From: Althea Turner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Can you give a quick and dirty comparison of modern and historical lasts?
I assume it has to do with the left/rightness of the lasts.
Not necessarily -- the right/left/straight thing is a commonly held myth,
when in fact the truth could differe fro time to time, and even with social
class. In general:
In the Middle Ages shoes were generally made right and left on separate
lasts (although it seems that straights were a possiblity in certain
circumstances, and definately an option for peasant shoes).
In the immeadiate post medieval period, when non-turned shoes became the
norm, lasts remained right and left.
After 1600, probably due to the introduction of separate raised heels,
straights gradually became the norm, so that by the 1700s people had
generally forgotten they had been any other way.
In the late 1700s, "crooked" lasts were rediscovered and gradually the new
technology developed out of that, so that by the mid-1800s the norm was once
again right and left.
---------------------------
In general the difference in last shape produced a different shaped shoe.
My best examples are some links to pictures.
Compare the shape of the shoe in the following pictures:
Not made on a last:
http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/marc/photos/russboot2.jpg
Made on a 1950s "flat" shoe last.
http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/marc/photos/monday4.jpg
Made on a repro 1400 era last:
http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/marc/photos/boot.JPG
The last for the preceeding looks like:
http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/marc/15th+century+German+style.jpg
This is a 1300s era repro last.
So, some lasts look like lumps of wood, while others are far more developed.
And even by the early 1200s, some of the extant shoes hint at that raised
toe spring and upswept waist.
For a comparison - this is a last from the 1970s:
http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/1970s+last.jpg
Looking at them from the front and top, there are similar detail differences
in last shapes.
Does this help?
Marc
_______________________________________________
h-costume mailing list
[email protected]
http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
