A welt with a raised edge against the upper to help limit water entering the sole joint.
A storm welt is a welt shaped with a raised edge. John White describes a single L-shaped strip of leather whose ridge curves upward and sits flush against the upper, covering the seam where the upper meets the sole. Tricker’s lists a Goodyear storm welt on a country shoe as an additional water-resistant seal between upper and sole, and Crockett & Jones pairs one with a Dainite rubber sole for added water resistance.
It does not, by itself, make a shoe waterproof: water can still pass through a porous leather upper in heavy, prolonged rain. A storm-welted shoe is resoled in the same way as one with a flat welt. The term also overlaps with other constructions. Paraboot uses “storm welted” as another name for its Norwegian construction, and Cheaney fits a storm Goodyear welt to resole a Veldtschoen shoe, whose original construction cannot be redone, to achieve a similar effect.
In job listings
Listings seldom name the storm welt. It sits within the knowledge of welted construction expected of shoemaking and made-to-order bootmaking roles, and within the after-sales work of in-store artisans who resole Goodyear-welted shoes. See current shoemaker roles.
