Without a doubt, custom-made shoes are a luxury for the feet. The authors of this book have traced the trail of a traditional craft that remains vital today. Take a look behind the scenes of some of the most renowned workshops and experience the creation of elegant, handcrafted men's shoes - from measuring the foot to professional packaging.

Information on shoemaking is getting difficult to find. I bought this book hoping I could learn how nice shoes are made. I was very pleased with what I learned from this book. One step further into the details, however, would have made this book the last word on the subject.

If you have a little imagination, however, it is not too hard to fill in the details. Actually, since the author is a very respected Hungarian shoemaker, I can imagine it being a difficult decision on where to draw the line between "details" and "wordiness." Do you have to talk about glue viscosity (he does) or glue recipes (he doesn't, "shop secrets"). Plenty of information is included and hundreds of excellent photos make it easy to imagine yourself right alongside a master craftsman.

 taking measurements

anatomy

shoe sizes

history and making of lasts

characteristics of different styles of men's dress shoes

design of the pattern (the gist of it, anyway)

leather tanning processes

characteristics of different leathers

clicking, brogueing, stitching and reinforcing of uppers

lasting the shoe (stretching the upper around the last)

lots of detail on tacking and stitching during the lasting process

welting

soling (including the shank and cork filler)

building the heel

ornamentation and finishing

proper shoe care

short bios on the greatest workshops in Europe and America