Glossary

Footwear terms as factories use them. Where a term is regional or a common synonym exists, both are given.

Upper

Backstay — Vertical strip covering the centre-back heel seam. Common branding location.

Backer / scrim — Fabric bonded behind a thin upper material to stop stretch and fraying.

Bite line — The visible line where the sole unit meets the upper. One of the most scrutinised lines on a sneaker.

Collar — The padded ring around the ankle opening.

Eyestay / facing — The reinforced strip carrying the lace holes.

Foxing tape — Rubber band applied around the joint of upper and sole on vulcanized shoes.

Gusset — A panel joining the tongue to the vamp so debris can’t enter.

Lasting margin — The 12–18mm of surplus upper material below the bite line, used to attach the upper to the bottom.

Mean forme / standard — The flat master pattern derived by flattening a taped last. All panels derive from it.

Medial / lateral — Medial is the inside (arch side); lateral is the outside.

Mudguard — Raised panel wrapping the toe and lower sides.

Quarter — The side panel(s) between vamp and heel.

Skiving — Thinning a material’s edge so folds and overlaps don’t create bulk.

SPI — Stitches per inch. 7–9 typical for sneaker uppers.

Throat — The opening the tongue sits in.

Topline — The edge of the collar opening.

Vamp — The panel covering the forefoot and toes.

Inside

Counter — Stiff thermoplastic cup between upper and lining at the heel. Owns heel hold.

Lasting board / insole board — Stiff cellulose board used in board-lasted construction.

Shank — A stiffener under the arch.

Sockliner / footbed — The removable insert underfoot.

Strobel board — Fabric floor stitched to the upper’s lasting margin, forming a closed sock.

Toe puff / toe box — Thermoplastic reinforcement at the toe. (Note: “toe box” also colloquially means the toe area.)

Bottom

Blown rubber — Foamed rubber outsole. Lighter, softer, less durable than carbon rubber.

Carbon rubber — Carbon-black-filled rubber. The durability standard.

Cupsole — Outsole molded as a cup with walls; the upper is cemented inside it.

Drop / offset — Heel stack height minus forefoot stack height, in mm.

EVA — Ethylene-vinyl acetate foam. The common midsole material.

Featherline — The outline of the last’s underside; the sole must match it.

Gum rubber — Natural rubber, honey-coloured, grippy, marks and yellows.

Open mold / stock mold — An existing sole mold you can use without paying tooling.

Outsole — The ground-contact layer.

Phylon — Compression-molded EVA. The athletic midsole standard.

Shore A — Hardness scale for rubber. Sneaker outsoles typically 55–70.

Asker C — Hardness scale commonly used for foams. Sneaker midsoles typically 45–60.

Stack height — Total material thickness underfoot at a given point.

Toe spring — How far the toe lifts off the ground at rest.

Tooling — The machined molds that produce sole components. The main capital cost in footwear.

Wedge — A full-length midsole with heel elevation.

Lasts and sizing

Ball girth — Circumference at the widest part of the forefoot. The primary fit measurement.

Cone — The upper rear portion of a last, often removable to allow extraction.

Grading — Deriving a full size run from a single developed size.

Heel-to-ball length — Where the shoe flexes. Wrong value = painful creasing.

Instep girth — Circumference over the arch. Controls lacing tightness.

Last — The 3D form around which a shoe is built.

Long heel girth — Instep-around-heel circumference. Controls getting the shoe on.

Mondopoint — Sizing by actual foot length in mm. The unambiguous system.

Paris point — The EU size increment: 2/3 cm (6.67mm).

Sample size — The size everything is developed in. Typically US men’s 9 / UK 8 / EU 42.

Short heel girth — Around the heel. Controls heel slippage.

Stick length — Overall last length along the bottom.

Toe allowance — Extra last length beyond the toes. 10–20mm typical.

Construction

Board lasting — Lasting margin cemented onto a stiff insole board.

Cold cement — The dominant modern method: upper cemented to a pre-made sole unit.

Direct injection (DIP) — Sole material injected directly onto the lasted upper.

Lasting — Pulling the upper down over the last and securing it.

Slip lasting / California — Upper sewn to a sock lining and slipped onto the last. Very flexible.

Strobel lasting — Margin stitched to a strobel board with a Strobel machine.

Vulcanization — Curing rubber with heat and sulfur, fusing the sole assembly. Vans/Converse type.

Manufacturing & trade

AQL — Acceptable Quality Limit. The statistical standard for pass/fail inspection.

BOM — Bill of Materials. Every component, specified.

Clicking die — Steel-rule cutting die for a pattern piece. One per piece per size.

Confirmation / PP sample — The final approved sample; bulk is judged against it. Also “golden sample.”

DUPRO — During-production inspection.

FOB — Free On Board. Price with goods loaded at origin port.

Incoterms — Standard terms defining where cost and risk transfer.

Lab dip — A physical material sample dyed to your target colour, for approval.

LCL / FCL — Less than / full container load.

Landed cost — FOB plus freight, insurance, duty and clearance.

MOQ — Minimum order quantity.

Pull-over — An upper pulled over the last with no sole, for pattern and proportion review.

Proto / P sample — First development sample. Construction proof; materials often wrong.

PSI — Pre-shipment inspection.

Size curve — The distribution of quantities across sizes in an order.

SMS — Salesman sample, made in correct materials for selling and photography.

Tech pack — The complete technical specification document.

Yield — How efficiently pattern pieces nest on a material. A major cost driver.

Compliance

Chrome VI — Hexavalent chromium; a restricted substance that can form in improperly chrome-tanned leather.

GRS / RCS — Global Recycled Standard / Recycled Claim Standard.

HS / HTS code — Tariff classification code. Footwear is Chapter 64.

LWG — Leather Working Group; the recognised environmental audit standard for tanneries.

REACH — EU chemicals regulation governing substances in articles.

RSL — Restricted Substances List.

SATRA — Footwear research and test-method body; the source of many industry test standards.