History of the Shoe
Book Links
“I did not have three thousand pairs of shoes, I had one thousand and sixty.” --Imelda Marcos,
1987 In the begining there were no shoes, just barefeet.
When things got too cold, too hot, or too rocky,
people probably used what they could find. Grasses, leaves, bark, wood, animal fur, animal skins, and wool could all be used
to protect early human feet. We still use these materials in shoes today.
Probably the easiest way to protect your
feet is to strap something to the bottom of your foot. Early sandals were worn throughout the world.
To protect feet
from the cold, shoes could be made from animal skins. Tanned animal hide with holes punched around the edge was laced with
a leather strap.You put your foot on it and pull the lace to hold the hide around the foot. Figuring out how to cut the hide
for a better fit led to the turn shoe, the moccasin, and the modern shoe with a sole and an upper.
For even more protection,
shoes extended up the leg and were lined with moss, grass, or fur. Boots and leggings can be found throughout the northern
climate.
The heroes of Greek plays often wore shoes with thick cork soles in order to appear larger. Sandals atop
blocks of wood were worn all over Asia. Called “chopines” the blocks kept the feet out of the water and muck.
The style spread to France and England by the 15th century. The advantges of standing above the crowd evolved into the high
heel worn by Catherine de Medici and Louis XIV.
The use of shoes for status and fashion is probably as old
as footwear.
During the Middle Ages men began to wear long toed shoes. Soon the toes became so long they
made walking almost impossible. Men stuffed wool and moss in the toes to keep them up. Then they tried attaching the toes
to the knee with a chain to prevent tripping. This fashion lasted over three hundred years. It ended when the style was outlawed.
In the fourteenth century, you could not wear long pointed toe shoes unless you had an income of at least forty pounds a year.
A prince might wear shoes as long as he liked, but a commoner could not wear pikes more than six inches long. A landowner
(bourgeois) could wear up to twelve inches; knights, one and a half feet, and twenty four inches for a baron.
In 10th
century China a tiny foot was a symbol of high status for a woman. Mothers bound their daughters’ feet with the toes
curled under to form the “golden lotus,” a foot measuring just 3 inches. The "lotus" feet looked like
tiny hooves and almost immobilized a woman. This practice lasted a thousand years. In 1911 the practice was banned.
After one wearing, Empress Josephine discovered a hole in her dancing slipper and complained to her shoemaker. "Ah
I see what the problem is, Madame," he exclaimed, "You have walked in them."
Humans continue
to suffer for fashion and status when it comes to our shoes.
Read More About Shoes:
For shoe
lovers, Shoes Shoes Shoes by Andy Warhol
For history buffs, Shoes by Lucy Pratt
and Linda Wooley
History for kids and adults too,
Where Will the Shoes Take You? by Laurie Lawlor
For preschoolers,
So many Kinds Of Shoes by Max Grover
Kids Can Read More
About Shoes
Preschool
Shoes, Shoes, Shoes by Ann Morris
All about shoes all over the world in delightful rhyme.
So many
Kinds Of Shoes by Max Grover
Reading level: Ages 4-8
The Foot Book (Bright and Early Books for Beginning Beginners) by Dr. Seuss
More about feet than shoes but still
a lot of fun.
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Where Will This
Shoe Take You?: A Walk Through the History of Footwear by Laurie Lawlor
Lawlor discusses the importance of footgear
in work, play, fashion, myth and literature, and as symbols of authority and status.
Shoes
: Their History in Words and Pictures
by Charlotte Yue,
David Yue (Illustrator)
Covers such subjects as the earliest shoe, the social and political significance of shoes in
history, ancient and modern shoe design, shoe manufacturing, shoes in legend and literature, and what shoes reveal about their
wearers. A complete resource
