The History Of Shoes

Shoes. I love shoes. But do we ever stop to consider the history behind them?
There is so much to learn about the shoes you are wearing right now! Of course I cant go through all the histories of every kind of shoe, but I’ll tell you about my favorites.

One of my favorite pairs of shoes and the shoes I get the most compliments on are my modern style spectator shoes. The history of the spectator I personally thinks is pretty interesting, being made popular by a duke, WOW!! That’s a pretty cool and fashionable shoe. The spectator shoe was claimed designed by the famous boot maker John Lobb, as a cricket (a game similar to baseball, in England) shoe, in 1868. The spectator shoe is most notable for its two tone color, usually black and white, but other colors are common. The spectator is usually a wingtip shoe but can also be classified as a cap shoe and even loafers. They were most popular as dressy sport shoe, after the duke of Windsor adopted them. Spectators were most popular in the 1930’s and 40’s and lost some of their favor in the 60’s, but lo and behold made a come back in the 1990’s as retro. The spectator is one of my favorite shoe styles. To me this shoe says “I’m responsible but quirky and fun.” this shoe can be worn with so many different kinds of outfits, casual and dressy. it’s a very versatile and comfortable.

Then on the other side of the high heeled shoe spectrum is the stiletto heel. Even the name sounds dangerous. The stiletto heel is a long thin heel on woman’s shoe or boot. The stiletto heel is named after the stiletto dagger. (ooh, spooky) the phrase was first mentioned in the 1930’s. stilettos shorter than two inches are called kitten heels. Now, not all long slender heels get the honor of being a stiletto. The original stiletto heel of the very early 1960’s were no more than five millimeters in diameter(slightly thinner than your pinky finger.), for most of their length and sometimes flared at the tip . Sadly in the late 60’s the stiletto heel was pretty hard to find, because of the way the heels were mass produced. Although there were some plastic heels with metal tubes inside that imitate the stiletto they will never be able to match the slender line or strength of the metal stemmed stiletto heel. It was only a matter of time till popular demand brought it back. The stiletto heel is probably the heel that does the most for your legs, although they are very tiring to wear for any extended period of time.

Then there is the ever trusty sneaker. Sneakers are probably the shoes with the longest history, way back in the late 18th century people wore plimsolls, but they were probably pretty uncomfortable seeing as there wasn’t even a right or left shoe. Around 1892 a US rubber company came up with a more comfortable rubber sneaker with a canvas top. They called them “Keds”. when 1917 rolled around they began to be mass produced. They got the name sneakers because they were so quiet, someone wearing they could easily sneak up on someone else. Since then there have been tons of different kinds of sneakers made for all different types of activities. It’s interesting to imagine that such a universal shoe can started out as a humble piece of rubber with canvas fabric on the top.

We wear shoes with every outfit that we have in our closet, and probably don’t think about the wide history that every shoe holds. It’s like a mystery on our feet.