pieces that are scientifically designed to counter the foot's natural function. It's made to look cool and to feel soft, and then the marketers write the copy to make it sound pseudo-scientific. Did you catch that whole flap about the shape up things that were supposed to tone your ass as you walked? Generally seen on fat people who thought just wearing the things qualified as exercise, it turned out that they did absolutely nothing, and are now in hot water over false advertizing.

Biomechanics research of late has been talking about how the standard running shoe encourages heel strikes, which feeds energy straight through the bone into the knee rather than absorbing it in the calf, as a more natural stride does, as well as showing how the overpadding leads the muscles in our feet that allow your foot to adapt to varied surfaces and to balance you on them to atrophy.

They may have designed sneakers with scientific research, but if they were, it was incomplete, focused on the wrong areas, or lacked an understanding of the overall system.

Oh, and as a sidenote, Nike does make elegant looking shoes with all sorts of sneaker inspired whatnots. They just sell them under another brand. Ever hear of Cole Haan?
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post #21 of 23
10/25/11 at 7:22pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gdot View Post

Wow.....how hopelessly old fashioned, quirky, nerdy, and WONDERFUL that event must be. A world few of 'non cordwainers' could even imagine I would venture to guess.
I would have loved to be a 'fly on the wall' for that one!
Thank you for posting the link to the book. Fascinating......................

Yes, it is quite old fashioned and considering that the Guild was originally founded by a bunch of "museum wonks", historians and archeologists, it is probably a bit nerdy.

And our "sister Guild" (with legitimate and formal ties having been established) is the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers--the oldest (?) London Guild of shoemakers.

Our Guild motto is "to preserve our skills and history." And many of us take that quite seriously.

On the night of St. Crispin's Day, as the festivities are drawing to a close, shoemakers will write down a wish for the next year on a scrap of paper and then feed it to the flame on the "candleblock."
246

Edited by DWFII - 10/26/11 at 5:43am
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post #22 of 23
10/25/11 at 9:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DWFII View Post

Thanks MT.
Actually, I was the host this year of the Annual General Meeting of The Honourable Cordwainers' Company--my guild. Federal law mandates that 501 c-3's have an annual meeting. So we schedule it on the weekend closest to St. Crispin's Day and people come from all over the world to hear presentations on technique, Traditions and history, as well as renew friendships and talk shop. It is a three day event with the evening devoted to feasting and celebration...with some members wearing kilts, frock coats and full pegged boots, or period attire.
We had quite a crowd this year and on Sunday there was a large group in my shop...upstairs and downstairs. As mentioned elsewhere I took possession of my new shoemaker's bench just days before so it was a particularly satisfying event for me.
Neat! I think I saw pictures of last year's event. Was that held elsewhere though?
And thanks very much for posting the link to Thornton's text. I look forward to reading it.
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post #23 of 23
10/26/11 at 5:42am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by emptym View Post

Neat! I think I saw pictures of last year's event. Was that held elsewhere though?
And thanks very much for posting the link to Thornton's text. I look forward to reading it.

We've got a rotation going now...East coast, Midwest, West coast, East coast, etc.. Two alternating locations in the Midwest. Several in the East and so far only my place on the West coast.

Last year it was Delavan, WI...not far from Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesen. The East Coast venues alternate between Colonial Williamsburg, Old Sturbridge Village, Plimoth Plantation, and, next year Middlebury, VT. The other Midwest location is Guthrie, OK.

Thornton is very informative, very well-balanced and very well done...even if it is more factory oriented than Golding, for instance. Many of the older illustrations depicting particular shoemaking techniques by Bengal Stripe or I, come from Thornton.
Edited by DWFII - 10/26/11 at 6:19am
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