Don't know your Brogue from your Derby? Cordovan from your calf leather? Our handy jargon buster will help teach you everything you may want to know about shoes and the manufacturing process. Can't see a term you want to know? Please get in touch and our team will be happy to help.
Blind Eyelets
Metal eyelets that are attached from behind and not visible from the top of the shoe.
* Blind Eyelet
Burnishing
Piece of the upper pattern that sits over the toe. We buy the best calf leather available. We buy a special type of leather that is very ‘raw’ or ‘naked’ which we then build up the colour on the nished shoe.
Each burnishing builds in another layer of colour, creating a deep, hand polished, antiqued look. In cheaper shoes a polish is applied on top to create a similar effect but we actually work the colour into the leather creating more depth.
Calf
The majority of our shoes are made from calf leather. It is the by-product of the meat industry. Calf leather is the perfect mix of strength and softness and looks incredible when polished.
Chelsea Boot
A higher mid height boot with elastic gussets on either side, named after its popularity on the Kings Road in Chelsea in the 1960’s. Example: Declan.
Chukka Boot
A low cut boot with normally two or three eyelets, named after a Polo Chukka where this style was once used. Example: Marcus.
Closed Channel
This is a technique on high end Goodyear Welted shoes where the sole stitches are hidden by cutting a tiny slit at the edge of the sole, rolling back the leather, stitching into the slit, and then rolling the leather back over it.
* Close channel stiching
* Commando Sole
Commando
The Commando sole is a rugged, hard wearing rubber sole with a cleated pro le to provide grip that is often worn in the military.
Cordovan
Is horse leather. Only the rear of the horse is used and is cut from the animal in a shell shape hence its name ‘shell cordovan’. It has more natural oils in it than calf and is therefore easier to shine.
Crepe
A soft and rough form of rubber.
Dainite
An old English rubber sole that is stitched onto the welt in the same way as a leather sole is. It is very traditional but also used on fashion shoes. It was rst developed a hundred years ago as a golf shoe sole.
Derby/Gibson
The opposite of the Oxford, the back of the shoe is stitched on top of the front thereby creating a big opening where the laces are.
Facing
The part of the leather where the eyelets are fixed.
* Example of Grenson Brogue
Full Brogue
The full brogue is a quintessentialy British shoe. It has a wing tip on the front and punching all over, with a centre punch on the toe and gimping along the edges.
Full Grain
This is the actual natural texture of the surface of the hide. On a high shine shoe this is covered up and the surface is completely smooth but on a “full grain” shoe it is effectively open and the colour is within the skin.
* Example of Gimping
Gimping
An old traditional technique of cutting the edge of each piece of upper leather with a zig zag design. Originally thought to strengthen the edge, now used aesthetically.
Goodyear Welted
A shoemaking technique invented by Charles Goodyear in 1871 whereby a leather strip (welt) is stitched to the upper and the sole is then stitched to the welt. Benefits include strength and ease of repair. This is the key characteristic of English shoemaking.
Grain
Grain has two meanings in shoe making. There is a natural grain of the leather that you can just see on a full grain shoe, or there is the animal grain pattern that is printed onto the leather to give the effect of a rugged skin. This often called scotch grain for example.
Grain or 'Scotch Grain'
This is leather with a pattern stamped into the surface making the impression of a rough animals skin surface. Most leathers can be stamped with this type of pattern.
* Example of grain
High Shine
High Shine leather is tanned to create a layer on the top of the skin that retains its shininess. It has a secondary benefit that it hides the blemishes within the skin and makes it look totally smooth.
Horse Leather
Horse leather. In the old days there were a lot of horses before the advent of the car, and their leather was used in shoemaking. The leather today is rare and therefore regarded as luxury. It has a beautiful oily texture and naturally shines more than calf. It is often referred to as Shell cordovan as the rear of the animal is used and it is cut in the shape of a shell.
Kid
Goat leather. Similar to nappa, it is soft and durable, but not usually used in more rugged shoes as it is quite thin.
Loafer
The loafer is a slip on shoe that looks like a moccasin as it has an apron on the top, but it is made using one of the other constructions such as Goodyear Welted, Blake sewn or cemented. There are several versions such a “penny” which has a strap across the instep with a cut out to hold an emergency penny.
* Medallion/Center Flower
Medallion/Center Flower
This is the classic brogue pattern on the toe of the shoe and is regarded as a very English detail.
Moccasin
The oldest shoe construction of them all. A “true moccasin” is made by lying the leather on a flat surface and pulling it up around the last and then stitching in an “apron” on the top to hold it all together. The foot then sits on the upper leather.
* Moccassin
Micro Sole
A sole made from rubber with air blown into it to make it very light.
Monk Shoe
The Monk is a shoe that has a strap or two with buckles to close it. it is called a monk shoe for obvious reasons.
* Monk shoe example Arundel
Nappa
Nappa is the leather from sheep. It is very soft and quite thin compared to calf, and is often used in more delicate shoes such as moccasins and womens fashion heels.
Nubuck
Nubuck is made by taking off the very top layer of the leather hide. By doing this the rougher outer layer stripped off, leaving a soft, velvety surface.
Northampton
This is the home of British men’s shoemaking. All of the top British brands are from Northampton or the county of Northamptonshire.
Oxford
Where the front half of the shoe is stitched on top of the back half, making a narrow ‘V’ opening where the laces are.
Punching
The holes punched into the upper of a brogue shoe. Originally a way to let the water drain out of a leather shoe when walking across the peat bogs, it is now purely for design.
Proud Eyelets
Metal eyelets that are visible from the top of the shoe
* Proud Eyelets
* Long wing brogue
Royal Brogue/Long wing brogue
Similar to the classic wing tip except the toe cap is cut from the wing at the front, all the way to the backstrap and runs parallel to the sole, as opposed to the usual wing tip where it dips down into the welt about a third of the way along the shoe.
Semi Brogue
A shoe with a straight toe cap and a punched medallion on the toe. Example: Matthew.
Suede
Simply, the underside of the skin.
Through
When the design requires a thicker sole, a leather through (a piece of leather cut to the same shape as the sole), is attached between the sole and the through.
Welt
The welt is a thin strip of leather that runs around the edge of the shoe and attaches to the upper and the sole. It is usually not obvious but blends in and becomes the top of the sole, visible as the bit jutting out as you look down on your shoes.
Wing Tip
A shoe with a toe cap in the shape of a birds wing. Also known as a full brogue. Example: Sid.
Whole Cut
A shoe made from a single piece of leather, usually an oxford with a single seam at the back. Example: Trent.
* Whole cut example -Trent