The quality of a western shoes is highly dependent on shoe-making technique. The higher value of shoes means that the more careful it is made. In the world there are a lot of ways to make shoes ranging from handcraft to industrial production. However, with the high quality men's leather shoes, people still use handmade sewing methods to bring remarkable effects to the users. Goodyear and Blake shoemaking technology are two of the shoe-making techniques chosen by artisans to create great leather shoes.

Goodyear Technique

Goodyear is the traditional way to make men's western shoes. This method dates back to 1869 and its name is named after inventor, Charles Goodyear. After that, his son had perfected them to replace the entirely manual hand-sewn methods. The special feature of the shoes is that they are made of Goodyear technology, which consists of three parts: the upper, the insole and the outsole that are tied together by a piece of leather - called "Welt".

Thanks to the appearance of the Welt leather on both sides of the shoe soles, goodyear leather shoes will have a certain space between the inner and outer soles. So shoemakers can easily place shoe materials here to help shape the shoe better and more comfortable.

The type of thread used for goodyear shoes are made of hemp or cotton yarn impregnated with wax. Therefore, these threads not only ensure durable connections but also have a good antibacterial and bactericidal ability. The line is sewn on the outside instead of the inside as other ways. This will create the ability of waterproof, durability in any weather conditions.

Blake Technique

This is a technology almost opposite to Goodyear technology because of its simplicity. If Goodyear technology was invented by Charles Goodyear, then Blake technology was created by Lyman Reed Blake. For the Blake structure, the soles of the shoe will be sewn directly onto the upper leather by threads. Blake's sole is usually thinner than the Goodyear's.

Producing Blake shoes is simpler and easier than Goodyear ones. A single thread is sewn to attach the upper part of the shoe to the outer sole. Stitches are placed inside the shoe. If viewing from the sole up, both Blake and Goodyear may look very similar and therefore if the consumers who are not shoe connoisseurs will not be able to see the difference between two methods. The Blake technique has a few similar steps as the Goodyear method. It is less expensive and easier to produce a large number of shoes . The basic structure is that the upper part of the shoe that is attached to the outsole and then the insole, the shoebody and the outsole are tied together by stitches.

Blake shoes tend to be more flexible than Goodyear shoes, because they have fewer layers. And looking at the structure you can see that the leather of the shoebody is sewn with the sole to make the durability. However, the disadvantage of this kind of shoe making is that because the stitches is directed through the sole, it is more likely to increase the inrush of air and water into the shoes.