We all wear footwear, unless you live in a jungle with no nursing shoes. For one reason or another some of us require special shoes. There must be thousands to choose from. Also, there are many types of materials that can be made into shoes. These include rubber shoes and wooden shoes worn by the Dutch. Riding boots and shoes are almost exclusively made from leather. In the past, they had intricate laces which required a lacing device to tie up.

Today we have shoes with leather “uppers”, but they are fitted with a sole made from synthetic materials. This is to prevent our shoes from wearing out too quickly. Some shoes are made only of synthetic materials. You might want a leather shoe only if you have a lot of sweat on your feet. The leather has holes for air to pass through, and leather breathes more than most synthetics.

Designer shoes are expensive because they were made from hand sewn leather and had a leather sole. In the US, some designer shoes for women can be as expensive as several thousand dollars.

A man’s dress shoe is usually made of leather. But there are other types, some not even leather. Take, for instance, a loafer for men that may feature tassels and a synthetic bottom. Another shoe is the boat shoe. It has a leather upper and molded rubber sole. You can get a shoe for men made out of plastic canvas. The “canvas” is sewn with elastic to make it easy to put on and take off the shoe, but will not slip off. Now, women also prefer boat shoes because they naturally wick away water.