The part of a shoe beneath the back of the foot, often raised above the level of the forefoot.
A heel is made separately and attached under the back of the shoe. One method builds it from flat layers called lifts. Lecture notes from the Rushden Boot and Shoe School, published by the Rushden Research Group, describe grading, stacking and compressing the lifts, then nailing the heel on, either from outside into the insole or from inside the shoe, off the last. The top piece, the layer that meets the ground, is fixed with metal slugs; a replaceable one is a heel cap.
A heel may instead be molded. A 1980 patent describes thermoplastic heels, used particularly on women’s shoes, injection-molded around a steel reinforcement, with the top piece pinned into it. Christian Louboutin describes a stacked 150 mm heel on its Jenna Buckle pump and a wrapped 150 mm stiletto heel on its Loubi Queen Alta. The heel is not the heel counter, the reinforcement around the back of the upper.
In job listings
Heel turns up in production, development and after-sales roles. Listings include heel wrapping technicians, who prepare, level and cover heels in a shoe factory; development technicians who work with heel makers alongside last and sole makers; and in-store artisans at shoemakers, who handle heel replacement. See current heel roles.
