Austro-Hungarian school of shoemaking - Page 47

So do I. Need to figure out the right last and size for me in Vass.

Maybe I can help, what do you need to know?

These boots look awesome.

PM sent. Thank you for your offer to help!

Fritzl, perhaps you can pass this question on to someone you know or help answer it yourself. On a recent trip to Germany I stopped in a shop in Munich (Schuhmanufaktur Danis) to purchase a pair of Vass shoes. There was a woman working in the store (I believe her name was Maria) who was very helpful and tried tirelessly to find a pair of shoes with a good fit. In the end, she said "you need the banana last." That was the first I had ever heard of the banana last - or a banana last of any kind. I did a search of this forum and the web and the information available on the banana last is, to say the least, sketchy.

You can find that information here: http://www.styleforum.net/t/10286/banana-last#post_113349


Just looking to get a good understanding of the banana last in general and why I, or anyone else, would need it. Finally does anyone have pictures of Vass, or other shoes in the AH school, on the banana last?

You can find some exemples on Vass' website.
Here for instance : http://www.vass-cipo.hu/Eng/Modellek_03_London/Modell_03_035_Nagy.html

Thank you but I only see one picture of the banana last and it is not particularly helpful--in terms of understanding the shape of the last.

BTW - your avatar is fantastic.

Do a google image search for Vass "Banana Last" and you should get should decent images. There are some pretty good results if you search for Japanese websites too. Banana shaped lasts are popular in Japan because they tend to fit the Japanese foot well (which helps to explain why the Alden modified last is so popular in Japan)

There's also a few more shots in the Vass catalog: http://jdelage.public.s3.amazonaws.com/Vass%20Shoes.pdf

This pair of Vass Banana Last belongs to forum member BrianSD (posted in the shoe pictorial index thread)





Another pic. The Banana last shoe is the fourth shoe from the right, front row

Thanks for the pictures and write up. Yes. I can see the similarity to the Alden modified last. Perhaps my feet are Japanese. I have done the google search but get weird shoes made from banana like colors or shoeshine methods utilizing bananas. Not particularly helpful. It appears that the banana last is used primarily with Bluchers, any pictures of a bal or other oxfords?

+1, the pictues in the Vass site are really poor, the last is very attactive, look great on those derbies. Damn, it never ends.