Of which the components that make up a quality pair of leather shoes, the sole is the most important part. The method of making a sole determines the durability, waterproofing and softness of your shoes. Have you ever wondered what's inside your shoe soles? The answer will be answered in the article below.

In term of struture, there are five types of soles on the shoe market: Goodyear, Blake, Blake Rapid, Bologna and Norwegian. We will jointly dissect these 5 kinds of soles.

Goodyear sole

The quality of the men's leather shoes produced by Goodyear technology is appropriate. According to the survey, Goodyear is always appreciated by users of shoes in the world. Goodyear Welted is a technology that applies to all high-end shoes from Clarks, Cole Haan, Caterpillar and Banuli - one of few Vietnamese brands of shoes that use this technology.

And of course, with this perfect technology, the Goodyear meets all three criteria for durability, waterproofing and softness. This is the sole for your shoe to last for decades. Not to mention, it's easy to replace. It can be said, if you own a pair of shoes with a goodyear sole, it means you will own it permanently. However, the cost of the Goodyear shoes is relatively high. Goodyear shoe need to be handmade, it takes 2 months for Goodyear Welted shoes to come out. The meticulousness of Goodyear technology is the reason for us to give the right amount of money to its quality. In addition, the shape of sole will be difficult to guarantee because manual production can not be as precise and sophisticated as mass production by machines.

Blake sole

While Goodyear's technology was invented by Charles Goodyear, Blake's technology was created by a man named Blake - Lyman Reed Blake. Blake's shoe technology is technologically almost opposite to Goodyear because of its simplicity. The sole of the shoe will be sewn directly onto the upper leather with firm threads. Thus, the Blake sole is thinner than the Goodyear sole.

The strength of the sole of the Blake is in the simple structure. Shoe soles are thinner and more flexible. In contrast, thin soles sometimes cause discomfort to the user's feet and have poor water resistance. The most dangerous thing is that the thin sole can cause water to seep directly into the shoe leather, so the endurance can not be guaranteed.

Blake Rapid sole

The Blake Rapid shoe is actually an effort to improve Blake's waterproofing ability by stitching a midsole between the bottom and the upper. This approach partially improves Blake's defects in water absorption, but of course increases the thickness of the sole.

Bologna shoe sole

Bologna technology is a common way to use soles for Loafers or Moccasins because of its simplicity. The shoe will cover the entire soles of your feet, the shoesole will be sewn firmly on the leather underneath. That means your feet will not come into contact with the sole, but will come in direct contact with soft leather. This is the highlight of the Bologna shoe making industry to maximize comfort for the users feet. Apparently, the advantages of Bologna sole is very comfortable and smooth. In addition, the production of shoes by this technology is not too complicated but still ensure the fashion element. In contrast, like the sole of the Blake, the water resistance of the Bologna soles is not high and the durability does not last long.

Norwegian sole

Norwegian shoe technology is a less common method for many reasons. It was originally designed to maximize the water resistance of the shoe. For this purpose, the sole method is the same as in Goodyear. Instead of being sewn around the bottom of the shoe as Goodyear, Norwegian technology will sew directly to the upper shoe to connect to the sole. For soles produced by the Norwegian method, the stitches will just run along the upper leather of the shoe. As for Goodyear, the stitches only runs along the bottom. However, in term of the waterproofing of the shoes, the sole of Norwegian is still not comparable with the Goodyear sole, as water can still invade into the shoe through the sewing thread.

The advantage of the Norwegian sole is that it runs along the leg to form a distinctive aesthetic image, and it is much more durable than the Blake sole, some Italian footwear companies still use the method. Today, the Norwegian sole is rarely used because of its poor waterproofing ability while manufacturers often shout too high prices for shoes using this technology.