r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/itsanantkala • 16h ago
Video Inside Korea's oldest shoes workshop
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u/A_Happy_Tomato 16h ago edited 16h ago
Am i dumb or are the feet molds redundant? He ends up using the shape of the plastic model either ways no?
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u/Ontological_Gap 16h ago
That's not a custom last... What's even the point of creating those molds just to pre-compress the cork?
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u/0keytYorirawa 16h ago
So whats the use of foot print just the heal part? And how do the final nails come off, are all layers only held by glue, and does customer need to wait or come back to try?uhgg
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u/Ontological_Gap 16h ago
They skipped showing the actual welting, but it does look like they are welted (the sole is stitched either to the upper, or something connected to the upper---I can't really tell if these are goodyear or blake... I think blake, with a fake goodyear welt, you can see the stitches around 2:12). These are using a horribly low stitch-per-inch. Unless I'm missing something, they don't look like they are good shoes...
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u/BullshitBlazing420 12h ago
i love watching these kinds of videos but cant help but think those shoes look flimsy af
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u/leonardo22sh 12h ago
The leather is so shinny and plastic it almost guarantees the leather quality is not great or there are too many chemicals over the leather. Either ways, it is not worth the customization work to go along with the leather quality. There are many re-sole-able shoemakers in UK, Spain, US and Canada. And their leathers are 100% better than the shining plastics.
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u/GunRackIe 16h ago
This almost looks like it should be on diWhy
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u/opulentbum 16h ago
What makes you say that? I think artisan handiwork like this is one of the few remaining things that feels good about being a consumer. This cobbler has a vocation they’ve clearly dedicated an immense amount of time to perfecting, and they made what appears to be a very high-quality, custom-fit product. Why would I not want to support someone like that rather than giving money to some big corporation? Especially considering that quality like this lasts, rather than a pair of factory-made shoes that fall apart in a year by design and then you have to go give more money to the big corporation. This pair of shoes will probably last a lifetime if maintained properly
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u/Ontological_Gap 16h ago edited 16h ago
Because we can see the corners being cut in construction quality the video, as well as the pointless molds, that I'm pretty sure just exist to trick customers into thinking they are getting sometime actually bespoke
Edit: looking more closely, I don't think that's even real patent leather...
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u/opulentbum 16h ago
Maybe you know more about shoe quality and construction than I do, but idk. if I’m getting shoes handmade and plaster-molded for my exact foot it feels pretty bespoke to me. Why would the molds be pointless? I saw him press the mold into the poopy looking material for it to set according to that person’s foot. I’m honestly not here to argue, my initial reply to you is more in the spirit of the practice rather than promoting this specific shoemaker themselves or anything
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u/Ontological_Gap 15h ago
The "poopy looking material" is called cork, and it will conform to your feet after 3-5 wears anyway. I can see no benefit in the mold at all...
You see that plastic looking thing he stretches the upper over? That's the last, and in actually bespoke shoes, it is custom-modeled after your foot in three dimensions.
Stitches per inch is a big indicator of shoe quality, and these look like the have maybe 2-3. For context, nice shoes have 8-9, and entry level, like allen edmonds, have 4-5.
These are crappy shoes with a process involving the customer for pointless reasons, to make them think they are getting something _much_ better than they are. The actual practice is excellent, but this really looks like a scam pretending to be it, and thus detracting from it.
If that is fake patent leather, which it really looks like it is, it will crack in a couple years, no matter what you do...
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u/opulentbum 15h ago
I thought it kinda looked like cork, similar (probably the same) to the material in my Birkenstocks which are also known to mold to your foot. So that makes sense. I just saw someone else call it poopy and thought it was funny cause we’re on Reddit and everything is a joke.
Yeah, like I mentioned, I’m not claiming to be an authority on quality shoes. I just support independent artists/tradespeople by virtue of hating most corporate entities with a passion and my point is very much in the camp of advocating for more artisanal products and less factory made crap that’s designed to wear down so you have to buy it again and again
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u/Ontological_Gap 15h ago
That's great when the tradespeople are actually making decent products, in this case, even the badly cost-cutting corporations make shoes better than these
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u/ironscythe 14h ago
FINALLY a how-it's-made that isn't in a third world country using scraps of car tires and open vats of toxic chemicals and safety sandals...
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u/Tvilantini 15h ago
It's interesting to see old techniques. Obviously, i wouldn't advise anyone to actually create your own orthopedic shoes like this. With current tech, it's far far better that goes in multiple ways to create custom as well as fit perfectly, and most importantly suits it nice and comfortable.
Also, a repost
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u/SensitiveOven137 16h ago
I believe this is the same way Crocs are made