Stiletto Heels

[kobblers]

i'm suffering deja vu

[kobblers]

didn't i just say that?

[Hugh-Candoit (ENG)]

didn't i just say that?

 

No you said "day-jar-veiw" not "that"

[Guest lee.]

In a previous life ,having been responsible for the manufacture of literally millions of pairs of ladies toppieces during the period from 1980 to 2000 , all for the UK based shoe manufacturers , and suppliers to the UK market it is still very clear to my that one of the reasons for premature failure of the small Polyurethane tips on stilletto heels in is fact due to the poor quality of the tip itself.

When the UK market was focused on quality rather than price , all materials would have to meet stringent quality tests before they would enter the production chain , following guidelines set by the Shoe and Allied Trade Research Association SATRA , we in fact helped them formulate these guidelines , and strived to raise the quality insisted on by the likes of Marks and Spencer and the then dominant British Shoe Corparation.

This led to an industry standard of only using Metal tops on manufactured shoes for the mass market if the tip was less than 12mm wide , that was until the new higher grade blends of PU became available and became more widley used just as fashions changed in the mid 90's.

When shoes and components were home produced , any returns to the retailer due to poor wear on the toppiece or a "lost" tip resulted in the company responsible for the failed component being liable , not just for a credit of 4 pence for the tips , but the actual selling price of the shoe ( hence M&S's no quibble return policy ! ) .

This time around things have changed , shoe are now made in a far off land , to a price , and not a quality , no returns are accepted , and to try and get around this shoes are often fitted with small "disclaimer" stickers regarding the "wear" on small tips , and it is commonplace to include a "free" replacement pair of tips just in case the ones fitted wear out quickly .

Whilst as shoe repairers we should all be thankfull , it keeps the footfall up in the shops and money in the till , with many customers asking for replacement tips in Metal even before the PU is badly worn .

However i would recommend that if fitting PU tips you only use the best from who is now the oldest manufacturer in the trade , prefreably the Super Dark range , we have been sent substitute products by our wholesaler , which to be honest are not much better than those that are being fitted to the shoes , this grade maybe OK for the manufacturers using automated press equiptment on unnattatched Heels , but is far too "soft" for repairs , as it does not suit our methods of fixing and is not ideal for trimming , often melting prematurely and loosening the fragile bonding on the pin head .

We must always remember that customers often feel embarressed to take new shoes back to the shops to complain about wear , but are always ready to come back to us if they feel we are to blame for a tip getting caught in the pavement .

[keithm]

Very informative post and thanks for enlightening us.

 

Keith

[Hugh-Candoit (ENG)]

Nice post SMM, all the way through it (must have taken you ages) I was expecting you to mention the most common problem that we used to have.

Air bubbles in the moulded top, you spent ages drilling levelling and getting the right top & pin sizeg that it would not burst off the pin due to heavy handed hammering, only to find halway into scouring/trimming that an air pocket would materialize.

 

Does this still happen?