Can I resole these Ferragamos?

[HomerJ]

What is the construction method of these Ferragamo shoes?

I'd like to resole them... but I don't see the same stitching I see on my goodyear welt AEs. Are these blake? Cemented?!

 

[lee_44106]

Are those Tramezzas?

Tramezzas are top of the line Ferragamo, and are Goodyear welted, and so can be easily resoled.

All other Ferragmos are blake rapid. Theoretically it CAN be resoled (I learned this yesterday at CSE-2008), but not many places in the US has the machinary to do so.

 

[HomerJ]

There is no writing on them referring to Tramezza.. I've read both jcusey and aharris's shoe guides and looked at various sites but I still don't get how to identify shoe construction

They don't have that stitching visible from outside that I can see on my AE's (only good shoes I have to compare against). The upper just tucks in and disappears.

Not a bad looking shoe at all and I'd like to extend their life..

 

[noVA99]

those shoes are sweet

nice find

 

[rnoldh]

Show a picture of the insides.

If they are Ferragamo Studio then they are glue jobs.

Ferragamo main line is Blake constructed.

 

[lee_44106]

Tramezzas can be identified by the following (Any one will suffice):

-a CLOTH tag on the heel portion of the insole saying "Salvatore Ferragamo"
-cursive writing engraved into the sole saying Tramezza
-a small oval metal tag on the sole, I belive it says Tramezza or Ferragamo

Also, look into the insole, is there a complete leather covering? Can you seen any stitching on the ball portion of the insole? The stitching is a tipoff for blake-rapid or bologna.

Try posting picture of the sole and insole.

 

[overdog]

Originally Posted by lee_44106

Are those Tramezzas?

Tramezzas are top of the line Ferragamo, and are Goodyear welted, and so can be easily resoled.

All other Ferragmos are blake rapid. Theoretically it CAN be resoled (I learned this yesterday at CSE-2008), but not many places in the US has the machinary to do so.

My understanding is that blake-rapid will have stitching on the outside of the shoe.

 

[binge]

Just curious, but if you're going to post more pics to help identify the stitching, could you also show the soles as well. At what point do the soles become worn down such that you consider resoling them.

 

[stickonatree]

Originally Posted by overdog

My understanding is that blake-rapid will have stitching on the outside of the shoe.
goodyear stitching has visible stitches on the top outsole welt, which goes through to the bottom outsole. there is also another (not visible) stitching line connecting the insole, liner, upper, and welt. what makes them easy to resole is the fact that the outsole can be simply removed by cutting the stitches and prying it (glued on the midsoles) off, leaving the midsole, welt, and uppers intact. blake-rapid does not - it simply stitches from the insole all the way through the welt to the bottom outsole. in order to resole them, you'll basically have to take apart all the layers of the shoe, which is what makes it extremely difficult/not a common thing to do. from the photos - i'd definitely say it's blake rapid stitched. edit: oops, looks like i was thinking of the bologna construction. i always get those 2 confused. but now this brings up a whole new topic - are these studio then? i see no visible stitch threads in the above photos. the santoni website shows the stitching very well, and blake-rapid definitely has visible stitching on the outsole. thanks overdog for the correction

 

[overdog]

 

[haganah]

I'm a little confused. If I take a blake stitched shoe to the shoe shop and it's worn down and they put a new sole on it and they don't charge an arm and a leg, how is that a difficult thing to do? I'm still trying to understand all the knowledge you guys have on shoes.

 

[ChicagoRon]

haganah.....when you get your blakes resoled, are they re-stitching, or gluing on an outsole? I was also under the impression it was very difficult to find someone who can resole blake construction.

Also, are tramezzas technically goodyear welted? They do not use the word Goodyear in their little booklet that comes with the shoes. I'm curious because a salesman at Nordstroms explained to me that the Santoni FAM were welted using a similar construction to goodyear, but they are made by hand, so they are not goodyear welted. I did not know if that is accurate and goodyear welting always requires a machine or not.

 

[haganah]

Originally Posted by ChicagoRon

haganah.....when you get your blakes resoled, are they re-stitching, or gluing on an outsole? I was also under the impression it was very difficult to find someone who can resole blake construction.

Also, are tramezzas technically goodyear welted? They do not use the word Goodyear in their little booklet that comes with the shoes. I'm curious because a salesman at Nordstroms explained to me that the Santoni FAM were welted using a similar construction to goodyear, but they are made by hand, so they are not goodyear welted. I did not know if that is accurate and goodyear welting always requires a machine or not.

I'll have to check now.

But I have a couple more questions:

1) What is the benefit of stitching on the sole instead of gluing it on?
2) If they cut off the outer layer on the goodyear welt, by cutting the stitches, are they just gluing another layer back on or stitching something on?
3) Why can't I see the stitching go through the bottom layer of the goodyear? Is it hidden by a piece that's glued on?

 

[lee_44106]

The Nordstrom guy is technically correct. Goodyear was the man who invented the machine that was able to welt a pair of shoe the way artisan hands used to welt shoes together. This invention happened in the early 20th century.

So technically "Goodyear welt" refer to the process that a machine does, but nowadays is very much interchangeable. Very very very few shoe manufactures still hand welt shoes. Vass I know is one. As far as I know, NONE of the Santoni FAM are HAND-welted. This is pure advertisement gimmick.

 

[AlSailor]

This is a quote from RIDER on shoe repair. Hope this helps:

Quote:
3. How easy is it to have Blake-stitched shoes resoled at a typical local cobbler's? My local cobbler is excellent, but I have yet to ask him what he (and his contemporaries in other cities -- I may be moving soon) can do with Blake stitched soles.

This is probably THE MOST mis-understood topic that appears regularly on these boards...shoe repair guys have really done a great job making their work seem more complicated than it is. First of all, 90% of the adhesion of all parts of a factory shoe, including the sole, is all-purpose cement and/or double-sided tape. Secondly, EVERY shoe repair shop that is any good will have a MacKay stitcher...Blake and MacKay are interchangeable - same machine, different name on different continents. It's very easy - the heels are removed and the toplifts thrown out, the existing outsole is sanded down to a uniform thickness, the new sole is laminated on and then the shoes are run around the MacKay stitcher. The heel bases are then glued/nailed back on, and new toplifts glued/nailed to the bases. Excess is trimmed away, ink is rolled around the sole edge, shoes are ready - straight forward job.
Now, with the exception of the alligator flanks model I have, all Martegani shoes are BLAKE/RAPID construction - not Blake. This means that the MID-SOLE is Blake stitched and the OUTSOLE is Rapid stitched - a seperate stitch on the outside of the upper that goes thru the midsole...looks just like a welted shoe. This is the EASIEST construction to repair, as all you have to do is cut off the outsole and lay a new one onto the existing mid-sole and stitch again. No sanding down to a uniform thickness, no replacing dried up cork/glue mixture...easy job. And, it's repairable more than many welted shoes as, since there is no welt, you can run stitches thru the midsole at more places where on a welted shoe, after two or three outsole jobs, you have to replace the welt as it's been stitched out. Most of my customers simply bring my shoes (or send them) back to me for repair work.