Only the most demanding shoe enthusiasts will be interested in this article, Alert. I don’t believe many know that dress shoes have lining, they think this shoe is made of leather, by leather they mean the upper. What is lining? where is lining? what is the function of lining? Very few cares. Lining could give better support and shape of the shoes, as unlined shoes may have crappy outline but great comfort.
Even for those aware of lining, my question is how upper and lining is connected together? By stitches? right? Well, that is what I thought, but after deconstructing this pair of Bally, I know something more.
Some may jump out and say, hey I know, they are also glued even with stitches. You are right, but not complete.
These are the uppers I peeled from the shoes, you can tell the leather is very aged, but the pore and sheen are still very good.
The other side of this upper is suede. Why this suede is not as luxury as we normally see? Because it is heavily sanded and glued tightly with the lining (which I have peeled off already) for years!
What is directly glued with the upper, lining? wrong.
This fabric, and its function is almost the same as the lining, to provide better support and shape.
This is the other side glued with lining leather, you can see the texture of this fabric.
So, even the most simple upper has three layers, upper leather, fabric and lining leather. And for toe and heel, there is another more layer, stiffener.
Stiffener has different materials, and this pair of Bally used paper.
Conclusion
This lining leather is not as easy as you look at it, and the heel looks suede, you may think it is the opposite side of the upper, big mistake, it still has four layers, upper leather, fabric, stiffner and suede lining.
Shoes are not that easy!