History
Early Foot Coverings
Shoes As Symbols
Modeling & Creation
Care Your Feet
Outline Of Footwear
Style and Fashion
Footwear Construction
Extra Protection
Glossary
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.
Styles began to follow the trade routes and shoes were often used to display
wealth and power.
Religious Shoes
With the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the barbarian invasions,
craftsmanship declined in Europe. Most common people went barefoot or wore
rough clogs. Sandals had become passé and the art of sandal making was
almost lost. The elaborate sandals and open work bootees of Imperial Rome
were still worn by Byzantium in the 5th century. However they were
exptremely expensive. According to Anderson-Black & Garland (1975) shoes
were made of soft leather or material with leather soles and a strap across
the instep with fastening on the outside. Soft boots and shoes were worn by
all classes. The boots in Byzantine times were worn to the calf. Shoes and
boots were heavily decorated with gems. Chalaman's shoes were described as
gilt covered and distinguished by long latches. His nephew wore wooden shoes
with uppers of leather and laced through with leather thongs. Worn closely
to the foot the toe shape was narrow and pointed at the great toe. This was
thought to be the way to tell left from right. The same footwear continued
in 6/78/9c the shoes varying in design and often sewn with jewels. The
fastenings sometimes incorporated jewelled clasps at the front of the ankle.
As early Christians began to celebrate the goodness of creation, shoes took
on a religious significance. Colour was specific to rank and privilege. The
expression of love for God took on sexual metaphors including footwear.
Amongst the most sought after gifts of the time were a pair of shoes. Costs
were so prohibitive, people bequeathed their footwear to family and loved
ones. Hence the saying "following in your father's footsteps." Women wore
slippers made of leather. These were flat soled and died red, green, purple
or white. Sometimes they were gilded. The Consul wore red leather boots with
ties crossing the instep and fastening around the ankles. Citizens wore
yellow leather boots with ornamental ties on the outside of the calf.
Soldiers wore leather soled boots with brown yarn which stretched and
required no fastening. The emperor wore boots of crimson leather sewn with
pearls and worn higher over the knee that the back. By the sixth century AD
shoes were generally worn and made to fasten in graceful ways. A revival of
toeless Greek bootees was a feature of the 6c. Ankle boots were in vogue and
laced up the front or side, leaving the toes free. Rich decoration was the
custom, and shoes were often embroidered with jewels. Boots and shoes
followed the natural line of the foot and were made of leather, cloth or
felt. Round about the ninth century a distinction in shape between the right
and left foot began to be made by the Anglo Saxon shoemakers. Once the new
notion of use of clothing had become generally accepted the art of costume
developed and expanded. It formed according to Cuningdon (1941) a convenient
mode of expressing rank. Shoes cost as much as a peasant would earn in a
year
Celtic Shoes
The Celts wore untanned leather shoes with the fur left on the inside of
the shoe. They were made with the upper and sole in one. The shoes were
fastened with leather thongs put through holes made near the edge of the
upper. The thongs wound together over the instep and round the ankle.Tutonic
shoes were similar to Celtic footwear. Anglo Saxons wore boots higher behind
the knee than in front. During the 11/12th centuries working people would
wear thick course hose with leather soles. Northern tribes wore the gallicae
which was a simple boot made of two pieces and reaching the ankle. They were
worn with crude gaiters, primitively knitted woollen socks and paison.
(Bigelow, 1970) Shoe and boot makers had become highly skilled and a wide
variety of new forms and perfected older styles were used. Brodequins or
high shoes with laces, made of leather, were heavy footwear worn by the
lower classes while the upper class wore the heuze a high boot made of soft
leather laced and fitted with a tongue beneath the centre opening. Sometimes
heuze were buttoned or buckled at the ankle. The nobility wore soft silk
slippers indoors and women wore soft leather slippers tied or buckled at the
ankle both in and out of doors. Between the fourth and tenth centuries, hose
was made of knitted material in a tube shape. Tapes sewn to the tops served
as simple garter support, possibly tied to a cloth belt worn around the
waist under the gonelle or kirtle. Men wore their hose either under their
breeches or pulled up over them. In warm weather the working classes wore
their stockings crushed down over their boot tops. Women wore soft fur lined
boots indoors during the winter time. The botte or bottes were simple
bedroom slippers. Many Celts went barefoot and considered wearing shoes a
mark of weakness.
Poulaines
In the Dark Ages, Royalty wore slippers of purple silk trimmed with pearls
or embroidery. Both men and women wore shorter boots whereas the longer boot
was exclusively mens' fashion. In the 11 and 12th centuries workers wore the
open toed crepita and laced calcaneus. (Bigelow 1970). Stockings and socks
were worn by the Normans. The Norman seemed to prefer stockings to socks,
unlike the Saxons. William II liked to pay a mark for his stockings and when
his chamberlain bought him a pair for less he was most put out. To save
face, the embarrased chamberlain promptly bought another pair of cheap
stockings and told the king they were one mark in price. Delighted the king
forgave his chamberlain and wore the stockings. By the High Middle Ages
fashion had become more established. Men began to wear long toed shoes
called pigaches or poulaines. The style became an instant success and the
fashion lasted over three hundred years before it was eventually legislated
against. Soon extensions became longer and longer until they were so long
they made walking almost impossible. Young bucks started to stuff wool and
moss in the extensions to keep them erect. So blatantly phallic and long,
soon the style included attachments to the knee with a chain to prevent
tripping. A popular vulgarity was to paint the extensions flesh coloured,
allowing them to flap with lifelike mobility.
Small bells were often attached to the end of the poulaine to indicate the
wearer was a willing partner in sexual frolic. "Footsie, footsie" took on a
more meaningful importance during this time and many boring banquets were
enhanced with below table, shenanigans. Sometimes worn by curling the toes,
the poulaine was the forerunner to the codpiece. The origins of the shoes
remain clouded but in some places they were referred to as Crackowe shoes.
Certainly the fashion was wide spread and their popularity unopposed.
Exaggeration is a constant theme of fashion and is used to give maximum
impact to a new look and to prolong the life of a dying one. This may
account for the eccentricities, which certainly glorified masculine
sexuality in a most obvious way. Youths were chastised for standing on the
street corners waggling their toe suggestively as the young ladies walked
by. The appearance of the poulaine was perhaps less by chance and more to do
with and undercurrent belief in the worship of Phallus. This predated
Christianity and may have represented a conscious resurfacing of occult
practice in the Middle Ages. Today we may be shocked at the audacity of
poulaines but then the Roman Church was all too aware of its significance.On
the pretext they were shocked at the overt and ribald obscenity of the
habit, the Church tried through sumptuary legislation to stop men from
wearing them. Initially they were condemned because they physically
prevented men from praying. But the edict met with dumb silence. In truth
whilst the length of shoe was implicated as the cause it may have had
something to do with the way men wore their hose tightly laced to their
doublets. So tightly were they worn they could not kneel without damaging
their leggings. The shoes were branded as Satan's Curse (or Satan's Claw)
university professors were first banned from wearing them in the thirteenth
century. The clergy then blamed the Black Plague (1347) as God's revenge for
the poulaine. Yet still the style prevailed until the length of shoes was
later legislated for but not because of faith or breach of faith, instead
because it was as a function of social status. Between 1327 and 1377, during
the reign of Edward III (1312-1377), pointed toes were prohibited to all who
did not have an income of at least forty pounds a year. And while a prince
might wear shoes as long as he liked, pikes could not be more than six
inches long for a plain commoner, twelve inches for a landowner (bourgeois),
Knights, one and a half feet; and twenty four inches for a baron, and
princes could wear them as long as they liked.
From about 1340 onwards men started to wear shorter garments called gippons
or pourpoints. Long garments survived at court and ecclesiastical and
academic circles. Short garments exposed the leg and required hose that was
better supported and tighter. These were generally made to measure and
available in different styles. There were fur lined hose, hose for horse
riding, soled hose which replaced shoes. Despite the alternatives, poulaines
remained popular throughout Europe until in 1367, when Pope Urban V
eventually banned commoners from wearing the winklepicker shoe. He
threatened excommunication and in some cases death to the lower echelons of
society but was less adamant with the upper and ruling classes. Turning a
blind eye to their open promiscuity, and granting those of royal birth
immunity to wear the poulaine. As the fashion reemerged in France, Charles V
(the Wise) (1338-80), forbid the wearing of "trop ultragueses poulaines".
Little notice was taken and in 1386 at the battle of Sempach, Austrian
Knights who wished to dismount to fight needed the help of their armourer to
snap off the long toes. According to Ribeiro & Cumming (1989), Richard II
(1377-1399) bought whalebones for the points of his shoes in 1393-4. The
fashion reached its peak towards 1460-70 when Edward IV (1442-1483) enacted
a public law prohibiting shoe maker from making shoes with more than two
inch extensions for under privileged persons. The end of the poulaine was
foretold by two episodes. The first involved the death of Duke Leopold II of
Austria, who died because his long pointed shoes impeded him from escaping
his assassins. The second was because Charles VIII had polydactylism or six
toes on each foot. The regent required broad square-toed shoes which changed
the fashion. The winckle picker did eventually return in fashion but not
before the introduction of the heel. In the fifteenth century women started
to wear poulaines but the fashion was short lived. Many women were
persecuted as witches because they wore unusual attire, cross-dressing in
the manner of wearing men's shoes or poulaines was enough to convince the
fearful of guilt. The phallus was worshiped long before Christianity
.The length of a shoe, even today, is governed by decency with no reference
to foot comfort and function
Duck's Bill Shoes
At the end of the Middle Ages, clothes had become important symbols of
social status. They accrued a mass of symbols serving to indicate emotional
states, such as joy and grief in the finer shades. Shoes supplied a kind of
social ritual, the knowledge of which indicated breeding. There were symbols
marking particular occasions as well as standard of conduct. Paris was
already the home of fashion and of polite Western manners. During the
thirteenth century in France the concept of the ideal beauty was developed
and took precise shape in the visual arts and literature. This was also seen
in Italy where greater attention was paid to the perfection of the female
body. In all the Italian states men and women translated this search after
formal beauty into costume. This may explain why the broad shoe called
Duck's bill, Scarpine or Bear's Paw came into being. Broad enough to
accommodate each toe, Duckıs bill shoes were as much as 12 inches broad. Men
who wore Duck's bill adopted a waddling gait. The uppers were made from
silks, brocades and velvets. The shoes were heavily padded, puffed,and
embroidered. The upper of the shoe had fine cuts (or slashing) in the
leather to show the coloured hose or sumptious lining beneath. Often the
shoes were lined with soft fur to resemble pubic hair and as the foot moved,
skin could be observed through the open and closing slits, vaginal like.
This was considered to resemble the female genitalia. By 1492 the toes of
menıs shoes became rounded. High fronted shoe with bulbous toes were worn
towards the end of the 15th century. Coloured hose for men were in vogue and
the shoe the ideal means of displaying them. Stockings or tights were worn
in two layers: a dark inner one and a plain outer layer which was cut into
narrow vertical strips for most of its length. In 1540 women wore woollen or
linen hose with square-toed shoes that were cut low at the front and sides
and fastened with straps. Menıs shoes were closed to the ankle and had
rounded toes with uppers that were slashed diagonally. These were often
studded with tiny jewels and worn with a slight heel. Slashing was a fashion
statement, which may have had its origins in war torn, lookalike. The style
was popular for about a century till it was eventually condemned and
outlawed throughout Europe. in the reign of Queen Mary, (Bloody Mary -
1516-58) sumptuary laws were passed to limited the breadth of shoes.
These shoes were also known as solerets. Slimmer shapes replaced the broad
duck's bill shoes, first the low cut escaffignins, wide and puffed at the
toes, then the heeless eschapins, which covered the foot and were slashed on
top. The growth of towns and enrichment of the mercantile classes led to the
emergence, everywhere of a rich bourgeoisie, which aspired to the privileges
of the nobility. Costume became a means for one class to demonstrate its
rise, and for another to emphasise its jealously guarded permanance. Women
wore soft ankle strap slippers with puffed and slashed round toes. In the
16th century the T strap was introduced. Round toed sandals, raised by two
heels one under the ball of the foot the other under the heel. High fronted
shoes with decorative slashed uppers remained popular till 1588. By then men
were wearing white shoes with long pointed toes and pinked uppers. Women
also wore these shoes although some wore chopines closed at the ankles.
Countrymenıs clothing were more functional and they wore spurred boots
turned down at the knee. Women continued to wear shoes without fastenings,
which fitted closely around the ankles. Mules worn on stocking clad feet
were often studded with pearls. During the reign of Elizabeth I (1533-1603)
a platform sole about I inch thick became popular. The ladies of the court
wore mules high heeled slippers with closed toe straps fur trimmed and made
of brocade. The pump was designed with an over sized tab that covered the
instep and rose to the ankle. Pattens were often worn to protect delicate
shoes from the elements. Rabbit ear bows were worn with high heeled shoes.
(Bigelow, 1970 ). The fashion for broad shoes became ludicrous until there
was scarcely enough flat space for free passage. The Ghillie shoe of today
exhibits the same slashing style of the Duck's Bill
Chopine
Until the end of the fifteenth century, centres of population were
comparatively isolated from each other. Come the next century with improved
trade and transport there was a greater sharing of cultures. Florence was
the centre of the universe. The women of Florence began to wear platform
shoes called chopines. Originating either in the east or some say Spain the
chopines were worn by women to increase their height. Some were often 24
inches off the ground and ladies required to be escorted through the
streets. This is were walking canes became fashionable and escorts would
walk on their right hand side to protect the ladies from the passing
carriages, leaving their right hand to draw a sword. The idea of the groom
standing on the right side of their bride may have come from this time. The
style was talked about all over Europe but may have only been worn by
Venetian women. Shakespeare includes a mention in Hamlet and the style was
laterally associated with depraved and dissolute women. These were
eventually banned after many women reported miscarriages as a result of
falling. Few portraits of ladies wearing chopines are available which has
led McDowell to conclude this was a short-lived style. Venetian prostitutes
used to wear the chopines the height they needed to stand out in the street.
Another popular shoe was the patten, which consisted of a wooden block
fitted to a delicate slipper, or hose, which was worn as overshoes to
protect the foot and delicate tapestry from the dirt, covered streets.
Patten probably is from the French word patte meaning paw. Contemporary
medical reports described the changes in posture associated with wearing
platforms. This was the beginning of medical interest in elevated footwear.
A marriage could be null and void if the groom discovered his bride had been
misrepresenting her height by wearing chopines.
Slippers
Menıs shoes were decorated with bows and huge sparkling rosettes of spangled
ribbons which dwarfed the low-heels. By 1641 shoes were tied with a ribbon
rather then rosette. Merchants wives began to wear high-heeled shoes trimmed
wit modest rosettes (compared to the shoes of men). In 1661 deep fashion
linen were the new exuberant style of garter and high heeled shoes for men
were worn long and with narrow toes, and tied with bows. Womenıs styles were
narrowed toed but worn with a lower heel. Later shoes became plain and were
tied with ribbons. In the later part of the century gentlemen wore low
heeled or heel-less mules as indoor slippers decorated with fringes. They
followed the prevailing shoe fronts but were more comfortable to relax in.
Square-toed shoes were fashionable at the beginning of the century. The
Macaronis wore flat-heeled dancing pumps with round jewelled buckles. Ladies
wore neo classic styled white silk shoes crossed with ribbons in imitation
of classical sandals. In the early 18th century satin pumps with high spoon
heels and very pointed toes became fashionable for women. Bows and elaborate
ties were less fashionable and toes were rounded and the heels lowered.
Later in this century women started to wear an adaptation of the Grecian
sandal as the classic fashion took over. Low cut slippers replaced high heel
pumps during the last years of the century. Women wore high heeled slippers
of brocade , kid and velvet in light hues. They were often embroidered with
gold and silver threads. Buckles of gold and silver were decorated with
imitations or precious gems were attached to the instep. Satin pointed toed,
pumps with high spool heels became vogue in the middle of the century. Later
the shoe became less decorative and was made of plain kid or satin. Rounder
toes an lower heels were all the fashion between 1740-1790. Men's slippers
were made of soft black leather or striped fabric. Ladies slippers were
little more than leather shells laced over the instep and up the legs to the
calves. Slippers gaiters were worn to protect shoes/stocking outside. By the
early nineteen hundreds the Turkish style was in fashion, men wore pointed
vamp slippers with long smoking jackets. Square-toed boots became vogue and
were worn with light coloured gaiters. High heeled pumps became very popular
in the early eighteenth century.
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 30ıs to wear square-toed shoes. Menıs 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
womenıs 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. Although
the heel was originally conceived as a female fashion men soon took to
wearing it, themselves
Fantasy
In Victorian times well bred women could not be acknowledged to possessing
anything as potentially carnal as legs. Indeed it was during this period
legs were referred to as the lower limb. Ironically, crinoline was
ridiculous seductive and the steel hoops that buoyed the skirt kept it in a
permanent state of motion The slightest pressure at one point raised it
correspondingly at the opposite side, often revealing a titillating and
tantalising glimpse of the forbidden flesh. The simple pump disappeared and
the ankle boot took over. Partly worn as a fashion in honour of Wellington,
the boot complemented the crinoline dresses and provided a foot corset
enjoyed by men and understood by women. As trade and travel took on
international dimensions in the 19th century, the prized fabrics of the
orient joined the French fashion world. The eastern look was dignified and
exotic, symbolic of a sophisticated understanding of the world. Shoes styles
had names like the Empress. With the cotton trade came delicate gauze or
layers of sheer fabrics for dresses. Shoes needed to match and were
decorated with pearl buttons, or bead buttons and rhinestones. Repression
and prudery generated new outlets for sexual expression. The fashion to
conceal the female leg under floor length skirts and boots was so successful
that the mere glimpse of a women's ankle was a cause for arousal. Women's
ankles and by extension their shoes and boots became symbols of more hidden
body parts, and lusting after their feet or footwear was deemed strictly
taboo. Not surprisingly, by 1850 with the introduction of photography an
underground market for pornography and shoes with 6 inch heels flourished in
London. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, from which the word masochism comes,
freely wrote of his experiences where he allowed his mistresses to whip and
walk on him. He was delighted to kiss the shoes that performed the action.
No flesh just crinoline
Fetish
Well over a century later, shoe fetishism flourishes although it remains
a social taboo because of its association with cross dressing and Algolagnia
or S&M. The fetish shoe often incorporates locks, chains and high heels. The
locks represent the idea the feet are precious and owned by the admirer.
Chains restrict movement, which reinforce the power game being played out
between "slave and master". According to some anthropologists wearing high
heels changes the distribution of mass around the body and, and tilts the
pelvis into a precoital position. Fetish shoes are often black or red, made
in patent leather, and fit the foot like a corset. Boots are often extended
to knee or thigh and have platform soles to extend the length of the leg. In
today's society, cross-dressing is still viewed with great suspicion however
many people are specifically attracted to style associated with the opposite
sex because of their allure. Naturally they wish to explore the full
ensemble. As Rossi so eruditely puts it "fashion is the artisan of mascarade."
Erotic symbolism is not expressed in all footwear in the same way and the
sex appeal features in shoe design must comply with the psychosocial
personality of the individual. Eroticism often infers dominance of one
partner over another A popular foreplay with foot fetishists and algophiles
is tickling. Tramping describes walking over your partner. A little more
uncomfortable than tickling but still relatively harmless. Crushing
describes standing on your partner with stiletto heels. Definitely not for
the fainthearted and more than likely to cause perforation of the skin. The
bazaar practice is more for the discerning s&m user. Madame's heels are
designed to cause damage. Madame's heels are designed to cause damage
Hose
According to Biglow (1970) during the Crusades and Gothic periods
(1000-1300) linen hose made from two-leg profile pieces replaced tube hose
sewn together. These were held up be tapes tied to the waistband. Under the
hose was worn a shapeless pair of linen legs which were stitched through the
crutch, hemmed at the top and gathered by a drawstring around the waist. In
time the outer hose were joined and called the closed hose or pair of legs.
The invention of the knitting machine by William Lee in the sixteenth
century revolutionised hosiery making. They became cheaper and were popular
with both sexes. Hose came in bright colours often embroidered with gold
thread on the instep and up the shin. The development of better knitting
techniques were enveloped as well as the introduction of the full bottom
hose and codpiece. The leg sections of these limb coverings were made to fit
more smoothly by means of a series of small darts, hidden by embroidery,
around the ankles of the hose. As doublets and suercotehardies came into
general use the hose or chausses were first worn over the breeches but
eventually these became only brief trunks and were then discarded in favour
of the full bottom hose. Either these styles of leg coverings were attached
to the doublets or jupes by cord laces with metal tap tips. (Bigelow, 1970
). Hose were often decorated with embroideredclocks decorative patterns
extending from the ankles to the calf. (Bigelow, 1970 ). In the 14th
century, for a short period shoes were discarded in favour of stockings with
leather soles. (Anderson Black & Garland, 1970). In the eighteenth century
both men and women wore stockings made of silk or wool. These were usually
white. Womenıs stockings often had decoration open work over the instep or
horizontal stripes and random patterns of rosebuds. (Bigelow, 1970).
Google blog Collection of Books Live in nanny Nigerian Spam We buy houses Property auction