A rand is a bottom part of a shoe in the form of a layer of material between the upper and heel block, used to mate the curved underside of the upper to the flat top side of the heel block.
Materials
Traditional rands are made of leather, often the same leather used to make the welt of a welted shoe.
Plastic rands are also common.
Preparations
Rands are often skived thinner toward the center.
Some makers cut notches in the inside of the middle of the randy to aid bending it around the curve of the heel.