Confusion seems to reign when it comes to repairing traditionally made goodyear welted shoes. So it might be helpful to shed a little light on this subject! All our English shoe manufacturers: Loakes, Sanders and Trickers will repair their shoes on the original last on which they were made. However they will only replace worn soles with what is called a ‘long sole’. This involves taking the shoe apart, completely removing the entire sole and heel, putting the original last back inside the shoe and attaching a new sole and heel. This method does make the shoes look like new but because it is so labour intensive does cost rather a lot in addition to the cost of postage to and fro. For more info. visit: Tricker shoes and Loakes shoes. A long sole is absolutely fine if the shoes are going to be repaired on their original last but if not there is a very real risk that the shoe will lose its original shape. Therefore I would always recommend that if you are not retuning the shoes to their original manufacturer then you consider a ‘half sole’ replacement. This involves only replacing the part of the sole which has worn. The sole is cut away an inch or so ahead of the heel and a new sole is stitched on using the goodyear welted method. The shape of the shoe is therefore maintained. This repair can be half the price of a long sole. However it is a skilled procedure and you should only entrust this repair to a traditional cobbler. Sadly there are many heel bars which are able to re-heel a shoe as well as anyone but can ruin a good quality shoe by attempting a half sole. Consequently they will often suggest a ‘blakey’ half sole which involves stitching the new sole directly to the insole. This is quite detrimental to a goodyear welted shoe and should be avoided at all cost. Many high street shoe repairers such as Timpsons are now only offering a long sole for an eye-watering £70.00 per pair. Our highly skilled cobbler has 30 years experience in repairing quality shoes and we are proud of the fact that so many of our customers return to us for all their shoe repair requirements. Do vist London shoe repairs and shoe repairs by post. We offer a free collection and return service throughout central London as well as a free returns service throughout the UK. Our standard goodyear welted half sole and re-heel repair costs £39 per pair (incl). We repair all Trickers shoes, Loake shoes, Sanders shoes and Sebago shoes. as well as all premium brands. Richard de Winter Bradshaw and Lloyd
Shoe repairs
