A
last is a form in the approximate shape of a human foot, used by
shoemakersShoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand. Traditional handicraft shoemaking has now been largely superseded in volume of shoes produced by industrial mass production of footwear, but not necessarily in quality, attention to detail, or...
and
cordwainerA cordwainer is a shoemaker/cobbler who makes fine soft leather shoes and other luxury footwear articles. The word is derived from "cordwain", or "cordovan", the leather produced in Córdoba, Spain. The term cordwainer was used as early as 1100 in England...
s in the manufacture and repair of shoes. Lasts typically come in pairs, and throughout their history have been made from many materials, including
hardwoodHardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...
s,
cast ironCast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
, and, more recently, high density plastics.
Production
Lasts are made to varying degrees in the shape of the human foot, depending on their specific purpose. They come in many styles and sizes, depending on the exact job they are designed for. They range from simple one-size lasts used for repairing soles and heels, to hard-wearing lasts used in modern mass production, and to custom-made lasts used in the making of
bespokeBespoke is a term employed in a variety of applications to mean an item custom-made to the buyer's specification...
footwear.
Historically, lasts were made from a number of materials - typically hardwoods and cast iron. These are materials that will retain their shape, even when in contact with wet materials, like leather, being stretched and shaped.
The material used to make modern lasts must be strong enough to withstand the forces of
mass productionMass production is the production of large amounts of standardized products, including and especially on assembly lines...
machinery, such as that applied by the pullover machines when bottoming the shoe, and must also be able to hold
tacksNail may refer to:* Nail , toughened keratin at the end of an animal digit* Nail , a plate of hard horny tissue at the tip of some bird beaks* Nail , the pin-shaped fastener used in engineering, woodworking and construction...
(known as "lasting tacks") which are used to hold shoe parts together temporarily before the sole is added. Although hardwoods satisfy these criteria, modern lasts, especially those used by mass production factories in places such as China, are often made from high-density polyethylene plastic (HMW-HDPE), which allows for many tack holes before needing repair. Such plastics also have the benefit that they can be recycled and remoulded when they wear out.
Wooden lasts are today generally used only for bespoke shoemaking, particularly in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and
North AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
Though a last is made approximately in the shape of a human foot, the precise shape is tailored to the kind of footwear being made. For example, a boot last would be designed to hug the instep for a close fit. Modern last shapes are typically designed using dedicated
computer-aided designComputer-aided design , also known as computer-aided design and drafting , is the use of computer technology for the process of design and design-documentation. Computer Aided Drafting describes the process of drafting with a computer...
software.
Custom lasts
CordwainerA cordwainer is a shoemaker/cobbler who makes fine soft leather shoes and other luxury footwear articles. The word is derived from "cordwain", or "cordovan", the leather produced in Córdoba, Spain. The term cordwainer was used as early as 1100 in England...
s, or bespoke shoemakers, often use lasts specifically designed to the proportions of individual customers' feet. Made from various modern materials, they don't need to withstand the pressures of mass production machinery, but they must be able to handle constant tacking and pinning, and the wet environment associated with stretching and shaping materials such as leather.
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