What Are Shoe Makers?

Shoe makers are people who perform the traditional craft of designing and constructing shoes. The profession is generally conducted by hand using a variety of specialized tools. Footwear has been a necessary component to fully clothing humans for thousands of years. As such, the art changed and altered heavily over the years. The different type of footwear produced by a shoe maker varies greatly on where the professional is located and what skills he or she has. Some examples of footwear include boots, clogs, sandals, moccasins or basic shoe designs. Traditionally, a shoe maker will use leather or wood to construct the shoe, while modern craftspeople have added rubber and plastic to the designs. A shoe is divided into different sections, each of which is separately created and then assembled into a full piece. The base part of the shoe is known as the sole. It can be made from a number of harder elements and generally includes many layers of padding for added comfort. The upper ...  more