Shoes are either something you think a lot about (guilty – we’re a shoe company, after all) or don’t. It’s more than whether or not a shoe is cute or comfortable nowadays; people care about quality, how the product is made, where the materials come from, who’s behind the brand, and what their why was in creating the shoe.
The more you know about a process like shoemaking, the more appreciation you might have for those things that protect your feet. In this article, we’ll let you in on some fun facts about your shoes before they hit an SAS shoe store.
A Little History on Shoemaking
The first shoes to ever hit the market in the 18th century were, as expected, handmade by specialists known as cobblers, or shoemakers. These individuals or small teams would often work out of their homes; they’d individually measure the customer’s foot and craft their shoe in about a day, and they would typically cost about a day’s wage. These shoes were crafted out of leather but could also be made of wood, rubber, plastic, jute, or other plant material. What started as a simple sandal, something that protected the foot from the elements, grew into the vast library of shoe styles we get to choose from today.
6 Shoe Facts
- There have been just about 100 shoe styles or “categories” over time
- Sneakers earned their name because their quiet, rubber soles allowed sneaking
- Original shoemakers used barleycorn to measure feet for shoe size
- Men were the first to wear heels
- It wasn’t until the 1800s that shoes were made differently for right and left feet
- The most expensive shoes to date are worth $17 Million
Nowadays, shoes are mass-produced, with companies focused more on volume than they are on shoe craft. That being said, parts of the world still rely on going to a custom shoemaker. The difference between generic brands and San Antonio Shoemakers is that we look over every shoe that gets listed on our site or that stocks our shelves. We saw a void in quality shoes that were both comfortable and built to last, but that’s just the start of our story.
The SAS Shoes Store Story
It all started when SAS founders Terry Armstrong and Lew Hayden decided to hit the ground running with their vision of what high-quality footwear should look like. While they had humble beginnings and relied heavily on word-of-mouth recommendations early on, the line of comfortable, high-quality footwear has grown to include sandals, active styles, SAS comfort shoes, workwear, dress shoes, and even boots. We’ve produced different shoe styles while sticking to the roots of handcraftsmanship and using only the softest, highest-quality leather.
Just one pair of Tripad Comfort SAS Shoes may go through 100 different steps. In our factories, 14 primary operations take place, including leather selection, die-making, cutting, lasting, and more. Within those operations, approximately 80 different skilled pairs of hands carefully construct and inspect each shoe to ensure the SAS Shoes you choose are the best shoes in your closet.
The SAS Shoes Promise
We care about the quality associated with our name. We’re dedicated to providing comfortable, high-quality products and top-of-the-line customer service 100% of the time. As our company has grown over the years, so have the tastes of our customers, which is why we believe we developed a unique approach that embraces the best of modern design and SAS comfort. From the best work shoes to SAS comfort shoes and everything in between, you’re sure to find your perfect fit at SASNola.