book-length autobiography of Salvatore Ferragamo, published in 1957
Ferragamo describes his life, form learning shoemaking in his small native Italian hometown of Bonito to immigrating to the United States, making shoes for the film industry in California, returning to Naples to manufacture shoes in Italy, surviving the second world war, and achieving international success.
Fitting Secret
Ferragamo describes the discovery of a “secret” to shoe fitting, based on his study of anatomy. The “secret” isn’t laid out in any detail, but focus on supporting the arch of the foot, rather than ball and heel.
It is true that Nature designs the arch to carry the weight of the body and leaves it unsupported when the foot is bare. Yet the fact remains that many feet are injured by shoes. Does the answer lie, then, in the fact that when the foot is inside the shoe it is no longer allowed to perform its natural functions? Is it imprisoned like a bird in a cage, unable to work property? If that is so does this imprisonment affect the arch? Again, if this is so does this mean that the arch not only should but must be supported?
I will not weary you with the endless experiments I carried out to prove or disprove this theory; this is not a technical book. I need only say that in consequence of those experiments I constructed my revolutionary lasts which, by supporting the arch, make the foot act like an inverted pendulum. The metatarsal joints and heels are freed of all body weight, and the shoes thus guide the equilibrium of the body as it walks instead of fighting against it. Because space is provided under the metatarsal joints to house the ball of the foot when it bends and so allow the joints to drop back as it steps, all friction between foot and shoes is eliminated.
Ferragamo refers to this approach as “arch fitting”. He mentions that some, but not all, of his prior lasts could be reworked to apply it, and also that he could not build shoes on the system during the war, when he couldn’t get satisfactory steel for shanks.
Shoe Fitting
Chapter 17, “How to buy Shoes and walk well”, lays out Ferragamo’s short guide to consumer shoe buying. Here again, he focuses on arch support:
you must have the feeling of support under the arch: that is paramount, fundamental, all-important
Fit the arch and you will walk in comfort.
More specifically:
run your finger along the outside of the shoe from the back of the big toe joint to the apex of the arch. If the material does not cling closely to the foot, if there is even a suspicion of a space or a wrinkle—then, signora, they are not the shoes for you.
Secondarily:
your toes should be free
Never, never, never, if you cannot get the fitting in the correct size, buy the size smaller!
if you cannot obtain the correct fitting for width—the one you are accustomed to take—go narrower…as long as your toes are not pinched
Ferragamo strongly warns against believing anything shoe salesmen say, decrying their training, ignorance, and incentives.
He also warns against reliance on shoe sizes, pointing out that there are no standard measures, and that numbering varies between makers.
Ferragamo decries “breaking in” shoes as a fallacy:
It is you who are broken in.