What are close-soled shoes?

[godofcoffee]

I was just reading "A Man in Full" and stumbled across a line about close-soled shoes, which is a typically esoteric Tom Wolfe touch. Here's the passage:

"... just didn't understand about shoes. They didn't wear close-soled shoes. They wore them with soles that stuck out like sidewalks."

Can anybody shed light on this?

 

[bengal-stripe]

Originally Posted by godofcoffee

They wore them with soles that stuck out like sidewalks."

Can anybody shed light on this?

Something like that for example:

Those are Stefano Branchini of maybe ten years ago.

Depending on the construction, you can cut the soles extremely narrow (cemented or Blake-stitched)
to very wide (like in his example of a 'Norvegese' car crash).

 

[KJT]

Originally Posted by bengal-stripe

Something like that for example:

Those are Stefano Branchini of maybe ten years ago.

Depending on the construction, you can cut the soles extremely narrow (cemented or Blake-stitched)
to very wide (like in his example of a 'Norvegese' car crash).

Wow those are awful.

 

[Parker]

But, look at all that handwork!

 

[notalwaysrig]

1. tom wolfe is awesome. I recently started "look homeward angel". (faulkner knew that wolfe was a genius of the souther gothic style.)

2. i have some shoes, bostonian/clarks...leather dress shoes...they have a sole that extends beyond the shoe...a very slight...but still noticable amount. I like them alot...also..the stitching is not hideous like the "example picture".

i guess my point, is that...there is a way for this to be done right.. but it's hard.

 

[BlueHorseShoe]

Originally Posted by notalwaysrig

1. tom wolfe is awesome. I recently started "look homeward angel". (faulkner knew that wolfe was a genius of the souther gothic style.)

2. i have some shoes, bostonian/clarks...leather dress shoes...they have a sole that extends beyond the shoe...a very slight...but still noticable amount. I like them alot...also..the stitching is not hideous like the "example picture".

i guess my point, is that...there is a way for this to be done right.. but it's hard.

Not to jump on you, but many here would saythat bostonian/clarks probably don't know the "right" way to do this.

 

[Brogued]

Originally Posted by notalwaysrig

1. tom wolfe is awesome. I recently started "look homeward angel". (faulkner knew that wolfe was a genius of the souther gothic style.)

2. i have some shoes, bostonian/clarks...leather dress shoes...they have a sole that extends beyond the shoe...a very slight...but still noticable amount. I like them alot...also..the stitching is not hideous like the "example picture".

i guess my point, is that...there is a way for this to be done right.. but it's hard.


I think the OP means the other Tom Wolfe. The white suit wearing dandy.

 

[goshibrine253]

In Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire of the Vanities, one character - a Brit - has a condescending line about the shoes Americans wear, particularly American men. I forget the exact line, but the man says something about how American men know how to ruin a good dress shoe by making it clunky and heavy, like some kind of boot. Wolfe knows about shoes. I'm sure his are all handmade on Saville Row, or on some centuries-old foot last somewhere in Northern Italy.

 

[Sanguis Mortuum]

Originally Posted by notalwaysrig

2. i have some shoes, bostonian/clarks...leather dress shoes...they have a sole that extends beyond the shoe...a very slight...but still noticable amount..

It's not a problem if it's only slightly. Most goodyear welted shoes have soles which extend slightly further out than the uppers, as it's not possible to trim them any closer without using a different construction method (e.g. Blake).

 

[epa]

Originally Posted by godofcoffee

I was just reading "A Man in Full" and stumbled across a line about close-soled shoes, which is a typically esoteric Tom Wolfe touch. Here's the passage:

"... just didn't understand about shoes. They didn't wear close-soled shoes. They wore them with soles that stuck out like sidewalks."

Can anybody shed light on this?

I have a pair of Sutor Mantellassi that have soles that stick out quite a bit, not as much as those in the photo somebody posted above, but yes, quite a bit, and with a lot of stitching. But it looks quite nice, actually, very different from the above photo.
However, my question is: WHO didn't understand about shoes? I must say that I really enjoyed reading A Man in Full, the first chapter is just incredible, but I cannot recall the comments on the shoes. I remember a guy wearing braces with skulls and bones.
Wolfe is great on describing how people enjoy showing off, be it with expensive suits and a Mercedes sports cars like in the Bonfire of the Vanities, be it by burning big logs in the country house, or be it by wearing Diesel denim (in the last one, about the University).

 

[notalwaysrig]

Originally Posted by Brogued

I think the OP means the other Tom Wolfe. The white suit wearing dandy.


Your correction is appreciated.