History of shoes: how did it all start and how did fashion change?

The history of shoes is an interesting process that began with feet wrapped in straw in a cave, and ended with stubble socks and high heels from the Leaning Tower of Pisa. How people came up with shoes and what came of it - read on our pages.

How did people come up with shoes?

Spanish cave drawings dating back more than 15,000 years show people in skins and with fur wrapped around their legs. For almost 5000 years our ancestors covered their feet with straw or skins of dead animals. Shoes, in one form or another, have been an important attribute for man for many centuries. The evolution of shoes, from sandals to modern sports shoes, which is recognized as a real miracle of sewing equipment, continues today, when couturiers find new materials for decorating and protecting our feet.

Sandals - the oldest shoes, known to us until today. Moccasins were also known several centuries ago. In fact, many kinds of shoes that we wear up to now have been popular in other eras. "Platform", one of the most recognizable features of shoes in the 1970s and 1990s, actually appeared in the 16th century. Then shoes on high soles were vital to protect themselves from dirt - there were no sidewalks. Today, the platform is only for the sake of fashion trends. Shoes with long socks, worn in the 1960s, differ little from shoe collectors' shoes in the 17th century - it was convenient to pick up garbage from roadside pits.

Looking at the shoes of different countries of the world, you can see an undeniable resemblance. Shoes Venetians on the wooden sole strongly resembles the Japanese style - wooden shoes on high soles, which are called Geta. Although the shape of these products is somewhat different, the idea remains the same. The Venetians did not contact the Japanese then, so this is not an imitation - it is the commitment of different peoples to the same form of footwear.

And take the customs of the Chinese, and then the Japanese geisha. They tied their legs and walked with small steps to develop a certain gait. Later, European women and men began to bind their feet with scotch and torture them with too tight shoes. In a study conducted since the early 1990s, it was reported that 88 percent of European women wore shoes that were too small for them!

So, despite a lot of fashion trends and styles, our shoe fashion today, by and large, is just a modernized style of the past.

The Age of Revival - the History of Shoes

Although it was difficult to see the shoes under the long dresses of this period, we know that women's shoes in the Renaissance were mostly soft slippers. They were made of fine fabrics, brocade, silk or embroidered leather. And none of these types of fabric was waterproof. People needed the invention of galoshes on a wooden sole. They were made of aspen, and were covered with skin. Shoes for the rich differed from the models for the poor in that the same skin was simply applied patterned patterns of silk. Silk was a fashion piece of the Renaissance footwear, but shoes in this century were worn only when necessary.

Galoshes on a high platform - an invention that was practiced in those years in Venice. Such shoes were especially popular among the courtesans of Venice, and this fashion quickly spread throughout the rest of Europe, especially it was loved in Italy and Spain. These galoshes were worn like slippers, but rewarded the owner with even higher growth. They were made of wood, painted and gilded. Some of them were encrusted with mother of pearl and other precious stones or covered with leather or velvet.

This shoe was very tall, up to thirty inches (more than 60 cm!), So when a woman went out into the street, she needed a servant to help her stay upright. The Church hated the extremes of fashion, but this kind of footwear did not prohibit. The fact is that the height of these improvised galoshes made it impossible to move quickly. Especially dance, thereby reducing opportunities for sin. In addition, such shoes gave the owner a set of unique problems.

The extra height of the shoes led to complications after the wedding, when the groom suddenly discovered that in fact he married a very short bride. By the way, this led to even more incredible laws: in England, marriage ties could be annulled if the bride faked her growth with shoes. In Venice, the wooden galoshes on the platform were eventually outlawed after the number of miscarriages in women increased after falling from this shoe.

Elizabethan period 1560 - 1620 - the history of shoes

The footwear of this period was made mostly of leather, either thin and soft, or rough, depending on the price. Special orders for velvet, satin, silk or brocade were designed to decorate shoes for the rich.

Cork (cork) or ordinary cork was then a popular material for the sole and heel. The first form of the heel was the cork - it was placed between the leather sole and the top of the shoes, thus raising the heel. This fashion soon became popular. New heels were made either from cork or from wood, but covered with the same fabric as the top.

The front of the shoes went up until they came up with a tongue. It was often made in color, and it corresponded to the colors of the nobility's clothing.

Embroidery on the tongue of shoes was an important element in England after the Reformation. Craftsmen who tried very hard to show their talents could show them in church embroidery on clothes and shoes.

All sorts of colors used then for heels. Brown, saffron color, black, white, red, green, blue, yellow, pink - all this can be seen on the surviving paintings of that era.

Women's shoes could rarely be seen during this period, it was covered with long skirts. Shoes were relatively soft, with a low sole and heel not more than two centimeters in height. The sole was made of a cork about a half inch (1.25 cm) thick. The socks of slippers and shoes were slightly rounded. Women's shoes were made with high tongues, and on Elizabeth I were shoes with tongues of white silk, which was in the tone of her white clothes.

Queen Elizabeth was proud of her tiny legs, which she then introduced the fashion into skirts just above the ankle to show her thin ankles and small legs decorated with high-heeled shoes. Yes, yes, it was during the reign of Elizabeth in England appeared heels on shoes. Shoes completely lost the roundness of the sock and became narrower. The new style allowed you to tighten the feet and stay on the foot due to the introduction of leather straps on the shoes.

The gallant age, or the fashion of the era of Louis XIV In 1660-1715, the fashion for shoes changed under the influence of the French court. It was the heyday of the monarchy. Fashion for shoes swept through Europe and reached the New World. At that time, magnificent curvy forms of clothes and shoes were popular. If earlier men wore only black and brown shoes, now white leather became popular, and the sole and heel were defiantly red. The skin began to alternate with the suede that was gaining popularity.

Women's shoes of that tora began to be made of velvet, silk, satin. The widespread use of appliqués in the form of braids has become very popular, creating a striped effect.

Shoes made in America were mostly made of leather, but silk was also allowed for women's shoes.

Heels were then common for men. Until 1700 it was believed that heels slender a man and give him masculinity.

The Age of the Revolution 1775-1815 - the history of shoes

The greatest changes in the shoe fashion during this period came with new inventions. Since the 1790s, the market has a patent leather. Eor at first such shoes were only women. Then in the 1780s, the lacquered code was also worn by men. There were different colors of leather lacquered shoes: red, white, yellow. Shoes have acquired a smart appearance.

The second important innovation dates back to the end of this century. Shoes began to do on the right and left. Until 1800 this was not in sight. Right and left shoes gradually replaced traditional straight shoes, although women resisted these changes longer than men.

1815-1870 - history of shoes

Throughout this period in the shoe fashion there are many innovations. For example, metal holes for lacing. They were patented in 1823 by Thomas Rogers, although they slowly adapted to the needs of the market. For a very long time people could not accept this innovation, and finally in 1874 the laces for laces began to be made by machine, increasing the popularity of metal parts.

In the 1830s, the use of rubber began. These inventions led to a new shoe fashion that has not changed for a long period.

Perhaps the greatest invention in the world of fashion were sewing machines, on which they began to spend the fabric from the 1830s to the 1850s. These machines were used for sewing leather on shoes, but a little later, in 1856, the pioneer of this production was Singer (the famous Zinger). All these inventions, combined with a new idea of tailoring ready-made clothes, made shoes cheaper and more affordable than ever before.

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The First World War and the 1940s - the history of footwear

The First World War had a huge impact on the whole world. The war dramatically changed the way of life of everyone. Women replaced men in factories, giving them their money in the first months of the war. Shoe changed too. The most popular were boots with high bootlegs and heavy army boots. This tradition is now happily continued by teenagers - army boots are considered the squeak of youth fashion.

Boots in those days were sewn only from genuine leather. And they drove the leg in a very unusual way: the wet skin stretched over the leg and so it rushed for two days. Boots in the end fit perfectly on the leg, although they rubbed heavily at first. But their form was purely individual and very well suited to each individual owner. Only in 1937, having calculated that the skin was still too expensive, they invented and began to sew the famous tarpaulin boots. The crochet is not a leather, but a cotton fabric, but not in one layer, but in several, treated with special substances in the form of a film. These substances made kirzu waterproof, well protecting the legs of soldiers from any marching conditions.

A felted boot was also used, in the common people - a felt boots. They were the subject of military uniforms, especially in winter. There were even special thin and crocheted felt boots for riding.

In the civil war since 1919, soldiers in Russia wore leather shoes. They were a full part of the uniform along with the overcoat and headdress. These leather shoes with heels, heels and solid leather soles were so convenient that the soldiers did not stop wearing them even after the official decree of 1922, which officially ordered the bastards to not wear any more.

The fifties - the history of shoes

The mods of the 50's first appeared stylet-heel - a tall, slender heel with a built-in metal spike - it was, perhaps, the most recognizable innovation of shoes in the 50's.

Leather, popular during the war, was slowly replaced by new materials of synthetic origin. Back in 1958, women's shoes were made from leatherette and fabrics, and by the end of the sixties the vast majority of footwear had already been made from a different material, not leather.

60's - the history of shoes

With the invention of the mini-skirt appeared fashionable boots-boots. In the sixties, loose boots with a front seam gave way to the boots, which fit very tightly to the leg, the so-called boot-stocking. They were made of leather and textiles.

The "go-go" boots were one of the most memorable fashion trends of the 1960s. They were made of different heights, including the ankles, high to the hip. Something, and these boots were to become an indispensable attribute in the wardrobe of a young woman.

And then the top in fashion took shoes hippies. It characterized a whole decade. It is difficult to describe these shoes in a nutshell. Children of flowers, hippies walked barefoot, wore simple sandals and moccasins and bought shoes in underground retro shops. Hippies could wear anything, if only it did not correspond to the fashion trends of today.

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Seventies - the history of shoes

Color and fabric choice in this decade was very limited. Plastic, leather, fabric, wood products and countless other more bizarre materials were used to create and decorate shoes. Very few shoes during this period were made from simple leather. A very popular trend was the unification of several different colors and materials.

Since when in 1976 in Moscow in a factory called "Paris Commune" installed a German machine "Desma", they began to produce models on the molded sole. It was the last cry of fashion. Which imitated Western models of shoes like "Alaska" - boots "Dutika". True, Soviet models were much clumsy, they got wet and quickly burst, but were cheap and affordable - they were then worn by the whole country.

Such an excitement for blowing boots on a molded sole was caused by the achievements of the cosmos. As in the astronauts, they had not only boots, but also jackets, hats, and even gloves. They attracted the consumer with warmth and convenience. At the same time, other, completely unlike "duffy" models, were included in fashion: boots with narrow noses and iron rivets. They were called bulls. These boots were extremely difficult to get, they were people of the whole salary to the people, but the queues behind them were so long and emotional that a detachment of horse police was near.

Eighties - the history of shoes

The biggest innovation at this time was the share of sports shoes. Tennis shoes of the seventies in the West turned into hundreds of different styles and brands, each with its own special design. The soles already learned how to add air - it was comfortable and ergonomic. It was then that they first began to use the concept of orthopedic footwear, which reduced the fatigue of the legs and allowed people to move faster and longer.

In our country, the fashion for high boots returned, already thoroughly forgotten. Fashion women sported in jackboots and mini-skirts, and on their shoulders ladies wore jackets with broad shoulders. This fashion was skipped from the then famous TV series "Dallas", where the girls walked exactly in such clothes. It certainly attached a lot of jewelry - the more massive and colorful, the better. They flaunted about and without.

The nineties - the history of shoes

In this decade, new technologies have had a huge impact on shoes. There were such materials as microfiber, stretch fabric and various synthetic materials. Models basically repeated the retro-style with minor changes.

The production process was improved, computer embroidery and other new methods for decorating shoes appeared. These were already more complex opportunities for shoe decorations, which were not used for gentry and rulers, as before, but for the mass market.

Environmental awareness has become a very important topic in the production of footwear, and companies such as Timberland and Rockport have specifically developed shoes for those who like to walk only in natural materials. This style is still traced on the streets and campuses of North America and Europe.

In our country in the nineties, women have the opportunity to choose from a wide range of styles to suit any mood, go to a business party or any other event. Comfortable low-heeled shoes, high heels, and medium-heeled shoes were made from different types of leather, suede and fabric.

By 1997, haute couture manufacturers decided that it would be more feminine to return to fashionable model shoes. Sandals, thin heels and heels of medium height returned to the podiums.

The most interesting signs about shoes

Shoes have always been the subject of numerous superstitions and myths. Almost in every culture since the beginning of time superstitions have developed, telling about shoes. This continues today.

In America, children's shoes are tied to the back of the auto couple. Even on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, this custom continues to this day.

In China, the child's shoes should be decorated with many cruel and evil animals, for example, tigers. The animal must protect the child from evil spirits.

In America, there is also an interesting custom to drill a hole in the sole of children's shoes, so that the soul can escape through it from evil spirits.

An age-old burial ritual in the US involves burying a pair of shoes along with the deceased. Although no one knows the origin of this custom, it may have been invented in the hope that the deceased will be comfortable walking in the afterlife.

According to the Chinese custom, the groom on the wedding night threw the red bride shoes on the roof as a token of love and harmony.

When the king dies, all the people of West Africa, under the name Ashanti, paint their sandals in black.

Japanese warriors - samurai - wore shoes from the bear's fur, convinced that the power of the animal would be transferred to the owner.

In Europe, footwear was used as protection for the home. When the house was built, the shoes were walled up to ward off evil spirits. Many ancient shoes with the demolition of old houses are discovered even today.

According to the Islamic faith, believers should take off their shoes before entering the mosque.