A comfort system for Cowboy and work boots, including an insole chassis, an insole chassis backing board, and cushioning pads for absorbing and attenuating shocks encountered by a wearer of the boots. Cushioning pads are secured to a surface of the insole chassis backing board, and apertures in the insole chassis allow the cushions to pass through. Additional cushioning pads are retained in recesses in the midsole. Pads on insole chassis backing board and midsole are vertically aligned. A steel toe inset is utilized in conjunction with the comfort system for work boots. A rim may depend below the midsole to receive a foamed plastic pad.

A comfort system for Cowboy and work boots, including an insole chassis, an insole chassis backing board, and cushioning pads for absorbing and attenuating shocks encountered by a wearer of the boots. Cushioning pads are secured to a surface of the insole chassis backing board, and apertures in the insole chassis allow the cushions to pass through. Additional cushioning pads are retained in recesses in the midsole. Pads on insole chassis backing board and midsole are vertically aligned. A steel toe inset is utilized in conjunction with the comfort system for work boots. A rim may depend below the midsole to receive a foamed plastic pad.

A footwear construction is provided with a sole assembly having underfoot cushion elements disposed through a support frame to yield enhanced stability for the sole assembly. The cushion elements and the corresponding apertures through the frame can be in a forefoot region and/or a heel region and can occupy a majority of those regions. The frame can be constructed from one material and the midsole from another material softer or having a lower durometer. The midsole can include a peripheral groove into which an outer frame wall of the frame can be interlocked to further stabilize the cushion elements which are interior to the frame. The midsole can include an exterior midsole wall, and that wall and the frame wall can include corresponding teeth and recesses that further interlock the frame and midsole to augment structural support and stability, without substantially reducing the underfoot cushion provided by the midsole.

A sole includes: a sole body; an elastic portion disposed adjacent to the sole body; a surrounding member that surrounds the elastic portion, and a pressing member. Tensile rigidity of the surrounding member in a thickness direction is higher than compression rigidity of the elastic portion in the thickness direction and higher than compression rigidity of the surrounding member in the thickness direction. An uncompressed thickness of the elastic portion in an uncompressed state is larger than an initial thickness of the surrounding member in an initial state. A reference thickness of the elastic portion and the surrounding member in an unloaded state is smaller than the uncompressed thickness of the elastic portion and larger than the initial thickness of the surrounding member.

A sole includes: a sole body; an elastic portion disposed adjacent to the sole body; a surrounding member that surrounds the elastic portion, and a pressing member. Tensile rigidity of the surrounding member in a thickness direction is higher than compression rigidity of the elastic portion in the thickness direction and higher than compression rigidity of the surrounding member in the thickness direction. An uncompressed thickness of the elastic portion in an uncompressed state is larger than an initial thickness of the surrounding member in an initial state. A reference thickness of the elastic portion and the surrounding member in an unloaded state is smaller than the uncompressed thickness of the elastic portion and larger than the initial thickness of the surrounding member.