FASHION IN FOOTWEAR

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22141, 21 June 1935, Page 13

FASHION IN FOOTWEAR

TRIUMPH OF THE SHOE THE DISAPPEARING BOOT CHANGES IN 30 YEARS Everyone knows that shoes are much more fashionable than boots, but it is probably only those within the trade who realise how complete the change in custom has become. One still speaks of "bootmakers" and "boot shops," but that is really a misnomer carried over from the days when boots were the almost universal wear both for men and women. The manager of a large Auckland warehouse estimates that he sells 100 pairs of men's shoes for every one of boots.

About 30 years ago the movement among women f6r shoes in preference to boots first began to make itself felt. Prior to that Jong, soft uppers, with innumerable buttons, had to be adjusted by the strenuous use of a buttonhook, and shoes were restricted to use only for social evening wear. Even at the close of the war many women's boots were being sold, hut in 1919 their end came quite suddenly. The fashion has not returned. One might search the city streets for weeks now without seeing a pair of women's boots.

Men followed the women's lead in footwear much later. A.bout 15 years ago their trend toward shoes began to be marked, and the rout of the old-fashioned men's boot, as far as city wear is concerned, has been complete. Even boys, and country lads, as well as town boys, are rarely to be seen in anything except shoes. Of course, workmen's strong boots are still used in large quantities by outdoor labourers, and players of football and hockey have yet to be converted to the use of the neat shoe in their games, while the military boot still has its uses, but for normal city wear inquiries for boots are confined almost entirely to elderly men who are loth to abandon a lifetime's custom, and to some with weak ankles, who are convinced that the boot gives them some degree of support.

What is the reason for so sweeping a change? Men in the trade will tell you without hesitation that the shoe has triumphed because it is much more hygienic, especially in a warm climate, where it is healthy and desirable to have free passage of air about the foot. The lightness of shoes is also in their favour. Certainly price does not enter into it, for in this shoes cannot claim any advantage over their rivals. One factor that undoubtedly has bad an important bearing on the change has been the vast improvement in streets and footpaths. Shoes had little chance so long as wading through mud was a daily necessity. Yet, when all explanations are considered, probably the most complete one is summed up in the one word "fashion." The change of fashion m this case has been world-wide. Very soon even those who still maintain that boots are much more comfortable and healthy will have to submit to adopting shoes, for the simple reason that there will be nothing else for them to wear.