Boat shoe

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Side view and sole of a multicolored boat shoe

Boat shoes (also called Boatshoe , or Top-Sider , Docksides and Docksider and sailing shoes named after their model names ) are flexible, very hard-wearing, saltwater-resistant leisure and summer shoes made of leather in moccasin style , which are intended to be worn barefoot.

Structure and features

The unlined shaft is made of robust, smooth or rough ( nubuck ) fat leather (formerly from elk, today from cattle). A 120 centimeter long leather strap is used as a shoelace, which also surrounds the entry opening of the shoe and enables a shaft that slips due to moisture in the heel area to be adjusted. The total of four (sometimes six) lace eyelets are made of tarnish-resistant brass. Boat shoes are built in moccasin style and with seams from nylon yarn. They have an additional inner leather insole fastened with latex adhesive and a particularly flexible, sewn-on sole made of rubber or synthetic rubber with a knife- cut profile . The fine, bone-like sole profile ensures that water can run off unhindered through the grooves , offers the wearer optimum grip on a slippery and wet boat deck and, thanks to its delicacy, prevents stones that scratch the boat deck from getting stuck in the sole profile.

origin

The boat shoe was developed in 1935 by the American hobby sailor Paul Sperry, who found the sailing shoes of the time (canvas shaft with crepe or hemp sole) impractical. Originally, the shafts of boat shoes were plain brown. Sperry gave the boat shoe the model name Top-Sider, which still exists today.

development

Side view of an all-round shoe based on the optical model of a boat shoe

In the 1980s, boat shoes became mainstream in fashion . Since then, the shafts have been available in numerous colors, including multicolored. The soles are usually cream-colored or white. In order to make the boat shoe, which is not suitable for everyday use due to the bottom of the shoe alone, for long walks on land, some manufacturers have provided this shoe model with an inner lining, a profile sole and an upper edge padding. Sailors now wear highly specialized deck shoes on board, which visually no longer have any resemblance to the model of the boat shoe.

literature