The thing is - you can't do Goodyear welt on women's heels. In fact, most even the most expensive brands are... cemented. I don't think there's anything preventing a more rugged/avant garde style heels to be done in Goodyear - I made few pairs myself,as they can be done by hand - yet there's no brand that does over 2 inch heels with any sort of stitched construction. Blake stitch would be a huge improvement over cemented yet hardly any company does them - I wonder if there's any market or are women's shoes "brand and fashion" focused and not so much quality? What do You guys think? I hate buying 1k shoes that fall apart after a year but the allure of stilettos is too much to pass on.
I wouldn't consider a GYW shoe superior to a Blake stitched shoe. It really depends on. There are different types of GYW. The often used GYW Primstitched method is probably one of the worst methods to use, to build a good shoe. Cons are: a pretty high layer of cork with the danger of increasing already existing foot malpositions, no arch support, pretty stiff. A built, which is much better than Blake stitched would be GYW stitched by hand...but most of the manufacturers today aren't able to do it due to cost efficiency. Types of building a shoe which are much better than GYW or Blake: Norwegian Welt, Stagno, Cadenon.
Santoni Blake stitch is not cheap . Actually more expensive than a lot of your middle tier $400 to $600 Goodyear welted shoes . They are light and very comfortable but are Blake stitch shoes worth $700 plus ? I’m referring to captoe Oxfords not loafers ….
Hey Adrianni, I think with Santoni, the price premium may be coming more from the leather and the brand's prominence rather than the construction method. As you mention, Blake stitch does indeed result in shoes that break in easier, with the tradeoff being that they're more difficult to resole. Whether the price is worth it, I leave that up to you! Rafael
Thanks gents great information keep up the good quality work cheers
Thanks, Adam!
What model is the black boot
The thing is - you can't do Goodyear welt on women's heels. In fact, most even the most expensive brands are... cemented. I don't think there's anything preventing a more rugged/avant garde style heels to be done in Goodyear - I made few pairs myself,as they can be done by hand - yet there's no brand that does over 2 inch heels with any sort of stitched construction. Blake stitch would be a huge improvement over cemented yet hardly any company does them - I wonder if there's any market or are women's shoes "brand and fashion" focused and not so much quality? What do You guys think?
I hate buying 1k shoes that fall apart after a year but the allure of stilettos is too much to pass on.
My guess is that any kind of stitched sole would make a pair of heels too bulky, detracting from the familiar slim silhouette.
I wouldn't consider a GYW shoe superior to a Blake stitched shoe.
It really depends on. There are different types of GYW. The often used GYW Primstitched method is probably one of the worst methods to use, to build a good shoe. Cons are: a pretty high layer of cork with the danger of increasing already existing foot malpositions, no arch support, pretty stiff. A built, which is much better than Blake stitched would be GYW stitched by hand...but most of the manufacturers today aren't able to do it due to cost efficiency. Types of building a shoe which are much better than GYW or Blake: Norwegian Welt, Stagno, Cadenon.
Dear Fabian,
Thank you for the detailed comment.
Lots of good info there...
Cheers - Paul
Santoni Blake stitch is not cheap . Actually more expensive than a lot of your middle tier $400 to $600 Goodyear welted shoes .
They are light and very comfortable but are Blake stitch shoes worth $700 plus ? I’m referring to captoe Oxfords not loafers ….
Hey Adrianni,
I think with Santoni, the price premium may be coming more from the leather and the brand's prominence rather than the construction method. As you mention, Blake stitch does indeed result in shoes that break in easier, with the tradeoff being that they're more difficult to resole. Whether the price is worth it, I leave that up to you!
Rafael