Nine of us gathered on Wednesday 4 Feb, plus two on Zoom, and enjoyed a very pleasant evening hearing all about shoes.
Our host gave us a talk on footwear through the ages, highlighting its function as protection, status and style.
The story starts forty thousand years ago with the departure from barefoot walking. This led to changes in toe bones.
The talk was illustrated with pictures of examples from the V&A.
First shoes were woven from sage brush bark, later quilted hemp from China. Romans used cork soles.
The oldest leather shoes were five thousand years ago.
Until 1830s both shoes were straight, no left and right difference.
High heels were originally for riding, in the Persian military. Then they became status for noblemen only.
Gender shifted from men to women to highlight dainty toes under long dresses.
1970s saw the rise of sports shoes with Converse for basketball, Adidas soccer, Nike running.
We talked about foot binding which was banned only in 1911.
There were pattens and chopines to protect from wet and dirty streets, the latter like walking on stilts.
Wellington boots were originally leather, close-fitting calf skin. The first rubberised ones came in 1850s.
The Hunter green ones arrived with Kate Moss at Glastonbury 2008.
We talked about the mixed fortunes of Clarks, the twentieth century leading English manufacture, which re-invented itself ten years ago.
We went on to types of shoe –
– men’s buckled shoes, popular after the French Revolution
– elastic sided boots from 1837
– deck/boat shoes with grooves cut in the sole to prevent slippage on wet boards
– wedges
– Doc Martens
– brothel-creepers, teddy boys
– winkle pickers, Mods
– desert boots
– loafers
– stilettos in 1950s (to balance the figure, New Look after WWII)
– Birkenstocks – arch-supporting insoles moulded into soles
– nude-colour court shoes
Our host shared her love of shoes, illustrated with delightful examples of her own.
First were her daughter’s first shoes which she had had coppered as a momento. They shone – and weighed heavily!
At this point I got carried away just enjoying the shoes – very stylish and attractive, all of them.
She also had an example of a barefoot shoe – currently in vogue in a return to our roots.
Others shared some favourite shoes –
– two pairs of Doc Martens sandals which have gone all over the world and are very hard-wearing
– sandals from Skechers and Sundaes
Some expressed that “comfort’ is now paramount!
Thank you very much to our host for a thoroughly delightful and personal evening and for hosting us so well.
Thanks to all who came, and hopefully enjoyed it too.