Middle Earth Ranger Forum

Elleth wrote:OMG I remember those moccasins! They were *the* rage when I was in middle school for good ol' boy metalheads and SCA geeks alike. Back in the dark ages before lots of historical craftsmen had websites and importation businesses it was the closest thing you could get to a medieval boot. I still have mine and though they've lost a sole and a couple of the lace holes have pulled out they're still in decent enough shape to go woodstromping in.

With all the stuff on the modern market I'd not go that route today however. Even if you must have suede, I think there's better options out there today.
Personally I'd look at Armstreet or Bohemond for off-the-rack.

Elleth wrote:Well look at that... "tall boots of supple leather" found for a man on foot in the (later) medieval era: the "Worcester Pilgrim" -

Elleth wrote:So.. the rand sits between the sold and the upper as a sort of proto-welt? Is that right?

Soles and rand

The sole was normally made of thick cattle leather, placed flesh side up with a loosely-stitched edge/flesh margin around the edge. The soles varied from one to two pieces. Two piece soles, which were common on large shoes, such as 14th-century 'poulaines' and may have facilitated repairs, consisted of a heel and forepart, and were joined at the waist with an edge/flesh butt seam.

The Rand was a narrow strip of leather, triangular in section, sewn into the lasting-margin between the sole and the upper to make the join more water tight. It began by being cut in several short segments, c.4 mm in width, with stitches 1 mm across and at 7 mm centres, and sometimes seems not to have been used around the entire shoe: one of the 13th-century drawstring bootsh for example, which was recovered absolutely intact from tyhe excavations, has rands at the waist on each side but not around the toe and heel. Later, the rand evolved into longer continuos strips and generally was inserted around the entire circumference of the lasting-margin.

Elleth wrote:I wonder what those two little insets were: a correction to a fitting issue? Or part of the design from the start?

Udwin wrote:Excellent point, of course! Alas that we in America are Not surrounded by such settings. Reminds me of Eddie Izzard's bit, "I grew up in Europe...where the History comes from! You tear your history down: 'It's 30 years old, smash it to the floor, put a car park there!' I went to Miami and they told me that they had redecorated a house to how it looked Over Fifty Years Ago! And people said, 'Nooo, that's impossible! Surely not, No! Nobody was alive then!'"

Rand (also spelled Rann, Rahn. Also called French Seat, Rand Welt)
The historical shoemaking term rand and its various spellings, are first used in the very late 16th century to describe a type of thin welt that’s been rolled under the insole and braced with thread. This technique almost certainly derived from leather covered cork or wooden soles on certain forms of pattens, ecclesiastical footwear, and winter shoes. The term will therefore be used earlier than it is known to have been used elsewhere when describing the construction of those items. The term Rand is used historically to describe several different sorts of welt, and in the archeological jargon to refer to welts in turn-shoes, although this particular usage has no basis in either shoemaking or history.