Shoes - A shoe is a piece of footwear for humans, less than a boot and more than a slipper. An example is the popular Ugg Boots also known as Uggs Australia in terms of designer fashion. This footwear is shaped to fit the foot (or the area below the ankle) with a flexible upper part of leather (or plastic) usually and a sole and heel of heavier material. Shoes differ from boots by not extending past the ankle. A moccasin is a specialized soft leather shoe worn by the Native Americans.
Style and Fashion - The Greeks took good care of their feet, adapting their footwear for every type of activity. Women at first went barefoot but began to wear sandals as both style and quality of sandals flourished. Shoes were used to identify station with the height of the sole and the colour orientation indicating the wearer's social class. The Greeks emphasised design and beauty with elegance, refinement, extravagance and rich ornamentation, especially for women. Greek women of ill repute wore elevated sandals to attract men's attention. Their sexy Trendleberg wiggle created an audible "clacking" when walking and this was acknowledged as a deliberate flaunting of sexual charms. Romans devised military style thongs, which enabled their legions to travel the empire on foot. The caligae was a sturdy thick-soled heavy leather sandal with an upper that reached the instep. When victorious soldiers returned from war they frequently substituted the bronze nails, which held the caligae together with gold and silver tacks. Women's feet were a symbol of chastity and worshipped by fetishists. Senator Lucius Vitellus kept a shoe of his mistress under his tunic and would kiss it frequently. This type of fetishism, according to Ovid in his Ars Amandi, led Roman women to confine their feet into tiny shoes. The Romans, like the Greeks never entered a house without removing their shoes.
Because of (potential) foot odor, some people hate it if other people take their shoes off in their company. On the other hand, in some cultures (e.g. in Sweden, Japan and some parts of Canada), shoes are customarily removed when visiting someone's home. Guests do this to avoid tracking in dirt from outside and thus inconveniencing their host. In Arab cultures, showing the soles of your shoes to your host is considered insulting.
In trains it is often allowed to put one's feet on the opposite seat, provided that one takes one's shoes off or put them on a newspaper, piece of clothing, bag, etc., to avoid possible dirtying of the seat. The shoe size units vary widely around the world. European sizes are measured in Paris Points which are worth two third of a centimeter. The UK and American units are approximately one quarter of inch, starting at 8 1/4 inches.
Footwear consists of garments worn on the feet. It is worn for a variety of reasons, including protection against the environment, hygiene and adornment. Often times, socks and other hosiery are worn under footwear. Footwear is sometimes associated with fetishism, particularly in some recent fashions in shoes and boots.
Footwear Materials
- Walking shoeLeather
- Plastic
- Rubber
- Textiles
- Wood
Footwear Components
- Womens stylish shoesGrommet
- Sole
- Heel
- Air cushion
- Laces
- Tread
Types of Footwear
- Cowboy boots
- Galoshes
- Go-go boots
- Kinky boots
- Ski boots
- Riding boots
- Waders
- Wellington boots
- Winklepickers
- Industrial footwear
- Shoes
- Athletic shoes (trainers) (sneakers)
- Climbing shoes
- Clogs
- High heels
- Platform shoes
- Stiletto heels
- Kitten heels
- Mary Janes
- Moccasins
- Mules
- Penny loafers
- Pointe shoes
- Skate shoes
- Snowshoes
- Tap shoes
- Training shoes
- Sandals
- Flip flops (thongs)
- Slide
- Slippers
- Swimfin (flippers)
Clogs or wooden shoes have a long social history. The Klompen or Dutch clog was traditionally a work shoe worn in the Industrial Revolution. The style was also popular in northern France, England, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Clogs were cheap and durable made from alder, birch, sycamore, willow or beech. When worn barefoot, thick straw was used to pad the rigidity of the wood. The upturned toe made the shoes easier to walk. The French, Sabot; the German, Klomp, and the Dutch, clog were made from a single block of wood whereas the Spanish pantofle and later US and UK clogs were constructed like shoes with a separate wooden upper from the leather upper. Although clogs and wooden soled shoes have had brief moments in fashion they were the traditional footwear of the poor and those work necessitated heavy-duty shoes.
Sandals - The word for sandal is not Grecian but does relate to pre-Hellenic times. Scientists estimate people first wore animal skins during the Ice Age (5000,000 years ago). Rough shoes protected the feet of Stone Age people from rock and thorns. The first suggestion of foot coverings appeared in rock paintings from the late Paleolithic period (15,000 years ago). Spanish cave paintings show humans with animal skins around their feet. A major disadvantage was animal skins decayed and rotted away in a very short time. Sandals were believed to be the first crafted foot coverings and successors to primitive wrappings. The designs were both simple and practical. Straps or thongs attached the stiff sole to the foot for protection. Two basic designs prevailed one involved thongs fitted between the toes and the other more sophisticated had loops and holes along the edge of the soles for attaching thongs to the foot (Broby-Johansen, 1968). Soles were made from almost anything that was available including leaves and wood. In Ancient Egypt sandals were made from papyrus and palm leaves; rawhide was used by the Masai in Africa. Wooden sandals were made in India and rice straw was used in China and Japan. The leaves of the sisal plant provided twine for sandals in South America whereas the indigenous populations of Mexico used the yucca plant. The oldest surviving examples of papyrus sandals are exhibited in the British Museum and dated at 1,500 BC. The thong or toe strap became distinctive in sandal design. Subsequent civilisations preferred different toes, the Greeks for example made use of the great toe; the Romans, the second digit; and the Mesapotanians, the third toe. These distinctive, physical entities were also recognised and captured in Egyptian statues, and this was thought to represent celebration of other cultures. Sandals remain popular today yet their design has changed little from antiquity.
High Heels - Some historians believe the fashion for high heeled shoes arose as a modification of the chopine. By carving out the forefoot section the cordwainers created a heel, which made the shoe easier to walk. Elevated shoes had been known from early Hellenic times however this phase of fashion was the first time shoes were associated with the female sex. The true heel as we know it today was not introduced until the middle of this century when technology and design fashioned the Stiletto heel. However early in the sixteenth century Catherine de Medici moved from Florence to Paris to marry the king. She was small in stature and wore high-heeled shoes to her wedding. The style became an instant success and the fashion remained in vogue throughout her lifetime. Many experts believe this was the true beginning of fashion. High-heeled shoes became popular with men and were also trademark of sex workers of the time. Prior to the French Revolution contemporary medical reports described the changes in posture associated with wearing high heels. Their 'gaze' was firmly directed away from men and transposed onto women. Women of distinction however tended to wear heel-less pumps and some authorities believe this was a vailed attempt to moralize. High heels for men were considered in vogue during the 17 & 18th century. Louis XIV became fanatical about them and banned anyone other than the privileged classes from wearing them on penalty of death. The Sun King was of short stature and may have preferred the borrowed height heels could give him. The heels of men's shoes often were painted with miniature rustic or romantic scenes. Different shapes were experimented with including hourglass heels. Also during this time men's shoes were ornamented with silver buckles. The Louis Heel was invented by Louis XV (1715-1774) and was splayed at the base with a wasted section, which is still used in modern female fashion. He also introduced the white shoe to match his hose but red heels survived until 1760. The term "down on your heels" is thought to relate to the habit of the rich towering over the poor. Late in the 16th century rounded toe shoes were popular but heels for women's shoes were not introduced until the beginning of the seventeenth century.Instead wedge shaped soles were popular, these thrust the foot forward like a heel. Most shoes of the period were leather or heavy velvet and were made in a number of different colours, Most were simple slip ons but some fastened with a lace, or buckle at the instep. Thigh length boots were fashionable and were sometimes heavily decorated at the thigh and attached to the doublet by suspenders. (Anderson Black J Garland M, 1970). Until 1615 shoes might have had their uppers slashed to show the stockings or linings. After this date decoration was chiefly concentrated on ribbon ties and shoe roses. After 1680 the instep fastening was usually a strap and buckle. After the French Revolution heel heights lowered. The new socialist government was short of money and many shoe buckles were donated to the cause. Ladies in the early part of the nineteenth century wore low-heeled satin shoes but as the twentieth century approached high-heeled boots for women became vogue. Stylish shoes were low cut and worn with silk stockings. Worker women wore lace ups. Women began by the 30¹s to wear square-toed shoes. Men¹s became progressively narrower and were worn by the dandies of the day. Both men and women wore striped socks and stockings respectively with women wearing lace up boots. By 1884 ladies wore shoes of fancy leather and pointed toes. These were highly decorated with rosettes and heels, one and a half to two inches high. In the first decade of the twentieth century court shoes with lacing and T straps were popular. Women sometimes wore high heeled calf length buttoned or laced boots with shorter and wider skirts. As the decade progressed however boots fell from fashion. Men started to wear light coloured socks and laced shoes. Women wore high heeled court shoes trimmed with decorative buckles, spats by 1924 had become passe. After the Depression walking shoes with low heels were fashionable. Evening wear included court shoes with Louis heels. Toe cleavage was seen with peekaboo cutaways. This fashion appeared in 1936. By the forties most of fashion for women¹s shoes had become heavy and practical By the end of rationing platform shoes were reintroduced. In the fifties shoes became lighter in appearance and were worn with stiletto high heels and pointed toes.
Boots - Throughout history, costume then fashion footwear have reflected social, economic and political developments. Usually what started as a practical application in one part of the globe ended up a as a fashion statement in another. Trade was primarly the reason for this movement but also war was another. The oldest boots in the world come from a clay impression originating in ancient Syria (Broby-Johansen, 1986). Cave painting in Spain dated between 12,000 and 15,000 BC, show a man in boots of skin and a woman in boots of fur. Persian funery jars of around 3000BC made in the shapes of boots show the basic forms of ancient footwear. Boots were also found in the tomb of Khnumhotep (2140-1785 BC) in Egypt. Perhaps the greatest paradox of boots is although they were essentially practical items of clothing they have always been worn as fashion items for all, but the lowly peasant. Fine boots were important indicators of social status before the sixteenth century and continued to be so up until beyond World War I. Over the centuries their style gradually became less flamboyant but that did not reduce their importance. Sixteenth century boots, as worn by the gentlemen class, were extravagantly decorative. More practical forms of boots began to develop especially for horse riding. The rigours of horseback meant boots needed to be more rigid and protective. Improvements in transport meant by the early nineteenth century boots became normal daytime footwear for all smart and fashionable men.Top boots and dress boots were made of the finest leathers to be worn with the breeches tucked in. As the century continued these calf high boots were superseded by the much less flamboyant boots and spats which signified the tempered Victorian male's approach to dressing for vanity. Boots were never as flashy again until stage and film cowboys revived them in the 20s and 30s. The author attempts to expand on these historical changes.
Source: Wikipedia - All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free &
www.podiatry.curtin.edu.au/shoo.html
