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Reviews: Shoe class bibliography!
Feb. 7th, 2007 04:10 pmSee, normally, i teach four classes on rotation in crafts artisanship topics--dyeing/painting, millinery, masks/SFX, and bricolage (essentially an "everything else" class that covers jewelry, parasols, gloves, body padding, macropuppets, etc)--which our MFA students take during their first two years of study.
This semester though, in addition to the normal millinery class, i am teaching two students a specialized seminar, an advanced graduate level course in shoe and boot construction. We are covering a range of shoe-related topics--repairs, alterations, building from scratch, and "fantasy"/SFX footwear. Our first shoe project (simple leather shoes) should be finished soon so photos and methods on that will be forthcoming; I did poulaines (pointy-toed shoes) for my example and my students did Irish Ghillies and a 19th c. men's boots. First though, i thought i'd post about what books we are using for the class.
Our required text is How to Make Your Own Shoes by Mary Wales Loomis. Loomis is a self-taught shoemaker whose self-published book is a great, thorough, introductory resource and a good reference for methods on making a custom last from a foot cast, and various pump-style ladies shoes from a wide range of materials. Loomis' website has a fair amount of information even without the book itself.
In addition, we are also using and studying the following resources:
Foxfire 6 (1980). Contains an article on shoemaking, which is more of a historical perspective article, 'how they did it in the old days'-type of thing, but useful to know, particularly since most shops have limited cordwaining machinery.
The Mode in Footwear by R. Turner Wilcox. Back in the 1940s, Wilcox did a whole series of "The Mode In [...]" reference books, all of which are out of print now. You'll find them in libraries though and xeroxes from them pop up all the time in costume designers' research. The footwear title presents dozens of styles by time period and country of origin, and often includes little details about materials used in construction and the like.
Shoes and Pattens by Francis Grew, et al. This is an incredible resource on medieval footwear, put out by the Museum of London. Detailed information about the 2000+ medieval shoes discovered on the bank of the Thames.
Shoes, by June Swann. This is one of any number of good books and day-planners and photo calendars and the like out there on the market that are full of inspirational images of creative footwear, both antique and modern.
Page-a-Day Shoes Gallery Calendar. Another resource we're using largely for inspiration and research imagery.
The Pattern-Cutter's Handbook by Michael H. Sharp. This book is a drafting resource for how to make various upper shapes.
Vass, Laszlo & Magda Molnar, Handmade Shoes for Men. This book is an amazingly thorough resource on all aspects of the cordwainer and cobbler trades, full of many excellent visual resources, from photographs to pattern diagrams to historical engravings and artwork. Includes an overview of nine workshops around the world and a useful glossary of terms.
The Woodstock Craftsman's Manual, Vol. 2. Contains a chapter on handmade sandals. This is clearly an old self-published small print run book from the early 1970s. I found it in a used bookshop, no idea how difficult it would be to track down.
The Forgotten Arts, by John Seymour. Contains a chapter on carving/sculpting wooden shoe soles.
Websites of interest, pertaining to professional shoemaking:
Shoe Trades Publications site: http://www.shoetrades.com/
The Honorable Cordwainers Company: http://www.thehcc.org/
And, the following websites are indispensable for information about building illusion footwear--claws, hooves, paws, etc--but may not be work-safe, as they are all written and maintained by fetishists:
Great resource for construction options for paws/claws; very detailed and helpful: http://www.fursuit.org/faq/
Great overview of construction options for paws/claws: http://www.nicodemus.org/fursuit/paws.php
Detailed instructions for making hoof-shoes and boots: http://www.pets-de.org/lib/others/boots/hoofall.html
Step-by-step tutorial for making hoof-shoes and boots: http://www.stripedsmiles.com/CostFootGear.html
Hopefully some of this is useful, and if you find any of these OOP books for cheap, snap them up! Additionally, if you are looking for someone to custom-make you a pair of shoes, check out El Diablo Shoes in Holyoke, MA, or any of the shoemakers mentioned in this article: http://www.stage-directions.com/backissues/sept03/footnotes.shtml
This semester though, in addition to the normal millinery class, i am teaching two students a specialized seminar, an advanced graduate level course in shoe and boot construction. We are covering a range of shoe-related topics--repairs, alterations, building from scratch, and "fantasy"/SFX footwear. Our first shoe project (simple leather shoes) should be finished soon so photos and methods on that will be forthcoming; I did poulaines (pointy-toed shoes) for my example and my students did Irish Ghillies and a 19th c. men's boots. First though, i thought i'd post about what books we are using for the class.
Our required text is How to Make Your Own Shoes by Mary Wales Loomis. Loomis is a self-taught shoemaker whose self-published book is a great, thorough, introductory resource and a good reference for methods on making a custom last from a foot cast, and various pump-style ladies shoes from a wide range of materials. Loomis' website has a fair amount of information even without the book itself.
In addition, we are also using and studying the following resources:
Foxfire 6 (1980). Contains an article on shoemaking, which is more of a historical perspective article, 'how they did it in the old days'-type of thing, but useful to know, particularly since most shops have limited cordwaining machinery.
The Mode in Footwear by R. Turner Wilcox. Back in the 1940s, Wilcox did a whole series of "The Mode In [...]" reference books, all of which are out of print now. You'll find them in libraries though and xeroxes from them pop up all the time in costume designers' research. The footwear title presents dozens of styles by time period and country of origin, and often includes little details about materials used in construction and the like.
Shoes and Pattens by Francis Grew, et al. This is an incredible resource on medieval footwear, put out by the Museum of London. Detailed information about the 2000+ medieval shoes discovered on the bank of the Thames.
Shoes, by June Swann. This is one of any number of good books and day-planners and photo calendars and the like out there on the market that are full of inspirational images of creative footwear, both antique and modern.
Page-a-Day Shoes Gallery Calendar. Another resource we're using largely for inspiration and research imagery.
The Pattern-Cutter's Handbook by Michael H. Sharp. This book is a drafting resource for how to make various upper shapes.
Vass, Laszlo & Magda Molnar, Handmade Shoes for Men. This book is an amazingly thorough resource on all aspects of the cordwainer and cobbler trades, full of many excellent visual resources, from photographs to pattern diagrams to historical engravings and artwork. Includes an overview of nine workshops around the world and a useful glossary of terms.
The Woodstock Craftsman's Manual, Vol. 2. Contains a chapter on handmade sandals. This is clearly an old self-published small print run book from the early 1970s. I found it in a used bookshop, no idea how difficult it would be to track down.
The Forgotten Arts, by John Seymour. Contains a chapter on carving/sculpting wooden shoe soles.
Websites of interest, pertaining to professional shoemaking:
Shoe Trades Publications site: http://www.shoetrades.com/
The Honorable Cordwainers Company: http://www.thehcc.org/
And, the following websites are indispensable for information about building illusion footwear--claws, hooves, paws, etc--but may not be work-safe, as they are all written and maintained by fetishists:
Great resource for construction options for paws/claws; very detailed and helpful: http://www.fursuit.org/faq/
Great overview of construction options for paws/claws: http://www.nicodemus.org/fursuit/paws.php
Detailed instructions for making hoof-shoes and boots: http://www.pets-de.org/lib/others/boots/hoofall.html
Step-by-step tutorial for making hoof-shoes and boots: http://www.stripedsmiles.com/CostFootGear.html
Hopefully some of this is useful, and if you find any of these OOP books for cheap, snap them up! Additionally, if you are looking for someone to custom-make you a pair of shoes, check out El Diablo Shoes in Holyoke, MA, or any of the shoemakers mentioned in this article: http://www.stage-directions.com/backissues/sept03/footnotes.shtml
