Greek footwear

[shadow0000]

Greek footwear sounds interesting... Well do you have any picture of what you saying a Greek footwear man...



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[Kineas]

So... I wore my felted wool "socks" under my Thracian boots in the snow.

Totally comfortable. three hours out, up to 75 cm of snow, and my boots and stockings were fine.



The stockings were cut from heavy wool cloth with this pattern:



Here's what I take to be felted stockings worn under sandals--those "white boots" sometimes called "Boeotian boots."

[John Conyard]

Great pictures. Can you tell us anything about the boot construction?

Many thanks.

[Kineas]

So, this is the sort of boot I was after:



Mine have the seams in the right place, but no tongue and no edging, and the woman who made them (a very talented medieval shoe maker who styles herself "Lady Oren") did a nice job. There's flaws--they are too wide and the "cut out" parts are too big--but they are comfortable to wear and within an allowable degree of authenticity.

This summer, I'll make a pair myself--I do leather work--and try to improve the fit and the finish work--but for the money paid, I'd rate Lady Oren pretty high.

Here's the boots themselves,
.

Some things that you'll see are right--the way the sole goes on the upper (like a medieval turn shoe) and the fit--and the front lacing. Even the flatness of the toe area--I had to expand mine with stretching to make them comfortable, but they do look like the period illustrations.

See what you think. I'll ride in these this summer, and send a report.

[Giannis K. Hoplite]

Hi Christian. If you have experience with leather work you can improve those yourself I think. If you add an edge in the cutout area,you can also cover part of the big spaces of the upper part of the foot. And perhaps a tongue is not so difficult to be made and sewn only in the front? They will look great! You can even do a red edge,it will be a nice touch :wink:
Khaire
Giannis

[Kineas]

Hi Giannis--one of my proverbs in making kit is never to try to make a silk purse from a sow's ear--never add to someone else's work. My next pair will be made more correctly, and from a better quality leather, and THEN I'll add the style elements. Not worth the work to do it to these.

In addition, adding a tongue is more complex than it looks--I'd have to change the design of the lower vamp. Which, to be honest, I considered, but rejected. they are wearable and tolerably correct right now. I'll have the new pair ready when these wear out in August.

[Magnus]

Great job on those boots Christian!

[Kineas]

Thanks, Magnus. I plan to make boots, for anyone who's interested. No idea about timing or price, but this is the kind of leatherwork that I enjoy.

I do need to make a working pattern, though,and nothing will happen until midsummer. If we have our joint event, that'd be a good time to talk boots.

[Magnus]

Sounds good...I'll know this coming Saturday if the end of June is good for everyone.

[John Conyard]

I think there is enough iconographic evidence from these two pots to settle on a boot design.

Kineas, I suspect people will beat a snowy path to your door to buy them. Good luck with the new business. Shoe making is one thing I can't stand, and people are always after good suppliers.

[PMBardunias]

Christian,

That image above with the two men in boots, do you have a link to where you found it? It looks to me to be Boeotian, first 3rd of the 4th c when they borrowed heavily from Spartan kit, and shows a wealth of features that I have been seeking images of. The short laconic sword and the spear grip indicating a balance point of about a third from the sauroter in particular. I'd like to find more by this painter.

[Kineas]

The lessing archive number tag was left at the bottom for all. Yes, I agree, it's a great picture and very evocative...and Boeotian!

[PMBardunias]

Thanks, got it. And thanks for turning me on to a new archive- I've been using CVA.

[Kineas]

You guys do know that Perseus has a color archive, too, right? And also, as one of our guys just pointed out to me today, there's Sotheby's and Christies.

Perseus Vase Catalog [url:zhz6tqf8]http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0043:entry=Baltimore,%20Hopkins%20AIA%20B3[/url]

Sotheby's last three Antiquities catalogs [url:zhz6tqf8]http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/event/EventSearchResults.jsp[/url]

Christie's Ancient Art [url:zhz6tqf8]http://www.christies.com/departments/antiquities/[/url]

The City review (some more images, nice helmet photos, all open source as far as I can tell!) [url:zhz6tqf8]http://www.thecityreview.com/f06sant.html[/url]

There. More time lost to the void... :lol:

[John Conyard]

This is as far as my talented chap has got. They certainly "feel" right.