The history of shoes: where did it all begin and how has fashion changed?

The history of footwear is a fascinating process that began with feet wrapped in straw in a cave and ended with super-narrow toes and heels as tall as the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Read on our pages to find out how people invented footwear and what came of it.

How did people invent shoes?

Spanish cave paintings dating back over 15,000 years show people wearing skins and with fur wrapped around their feet. Our ancestors covered their feet with straw or the skins of slaughtered animals for nearly 5,000 years. Footwear, in one form or another, has been an important attribute for humans for centuries. The evolution of footwear, from sandals to modern athletic shoes, which are considered a true marvel of sewing technology, continues today as couturiers find new materials to decorate and protect our feet.

Sandals are the oldest footwear known to us today. Moccasins were also popular centuries ago. In fact, many of the footwear we still wear today was popular in other eras. The “platform,” one of the most recognizable footwear features of the 1970s and 1990s, actually dates back to the 16th century. High-soled shoes were vital to protect against mud—there were no sidewalks. Today, platforms are worn purely for fashion reasons. The long-toed shoes worn in the 1960s are not much different from the shoes worn by garbage collectors in the 17th century—they were useful for picking up trash from roadside holes.

Looking at the footwear of different countries of the world, one can see an undeniable similarity. Venetian footwear with wooden soles strongly resembles the Japanese style - wooden shoes with 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 at that time, so this is not imitation - it is the commitment of different peoples to the same form of footwear.

Take the customs of the Chinese, and then the Japanese geishas. They tied their feet and walked with small steps to develop a certain gait. Later, European women and men began to bind their feet with tape and torture them with shoes that were too tight. A study conducted in the early 1990s reported that 88 percent of European women wore shoes that were too small!

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

Renaissance - History of Shoes

Although it was difficult to see 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 fabrics were waterproof. People needed the invention of galoshes with wooden soles. They were made of aspen and covered with leather. Shoes for the rich differed from those for the poor in that the same leather was simply covered with patterns of silk. Silk was a fashionable detail of Renaissance shoes, but shoes in this century were worn only when necessary.

The galoshes with a high platform are an invention that was practiced in Venice at that time. Such footwear was especially popular among the courtesans of Venice, and this fashion quickly spread throughout the rest of Europe, especially in Italy and Spain. These galoshes were worn like slippers, but also gave the wearer a higher height. They were made of wood, painted and gilded. Some of them were inlaid with mother-of-pearl and other precious stones or covered with leather or velvet.

These shoes were very high, up to thirty inches (more than 60 cm!), so when a woman went out, she needed a maid to help her stay upright. The church hated the extremes of fashion, but did not prohibit this type of footwear. The fact is that the height of these improvised galoshes did not allow for quick movement. Especially dancing, thereby reducing the opportunities for sin. In addition, such shoes gave the owner a set of simply unique problems.

The extra height of the shoe led to complications after the wedding, when the groom suddenly discovered that he had actually married a very short bride. Incidentally, this gave rise to even more incredible laws: in England, the marriage could be annulled if the bride falsified her height with the help of shoes. In Venice, wooden platform galoshes were eventually outlawed after an increase in miscarriages among women after falling out of them.

Elizabethan Period 1560 - 1620 - History of Shoes

Shoes of this period were made primarily of leather, either fine and soft or coarse, depending on the price. Special orders for velvet, satin, silk or brocade were made to decorate shoes for the wealthy.

Cork or cork was a popular material for soles and heels at the time. The first form of heel was made of cork - it was placed between the leather sole and the upper of the shoe, thus raising the heel. This fashion soon became popular. New heels were made of either cork or wood, but covered with the same fabric as the upper.

The front part of the shoe was raised until the tongue was invented. It was often made in color, and this corresponded to the colors of the clothes of the nobility.

Shoe tongue embroidery was an important element in England after the Reformation. Craftsmen who were keen to show off their talents could display them in ecclesiastical embroidery on clothing and shoes to match.

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

Women's shoes were rarely seen during this period, and were covered by long skirts. Shoes were relatively soft, with low soles and heels no more than two centimeters high. The soles were made of cork about half an inch (1.25 cm) thick. The toes of slippers and shoes were slightly rounded. Women's shoes were made with high tongues, and Elizabeth I wore shoes with tongues made of white silk, which matched her white dress.

Queen Elizabeth was proud of her tiny feet, it was she who introduced the fashion for skirts just above the ankle to show off her thin ankles and small feet, adorned with high-heeled shoes. Yes, it was during Elizabeth's reign that heels appeared on shoes in England. Shoes finally lost their rounded toes and became narrower. The new style allowed for a tighter fit 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, shoe fashion changed under the influence of the French court. It was the heyday of the monarchy. Shoe fashion swept across Europe and reached the New World. At that time, lush, ornate forms of clothing and shoes were popular. If earlier men wore only black and brown shoes, now white leather became popular, with the sole and heel being defiantly red. Leather began to alternate with suede, which was gaining popularity.

Women's shoes began to be made of velvet, silk, satin. The widespread use of braid applique became 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 common for men back then. Before 1700, heels were considered to make a man look slimmer and more masculine.

The Revolution 1775-1815 - History of Shoes

The biggest changes in shoe fashion during this period came with new inventions. Since the 1790s, patent leather has appeared on the market. At first, only women wore such shoes. Then, in the 1780s, men began to wear patent leather shoes. Different colors of patent leather shoes appeared: red, white, yellow. Shoes acquired a chic appearance.

The second major innovation came towards the end of the century. Shoes began to be made with right and left hands. This had not been the case before 1800. Right and left shoes gradually replaced the traditional straight shoes, although women resisted this change longer than men.

1815-1870 - History of Shoes

Throughout this period, many innovations appeared in shoe fashion. For example, metal eyelets for lacing. They were patented in 1823 by Thomas Rogers, although they were slow to adapt to the needs of the market. People could not accept this innovation for a long time, and finally in 1874, eyelets for laces began to be made by machine, increasing the popularity of metal parts.

In the 1830s, rubber began to be used. These inventions led to a new shoe fashion that did not change for a long time.

Perhaps the greatest invention in the world of fashion was the sewing machine, which began stitching fabric from the 1830s to the 1850s. These machines were then used to stitch leather on shoes, but a little later, in 1856, Singer (of Zinger fame) pioneered this production. All these inventions, combined with the new idea of ready-to-wear clothing, made shoes cheaper and more accessible than ever before.

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WWI and the 40s - The History of Shoes

The First World War had a huge impact on the entire world. The war changed everyone's lifestyle dramatically. Women replaced men in factories, giving them their money in the first months of the war. Footwear also changed. The most popular were high boots and heavy army boots. This tradition is happily continued by teenagers today - army boots are considered the latest youth fashion.

Boots in those days were made only of genuine leather. And they were adjusted to the foot in a very unusual way: wet leather was pulled over the foot and worn for two days. The boots eventually fit the foot perfectly, although they rubbed a lot at first. But their shape was strictly individual and suited each individual owner very well. Only in 1937, having calculated that leather was still too expensive, they invented and began to sew the famous tarpaulin boots. Tarpaulin is not leather, but cotton fabric, but not in one layer, but in several, treated with special substances in the form of a film. These substances made tarpaulin waterproof, well protecting soldiers' feet from any field conditions.

Felt boots, commonly known as valenok, were also used. They were an item of military uniform, especially in winter. There were even special thin and curved valenoks for horse riding.

During the civil war, from 1919, soldiers in Rus' wore leather bast shoes. They were a full-fledged part of the uniform, along with the greatcoat and headgear. These leather bast shoes with heels, heels and durable leather soles were so comfortable that soldiers did not stop wearing them even after the official decree of 1922, which officially ordered soldiers not to wear bast shoes anymore.

The Fifties - History of Shoes

Fashionistas of the 1950s first adopted the stiletto heel - a high, slender heel with a built-in metal spike - which was perhaps the most recognizable footwear innovation of the 1950s.

Leather, popular during the war, was gradually replaced by new materials of synthetic origin. As early as 1958, women's shoes began to be made from leatherette and fabrics, and by the end of the 60s, the vast majority of shoes were already made from other materials, not leather.

60s - History of Shoes

With the invention of the miniskirt came the fashionable over-the-knee boots. In the sixties, loose boots with a front seam gave way to boots that fit very tightly to the leg, the so-called stocking boots. They were made of leather and textiles.

Go-go boots were one of the most memorable fashion trends of the 1960s. They came in a variety of heights, including ankle-length and thigh-high. If there was one thing that was certain, it was that these boots were a must-have in a young woman's wardrobe.

And then hippie shoes took over the fashion. They characterized the entire decade. It is difficult to describe these shoes in a few words. Flower children, hippies went barefoot, wore simple sandals and moccasins and bought shoes in underground retro shops. Hippies could wear anything, as long as it did not correspond to the fashion trends of the day.

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Seventies - History of Shoes

The color and fabric choices were very limited in this decade. Plastic, leather, fabric, wood, and countless other fancier materials were used to create and decorate shoes. Very few shoes during this period were made of plain leather. A very popular trend was to combine several different colors and materials.

Since the German Desma machine was installed in 1976 in Moscow at a factory called the Paris Commune, they began producing models with molded soles. This was the latest fashion statement. Which imitated Western models of Alaska-type footwear – dutik boots. True, Soviet models were much more clumsy, they got wet and quickly tore, but they were cheap and affordable – the whole country wore them then.

Such a rush for puffy boots with molded soles was caused by the achievements of space. Not only boots were puffy, like those worn by astronauts, but also jackets, hats, and even gloves. They attracted consumers with their warmth and comfort. At the same time, other models came into fashion, completely different from the "puffy" ones - boots with narrow toes and iron rivets. They were called Buratins. These boots were extremely difficult to get, they cost people their entire salaries, but the lines for them were so long and emotional that a detachment of mounted police was sure to be nearby.

The Eighties - History of Shoes

The biggest innovation of this time was in sports shoes. Tennis shoes of the seventies in the West evolved into hundreds of different styles and brands, each with its own special design. They had already learned to add air to the soles - it was comfortable and ergonomic. It was then that the concept of orthopedic shoes was first used, which reduced foot fatigue and allowed people to move faster and longer.

In our country, the fashion for high boots, already completely forgotten, has returned. Fashionistas showed off in thigh-high boots and mini-skirts, and ladies put on jackets with very wide shoulders. This fashion was copied from the then famous TV series "Dallas", where girls wore exactly the same clothes. It was always accompanied by a lot of jewelry - the more massive and colorful, the better. They showed them off with or without reason.

The Nineties - History of Shoes

In this decade, new technologies had a huge impact on shoes. Materials such as microfiber, stretch fabric and various synthetic materials appeared. Models mostly repeated the retro style with slight changes.

The manufacturing process was improved, computer embroidery and other new methods of shoe decoration appeared. These were already more complex possibilities of shoe decoration, which were used not for nobles and rulers, as before, but for the mass market.

Sustainability became a big topic in footwear manufacturing, with companies like Timberland and Rockport specifically designing shoes for those who wanted to wear only natural materials. This style is still seen on the streets and campuses of North America and Europe.

In our country in the nineties women had 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 boots, high heels, and shoes with medium heels were made from different types of leather, suede and fabric.

By 1997, couture manufacturers decided that it would be more feminine to return to fashionable dress shoes. Sandals, thin heels, and mid-heeled heels returned to the catwalk.

The most interesting signs about shoes

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

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

In China, a child's shoes must be decorated with many cruel and evil animals, such as tigers. The animal is supposed to protect the child from evil spirits.

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

A centuries-old funeral ritual in the United States involves burying a pair of shoes with the deceased. Although no one knows the origins of this custom, it may have been created in the hopes that the deceased would be able to walk comfortably in the afterlife.

According to Chinese custom, on their wedding night, the groom would throw the bride's red shoe onto the roof as a sign of love and harmony.

When a king dies, the entire West African people called the Ashanti paint their sandals black.

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

In Europe, shoes were used as protection for the home. When a house was being built, shoes were walled up to ward off evil spirits. Many ancient shoes are still found today when old houses are torn down.

According to Islamic belief, believers must remove their shoes before entering a mosque.