Shoe Repairing, or shoe making, is a traditional handicraft profession. People who repair shoes are also known as cobblers. As the name suggests, shoe repairing deals mainly with repairing of shoes, however, in WASHINGTON cobblers also produce a range of footwear like shoes, boots, sandals, etc. A shoe maker or repairer is also known as a cordwainer in WASHINGTON. A cordwainer is somebody who makes shoes and other articles from fine soft leather. Historically, there was a distinction between a cordwainer, who made luxury shoes and boots out of the finest leathers, and a cobbler, who repaired them. This distinction gradually weakened, particularly during the twentieth century, when there was a predominance of shoe retailers who neither made nor repaired shoes.