bjhofkin
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I motion to rename this thread "The Shell Cordovan Memorial Leather Properties Thread."
cordovan got murdered on page 187.
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cordovan got murdered on page 187.
Thing is if wood supposedly absorbs all the moisture as per the marketing, and somehow you’re left with wet wood and dry leather, then how does the wood dry? Certainly wouldn’t move the long way through all that wood to the other side to evaporate
I see it more likely that the two materials find an equilibrium of “wetness” where some moisture is drawn from the leather, then the two dry concurrently when the moisture drawn from the surface of the leather into the air then draws moisture from the wood in capillary action
Leather shrinks as it dries. When you put it on again, your feet will stretch the leather again. This cycle isn’t ideal for the life of the material. A shoe tree that is made to fit the shoe will maintain the shape of the leather as it dries, so it doesn’t shrink. I personally would never use or advise using some random tree that sort of fits, as it will only support some random parts of the shoe. Worse, if they’re jammed in or have a spring, they can stretch the shoe out of shape. If we’re talking about a bespoke shoe, what’s the point aiming for the best fit possible then jamming some random stretching device in there? Might as well hang your bespoke suit on a wire coat hanger while you’re at it. Luckily most places in the west end provide a pair of trees with all shoes so just pop them in after wearing and fuhgettaboutitSo reading from the above, shoe trees slow down the drying of shoes, and push back along the treadline of the shoes.
From that, what’s the point of lasted shoes trees other than they look cool, a well fitting shoe don’t have stresses on the toe boxes or the heels.
Leather shrinks as it dries. When you put it on again, your feet will stretch the leather again. This cycle isn’t ideal for the life of the material. A shoe tree that is made to fit the shoe will maintain the shape of the leather as it dries, so it doesn’t shrink. I personally would never use or advise using some random tree that sort of fits, as it will only support some random parts of the shoe. Worse, if they’re jammed in or have a spring, they can stretch the shoe out of shape. If we’re talking about a bespoke shoe, what’s the point aiming for the best fit possible then jamming some random stretching device in there? Might as well hang your bespoke suit on a wire coat hanger while you’re at it. Luckily most places in the west end provide a pair of trees with all shoes so just pop them in after wearing and fuhgettaboutit
Leather shrinks as it dries. When you put it on again, your feet will stretch the leather again. This cycle isn’t ideal for the life of the material. A shoe tree that is made to fit the shoe will maintain the shape of the leather as it dries, so it doesn’t shrink. I personally would never use or advise using some random tree that sort of fits, as it will only support some random parts of the shoe. Worse, if they’re jammed in or have a spring, they can stretch the shoe out of shape. If we’re talking about a bespoke shoe, what’s the point aiming for the best fit possible then jamming some random stretching device in there? Might as well hang your bespoke suit on a wire coat hanger while you’re at it. Luckily most places in the west end provide a pair of trees with all shoes so just pop them in after wearing and fuhgettaboutit
Anyhoo, I’ve seen my fair share of shoes that have been altered dramatically by trees that don’t fit - clients bringing their old shoes to complain that they don’t fit any more, with a spring loaded tree shoved in them which has pushed the vamp deeper (usually seen in tandem with some high street resole job which has shrunk a size or two off the length).
^^^ My experience is that the lasted shoe trees will not change the shapes that comes with wear. But I mean, if one is after the best fitting trees you can, there you have it, the closest thing one can get.
G&G and some other makers usually have customers wear the shoes for a period before the shoes are sent off to Hervé Brunelle for the lasted shoe trees to be made, so essentially the shoe trees fit even better than the lasts, one might say.
All good shoe trees have hollowed shape over the footbed, never had lasted shoe trees made for a bespoke shoe without that, so footbed stays intact with wear.
Well, maybe I'm confused by the terminology. It was my impression that 'lasted shoe trees' were essentially duplicates of the last in terms of length and width and girth. What you're talking about from Brunelle sounds more like bespoke trees. Made for a shoe that, by virtue of previous wearings, is already different in shape (and perhaps size) than the last.
And for what it's worth the footbed doesn't need to be hammered ( the tree can be hollowed out, IOW) to be erased. Every time the shoe insole is flattened lengthwise and left to dry like that, some of the contouring disappears.
All good shoe tree makers, be it a specialised last/shoe tree maker or the last/bespoke maker themselves, make sure to get an ideal fit to the actual shoe, they have the shoes there and accommodate the tree for the shoe in best way possible.
But yes, lasted shoe trees in general are copies of the lasts. I just mentioned that G&G and some other bespoke makers go beyond that.
I’m not sure I follow you, you say that you don’t speak for no shoe trees, but what is it that you recommend then?