LAST

A wooden shaped block around which footwear is designed and made. Asymmetric last: are two different lasts which reflect the characteristics of the right and left feet. Symmetric lasts: measurements for only one foot were taken and used for both lasts, in use from the fifteenth century until the end of the eighteenth century. This was used in ancient time and revived again in the nineteenth century. Custom made lasts are produced using the foot documentation for each foot. The Romans used iron lasts but these were anvils for turning over nail points and not according to Thornton, (1977) moulds for shapping.