Have you ever found yourself uncomfortable in a buying situation because you weren’t familiar with the industry jargon? It’s one part frustrating, one part embarrassing, and one part nerve-wracking, isn’t it?
Anytime you spend good money on something, you should have a baseline knowledge of how it works. This is why we bring car-savvy friends with us to the dealership, and it’s why we take tailors’ advice on what can and cannot be altered.
You need to arm yourself with the information to make the best decisions for your needs and your budget. What follows is a term-by-term breakdown of the most common words used in shoemaking.
Anatomy Of A Shoe
There are many parts to a shoe. We’ll explain each part in alphabetical order below the graphic.
For the purposes of this article, we focused on a blucher. This is because it’s the style in which it’s easiest to recognize the various sections of a shoe.
Certain parts of shoes are not present on a blucher, and we’ll provide one-off explanations below.
- Backstay: The area of a heel counter that runs vertically down its center
- Eyelet: The holes through which laces are passed. Lace-up shoes can have as little as one eyelet, lace-up boots can have as many as nine or more.
- Footbed: See insole
- Heel: The part of the shoe that your foot’s heel rests on. Often made of stacked leather, heels are easily replaceable on good shoes.
- Heel counter: The part of a shoe that cups the back of your heel.
- Insole: The part inside the shoe that makes contact with the sole of your foot. Also known as a “footbed.”
- Lace: Everyone knows what a shoe lace is. Also known as a “shoe string,” these are what you use to tie your shoes.
- Quarter: The section found on each side of the back of a shoe, they sit just underneath your ankles in a low shoe and cover your ankles in a boot. It’s also the section where the eyelets live. After extensive research, we aren’t sure why the word “quarter” is used as there are only two of them, not four.
- Shank: A steel rod inside the shoe that rests between the insole and the outsole (also known as the “sole”). This provides support for the wearer’s foot. Should the shank ever break, it is the equivalent of totaling a car and cannot be fixed.
- Sole: Also known as the “outsole,” this is the part of the shoe that makes contact with the ground as you walk.
- Throat: The area of the shoe that rests atop your foot’s instep, there are two styles: open-throat and closed-throat. These refer to bluchers and balmorals, respectively.
- Toe box: The area of a shoe in which the toes reside. Is not actually a box.
Perforations and pinking on a brogue.
- Tongue: A strip of leather that makes contact with your instep on a lace-up shoe, it resides underneath the quarters and is the upper end of the vamp.
- Vamp: The part of the shoe’s upper that covers the forefoot. On a slip-on shoe, this includes the area that would otherwise be considered a “tongue” on a lace-up shoe.
- Waist: The narrowest part of a shoe’s sole. Shoe’s with narrow waists tend to offer superior arch support.
- Welt: The area in which the upper is stitched to the sole. It also refers to a strip of leather between the insole and the outsole; the upper is stitched to this piece of leather in a Goodyear welted shoe.
Other Terms
- Beef roll: On a penny loafer, the area where the vamp and sides are stitched together can sometimes form a thick, cylindrical plug that’s called a “beefroll.” Very casual.
Tassels on a blue suede loafer.
- Kiltie: A fringe of leather that sits atop a loafer, often combined with a tassel. Kilties used to be golf shoes, protecting the player’s shoes from mud and grass.
- Medallion: Decorative perforations at the toe of a shoe.
- Mud guard: A thick line of stitching that runs horizontally across a shoe’s heel counter.
- Penny keeper: A strap of leather with a hole in the middle that runs across the vamp of a penny loafer. Ivy League students in the 1950’s would keep pennies in them, hence the name.
- Pinking: The V-shaped cuts in leather you see on a brogue.
- Perforations: Holes in leather seen on a brogue. Medallions are perforations arranged elegantly.
- Tassel: Decorative pieces of leather or suede that hang from the vamp of a loafer.
Closing Thoughts
Good shoes cost good money, and it’s important to know what you’re buying. Having a basic grasp of basic terms will enable you to speak intelligently with salespeople and weed out those who want to help you from those who just want your money.
Go forth and let us know what you buy in the comments!
Shoe Content
Back in the fifties there was a leather shoe you could close with one hand and it was quite popular with young boys. I believe it was referred to as a grasshopper shoe. It had a reinforced tongue with two wires on each side that would draw each side of the shoe together when it was closed so that the wearer didn’t need to tie or zip the shoe to wear it. The tongue was flipped forward to loosen the shoe and then pressed to the instep to close it. I had a pair and thought they were quite neat, but they went out of style and you don’t hear of them anymore. Do you have any thoughts on this?
Hi Thomas,
This is honestly the first time that I’ve heard of the grasshopper shoe!
I did a little research and couldn’t find anything, unfortunately. It’s a shame as the concept sounds quite original! It actually seems that there’s a brand called grasshopper that does have an unusual design but is tied with regular laces.
All the best,
CP
Thomas, I remember those shoes. We called them Flagg Flyers.
Those types of shoes also were known as Flap Jacks.
I think the quarter gets its name either because it covers the rear quarter of your foot or because each one makes up one quarter of the upper.
For contrast, animals have hind quarters and fore quarters, and the side of a ship above the water but behind the waist is called the stern quarter, hence the “quarter deck”. The word “Quarter” is frequently used to indicate the location on something.
Hi Claude,
I always assumed that it was a reference to the rear of the foot too personally. I guess the original author didn’t come across this during their “extensive” research! Thanks for your input, Claude!
All the best,
CP
What is the name of the shoe at the top of your web pages home screen? I love it and want a pair?
Hi William,
I’m not entirely sure but I know that Taft have a similar model!
Best,
CP
Those Grasshoppers were also known as Snapjacks. My brother had a pair from a pop shoe store when he was a teenager.
Ah, interesting! Thanks for the infor!
On laced dress shoes there two styles of vamp to hold the holes
for the laces. On one style the two sides are connected just below the lace holes closest to the toe box. The other style the two sides are connected only by the shoe laces. What are the two styles called?
Are you referring to derby and Oxford style shoes? Otherwise, it’s hard to picture what you’re trying to describe, sorry!
Gentlemen
I own a pr of Allen Edmund’s “Randolph” penny loafers in cordovan. When I walk the sides below the saddle bow outwards. Is this normal? Thanks
Hey Dale,
A bit of this is normal as long as it’s not uncomfortable or compromising the structure of the shoe. Perhaps opting for a wider last next time would help prevent this effect, though as I mention, if it’s still comfortable to wear, I wouldn’t worry too much.
Rafael
I want to order some boots off shien, but I don’t know the shoe size CN meaning. I am a size 7 Canada, what would that be in CN?
Hey Jasmine,
Shoe Size CN refers to shoe size in the Chinese scale, which is different from shoe size scales in the US (and the UK, etc…). You can check our conversion chart between countries’ different scales here: https://bespokeunit.com/shoes/size/.
Rafael
Hello Sirs! Thank you for posting the graphic showing all shoe parts. I’m esp’ly thankful you showed the “shank,” which “no one” in shoe stores has ever heard of, apparently. That includes the snooty older salesman at the Nordstrom’s near me, who sniffed that, if the arch is well built, it won’t matter. This isn’t true. I’d had a pair of New Balance sneakers that were great (10 years!), & bought 2 of its upgrade (one for here, another at a 2nd home in Florida). But after a few hours the bones in my knees ground together. I thought this was due to my being terribly overweight. But I learned over the weekend — to my horror — that they do fold in the center. Shoes/sneakers with the shank fold 1/3 of the way from the tip. UGH!
I am disappointed that most shoes in the malls are now quite flimsy, shoe stores don’t exist like they used to, & no one seems to know anything about them…! In Nordstrom’s, $200 shoes folded in half, & even $400 Allen Edmond’s shoes folded too. Some shoes/sneakers are now made of hard plastic/rubber, so it’s tough to fold them at first (but your feet will feel it).
I still have 2 pairs of Oxfords from Bostonian that do not fold, but their leather is so worn I need new ones. I cannot find them anywhere, I’ve written to their manufacturer (no answer), & those sold online seem OK, but are just hard plastic. Life is hard! BOOO HOOO! :-)
But thank you for your wonderful graphic, & explanation that this shank does exist!
Have a wonderful rest of the day!
Are those pairs of Oxfords goodyear-welted by any chance? You could bring them to a cobbler and get them resoled, if so. Certainly worth trying if you like wearing them so much.
Rafael
I never knew the names of all these parts! Your glossary is super helpful. I’m looking forward to learning more about shoe care and restoration now that I have a better understanding of the anatomy of my shoes. Thanks for the informative post!