History of shoes
History of shoes
Footwear has more than one millennium history. Our ancestors were quickly adapted to the harsh reality, understood that to practice nudism is well only in greenhouse conditions, and figured to sew their own clothes and shoes from the furs. The historian Eric Trinakus from the private University of Washington in St Louis, Missouri, USA, came to the conclusion that the shoes appeared 26-30 thousand years ago in the West of Eurasia. He analyzed the features of the skeletons of people living there in the middle and late Paleolithic era paying attention to the little finger of the foot, he noticed that the little finger was getting weaker, and then the shape of the foot began to shift. The whole point was in shoes, the scientist decided.
It is worth noting that the history of footwear is very important not only for the overall development of man, his reviews, but also for analyzing the current situation in the footwear market. According to many people the shoes of primitive settlers is returning. There are many models similar to the shoes worn by ancient people. Researchers believe that the first time in the history of mankind shoes constituted a kind of bear fur socks, insulated from the inside with dry grass. The thing is these are just guesses: to this day fur shoes with insoles of hay have not survived. And, have not you accidentally seen a similar thing in fashionable boutiques, but of course without grass?
Shared data on what kinds of shoes were worn in ancient Egypt is more reliable: sandals made of palm leaves or papyruses were attached to the foot with leather straps. Innate Egyptians adorned straps with exquisite paintings and precious stones. And this time in the production of shoes was never lost. So what? Is the history of shoes coming back?
Except sandals, equipped with back cover to protect the heel, Assyrians wore high boots that looked like the high boots in our days.
The ancient Jews wore shoes made of leather, wool, cane and wood. The traditions prescribed to take off your shoes in the presence of the guest to whom hosts wanted to express their special respect.
In ancient Greece, except for simple sandals Greeks were able to sew half-boots, lace-up boots, which stressed the slenderness of the legs and enjoyed great demand among women and endromisy which are boots without socks. But the real revolution was the invention of the Greek pair of shoes when the right and left of the boots are sewn on different templates. To such an obvious, in our present view idea humanity went many centuries. They say this discovery was contributed by the courtesans. In their order cobblers egged nailed shoes so that it left traces in the sand with the words “Follow me”.
Among the Romans there were two kinds of shoes: calceus -shoes, covering the entire leg and being tied with ribbon or lace in front or with a lace and solea – sandals which cover only the sole of the foot and attaching to the foot with straps. To appear in public places in an open shoe was considered a mauves ton. Women shoes were mostly white, men shoes were black. In special occasions the Romans wore purple or scarlet shoes, decorated with embroidery and pearls. Patricians fastened their shoes with four belts, one of and the plebeians with one belt.
Scythian tribes, according to one of the hypotheses – the ancestors of the Eastern Slavs, preferred soft high-heeled boots, which they tucked into pants. These boots that looked like leather stockings stretched the leg with belt covering the foot and ankle. Under boots Scythians wore long felt stockings sewn with felt soles. Stripes with ornaments of colored patches are often sewn along the upper edge of stocking. Over the stocking boots with soft leather-head were stretched, with tops up to the knees – so you could see the ornamented top of the stockings. Tops of the boots were mosaic: they were sewn of alternating squares of fur and leather (or fur and colored felt). As a result, shoes looked so peculiar, that the ancients called it Scythian.
Women shoes of Scythian peoples were boots that were usually made of red thin leather and were richly ornamented. At the junction of the head with tops a strip of red wool braid was sewed, decorated with leather appliqués. Soles have also been originally decorated and – leather, beads, sinew thread were used for the decoration. The rich finish of the soles of Scythian shoes especially surprises the historians: such ornaments were only customary while sitting with folded legs with heels outwards as it was accepted among the steppe peoples of Asia.
Medieval Europe rejected the classic sandals, preferring pretentious shoes with long, upturned noses, which, in the fashion of the time, were decorated with bells. French King Philip IV even issued a special law under which all gentlefolk were supposed to wear only these shoes. In the fourteenth century the length of the shoes reflected the nobility of its owner: the ordinary nobles were allowed to buy shoes for a half, and barons – for two, princes were allowed three inches more than the true size of the feet was. In order not to stumble, the princes often tied the curved tip of the shoes to the leg with a string.
Loading ...
