THE HISTORY OF SHOES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20786, 3 August 1929, Page 20

THE HISTORY OF SHOES.

.....By-Mary-Fcldwick. ...■ ■.;lt ; ;js.% generally admitted fact that the/modern\ vbm’an’s shoe’s are frequently much more expensive than the costume witHwhicli; theyare worn. The brilliant'.'ahd ‘‘costly examples of the. shoe • manufacturer's art % of ’ to-day are making 1 V brave • bid; ta rival f the superbly ■ clad 1 feet of our ancestors.. Unless, of cpirrse/ we accept those dim and distant ageSj/when our primitive forefathers first discoveredhow Inconvenient it was to ha . barefoot, and- this- brings us -to the - interesting question of. who first invented : shoes. ■ A, learned authority once; said he traced this art to Adam, butv be that ;,is it may, l we . can easily ascertain-* that - the most ancient foot protestor -was ■ the,:, sandal, consisting of a^,sole -attached’ by leathern thongs 'to the.foot;, the Egyptians wore, sandals of papyrus and.alsp of palm,leaves. The sandals, of . the women, and the upper classes were turned up at the toe and richly ornamented; .while upon, the inner sole the . figure’ of a . slave or an enemy was often,, painted. to signify that they must. he trodden underfoot. .The ■ ancient Greeks .and 'Romans in*, dplged their fancy-io the . most extravagant and colourful forms. Amongst them, as well, as the Egyptians, the foot■n'edr denoted/the wearer’s rank. .Slaves ■ went| barefoot, the , Roman Emperor, wore naif-boots, adorned with. embroidered, eagles, and enriched with gold' and'’precious .stones. The ladies, alsb, Were allowed jewelled shoes, but carried the;fashion’to such extravagance that at last it was forbidden. The Roman soldiers, landed in Britain, wore shoes studded with downward-pointing spikes. .And as we know, our ancient British' forefathers, and their wives inclfided, resisted the invasion bravely, ■Wearing tough-shoes of cowhide. The shoes’- of the - 'early Saxons,’ both men and women, had soles of wood and uppers of leather, and right and left werfe -Ifi 'common' use in those days.’ 'Passing to the Plnntagenet period, we learn - that' the dandies : favoured the bizarre fashion of wearing differentcolpured“ hose for each leg, each shoe also being of a different colour,- while the--2ft long toes of the shoes were fastened to the knee with golden chains by' those who - could afford it. Ladies, of.-course, had to^deny.-themselves this luxury. In the spacious Tudor days broad-toed shoes appeared-having uppers of'puffed satin, i adorned with huge bejewelled roses’, "of : lace., ■ During the reign of James I chopines -were adopted-by the fashionable ladies. These ridiculous chopines, devised to increase the wearer’s height, were of wood covered with leather painted or gilt. The fair,wearer had to be assisted, when she walked, for fear she would fall. .-In the eighteenth century high rod heels And immense -buckles, which were embellished with diamonds, 1 became the vogue.: - Afterwards heels,became lower and lower, .and almost disappeared'for'a time. Once it. was said that shoemakers delighted to,- put ladies in the stocks, but in these, days the finest workmanship and elegance is 'consistent with comfort ,and ■ convenience. And now that the-.latest craze for reviving/the oldfashioned art-of patchwork, has descended from' our. hats to our feet, and that patchwork shoes of. Silk, satin,:, velvet, and leather intermingled in vivid colourings and freakish patterns are the vogue, we may shortly expect the most brilliant and expensive footwear that this twentieth century has ever seen.—Everylady’a Journal. ; ■