Everyone agrees that shoes are much more than accessories. Besides their practical function of protecting the feet from the weather and the environment, many other meanings have been attached to shoes from their earliest history. Among other things, they make statements about the wearer’s sex, age, ethnicity and social status. Indeed, there have been times when laws were in force specifying the type of shoes people of different status were entitled to wear. Shoes have remained status symbols to this day and are very important fashion accessories. In our days, every season calls for a new trend in footwear, so any self-respecting woman will have at least a dozen of shoes, though collections in the range of one hundred are not uncommon.
Our ancestors made footwear from grass, shrubbery or large leaves and fixed them to their feet with twigs. Moccasins made from leather came later. The peoples who lived on horseback started wearing boots with curled-up toes and heels, which made it easier to keep them in stirrups (think of today’s cowboy boots). In Egypt, Greece and Rome, with their warmer climates, sandals were preferred.
For hundred of years now, makers of footwear have been following the whims of fashion, creating some startling designs and forcing their wearers to put up with various oddities. One such was the gradual lengthening of the toes. The longer one’s shoes, the higher one’s status was supposed to be. Naturally, kings would wear shoes with the longest toes. At the end of the 14th century, Philip the Fair of France issued a decree stating that only aristocrats were allowed to wear shoes that had toes of 60 centimetres. Members of the lower nobility were allowed a maximum of 30 centimetres and the common people were only allowed a maximum of 15 centimetres. (At the same time, there was the custom of foot binding for women in China. Small feet and shoes were considered attractive by men, who found it more graceful when women were tiptoeing. This, of course, caused great pain and suffering to the unfortunate women who had their feet so bound.)
Shoes with high soles were introduced in the 16th century. Initially, this was out of necessity: to keep the feet off streets that were covered in rubbish and mud. After a while, women realised that raising their feet this way also had other advantages. It made them appear taller and more slender, giving them a more noble look. Various sources of the period tell us that the height of soles, commonly referred to as zoccoli, reached as much as 12-15 inches (30-37.5 centimetres). These cumbersome high soles gradually became more feminine and graceful and they were eventually converted into high heels. With the arrival of the Baroque Age, slippers gained popularity, with pointed toes and slender heels. The toes were often ornamented with ribbon ties, bows, plastic flowers and buckles, all fashionable accessories at the time. For men, shoe fashion was quite similar, but boots started gaining popularity, with sagging legs.
Fashion in shoes is far from being homogeneous today, with everyone wearing footwear that suits their demands, taste and budget. Different styles are worn for different occasions: for work, sports and special events. Shoes are supposed to be matched to the clothes, bags and other accessories that we wear.
Shoes and stories in many cultures
Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto
There is a extraordinary place in the world where everything is about shoes.
No imagination can be creative enough to apprehend what have been cumulated in the name of foot ware. There is a unique Museum that celebrates the style and function of footwear – over 10,000 shoes in four impressive galleries. Footwear on display ranges from Chinese bound foot shoes and ancient Egyptian sandals to chestnut-crushing clogs and glamorous platforms. Over 4,500 years of history and a collection of 20th-century celebrity shoes are reflected in the semi-permanent exhibition, All About Shoes. Three other galleries feature special exhibitions.
The Bata Shoe Museum, 327 Bloor Street West/Toronto
www.batashoemuseum.ca
