History

Early Foot Coverings

Shoes As Symbols

Modeling & Creation

Care Your Feet

Outline Of Footwear

Style and Fashion

Footwear Construction

Extra Protection

Glossary

Outline Of Footwear

Footwear has a history which goes back many thousands of years, and has long been an article of prestige. The earliest footwear, probably made of plaited grass or rawhide held to the foot with thongs was undoubtedly born of the necessity to provide some protection when moving over rough terrain in varying weather conditions, and there still exist examples of footwear from ancient civilizations, such as the Egyptians, Chinese and Vikings. Soon, however, the rich and influential began distinguishing themselves by the craftsmanship and decoration which characterised their shoes.

Throughout history, too, footwear has figured widely in mythology, folk stories and superstition. The Greek god Mercury wore winged sandals, and there are very few Europeans who do not remember childhood tales of Puss in Boots, the Seven League Boots, Cinderella and the Old Woman who Lived in a Shoe, and most cultures have stories where shoes play a starring role. The cobbler has always been a romantic figure, and even today it is traditional to tie a boot or shoe to the back of the newlyweds' car as a good luck token.

In ancient times, as today, the basic type of shoe worn depended on the climate. In warmer areas, the sandal was, and still is, the most popular form of footwear. It varied from the primitive form worn thousands of years before Christ, to beautifully finished versions with many straps and intricate decoration. The modern moccasin derives from the original shoe adopted in cold climates by races as different as North American Indians, Eskimos, Laplanders and Siberian tribesmen. The distinctive seam on the upper of a modern moccasin is all that remains, however, of the puckering string that was gathered and tied about the ankles to give all over protection to the foot.

Shoes have not always served such a purely functional purpose, however, and the requirements of fashion have dictated some curious designs, not all of which made walking easy. The "cracowes" of mediaeval time, famous for their long tapering points, eventually became so long and tapering as to make walking impossible, and their successors, the duckbill shoes of the 16th and 17th centuries were so wide and flat that they too created severe problems. Neither did the mediaeval period have the monopoly of impractical fashion shoes. In our own times the stiletto heel became so high and narrow that it not only made walking difficult and risky, but also damaged floors and carpets, while the "platform" fashion of the 1970's gave us soles several inches thick.

Specialised footwear for specific purposes was not known until comparatively recent times, this being particularly true of the military, where footwear was given little or no consideration until the 17th century.
One exception to this was the Roman "caligae", which were substantial, hard-wearing platforms of three or four layers of vegetable-tanned cattle hide strapped around the foot and ankle.

Real long boots giving support and protection to ankles and legs were not in common use before the mid 17th century, when heel-making techniques had made progress. From this time on, army commanders began giving much greater attention to their soldiers' feet, and the history of modern military footwear can be dated from this period.
It is basically true to suggest that, prior to 1600, there was no such thing as a true heel. During the 1590s some low heels of wood or cork had been produced, and before that wedges of cork or leather lifts had been tried as heels, but with very limited success, since they made walking difficult. Once true heels appeared, other forms rapidly disappeared. Experiments with heel construction led to heels held together with wooden pegs on robust bottoms, which were necessary to support the foot on high heeled boots. This development led, however, to problems in pairing shoes, and from the early 17th century to the 1820s it was customary to make "straight" shoes to be worn on either foot. Generally footwear had been paired for left and right feet since Roman times, but the development of raised heels created the need for shoe and boot bottoms with a more precise shape and greater stability than before.
For centuries shoes had been on two types of lasts. The earlier, metal last was roughly the shape of the human foot, and possibly Roman in origin, and was used as an anvil to rivet iron hobnails into the leather. The second last was made of wood, and was a form which determined the precise size and shape of the upper, which was then stitched together on it. No lasts were used for the soft leather turn-shoes which were in use from early mediaeval times until the 16th century, but shaping lasts had been essential to hold and form welted shoes during stitching from the 14th century onward.

While there was little difference in kind between men's and women's shoes in the early 17th century, although they had by then become more stylish, the left and right shoes formed mirror images of each other. The development of heels created enormous problems in producing shaped wooden lasts which were accurate enough to give sufficient strength to the shoe for the heel to be mounted on it.

Straight lasts were much easier to make, and remained in general use until the 1820s when last-turning leathers resolved most of the problems. Some ladies shoes, however, continued to be made straight as late as the 1850s, with two width fittings. The "slim" fit was made using the last as it was, while the "wide" fitting was achieved by wrapping a shaped leather pad around the last and removing it with the last once the shoe had been assembled.

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