Crepe Sole Boots Offer More Than Good Looks
...le should benefit from a study proving crepe soles offer better foot support. METHOD I had five people gathered with never-before booted feet from different parts of Nash County. I received a donation in the form of boots from Justin, Tony Lama, and Ariat by drafting a business letter and promising a promotional deal. The study took place in the latter end of spring for three weeks. All five of my human subjects wore one pair of boots at a time for one consecutive week without knowing what boot was being worn. At the end of the week, a survey was filled out, the boots examined, feet checked for sores, and the next pair of boots given to the person. The boots were worn on asphalt, concrete, red clay, sand, gravel, arena dirt, brick, and tile. The Tony Lama shoe was first distributed, followed by the Justin boot, and ended with the Ariat. At the end of the three weeks, the subjects were asked to pick Boot A, B, or C as their final favorite. I tallied their responses and sent them to a publisher. RESULTS The boots chosen were sizes 8.5 women’s, 9 women’s, 9.5 women’s, 11 men’s and 13 men’s. The Justin boot was a medium-brown, rounded-toe, single-stitch design across the top of the boot, black calf and black sole, with a strip of light leather edging the boot between the top leather as well as the sole. The Tony Lama boot was a buffalo-brown with double stitching, a square toe, and caramel-colored calf and sole region. The Ariat boot was slightly heeled at 5 degree angle, dark brown all over with no special designer stitching. Once the boots were worn, they were examined for wear, durability and how much they were broken in after that one week. The Justin boots were the overall highest scoring with hardly any grip worn down on the bottom of the crepe, and they also nicely flexed indicating a short break-in time. The coffee-colored, smooth grain of the leather showed only the remains of clinging dirt. Once the soil was removed, the leather looked like it had just been manufactured. The second boot with the highest inspection score was the Tony Lama boot. The crème-colored outer sole showed more scuffing on the bottom of all three boots on the ball of foot region. These were not as flexible as the Justin boots, indicative of a difference the J-Flex System makes. The Tony Lama brand boot nevertheless retained a rich deep mocha-brown leather when oiled. The last placing boot based on a average of scores, was the Ariat. It displayed far more scuff marks on the outer sole and even in the leather. The boot was still hard and rigid when you tried to bend it at the ball-of-foot region, and did not recover to it lustrous leather finish when oiled. The surveys of the five individuals gave an inconsistent ranking. Person 1 commented on the Ariat’s appealing “authentic” look, but chose the Justin Crepe Sole in comfort. The Tony Lama was liked for the softer leather top. Person 2 recorded the Justins for the most overall comfort, but liked how the Tony Lama boots hugged her foot more closely like a tennis shoe. Person 3 and 4 both responded that the most eye-catching boot was the Ariat, but enjoyed the comforts of the Tony Lama, and Justin. Lastly, Person 5 did not like the Ariats higher heels, but felt more upright and balanced in the Justin. Once the surveys were analyzed, the group of testers was given the opportunity to pick out the boots they would like to permanently keep for future wear. Person 1, 2, 3, and 5 chose the Justin J-Flex Techno Crepe boots. Person 4 decided on the Tony Lama Cushion Comfort Package boots. DISCUSSION The boots chosen for the research were the companies’ m...