History of Shoes

A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot while doing various activities. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture to culture, with appearance originally being tied to function. Additionally fashion has often dictated many design elements, such as whether shoes have very high heels or flat ones. Contemporary footwear varies widely in style, complexity and cost. Basic sandals may consist of only a thin sole and simple strap. High fashion shoes may be made of very expensive materials in complex construction and sell for thousands of dollars a pair. Other shoes are for very specific purposes, such as boots specially designed for mountaineering or skiing.

Shoes have traditionally been made from leather, wood or canvas, but are increasingly made from rubber, plastics, and other petrochemical-derived materials.
Until recent years, shoes were not worn by most of the world's population—largely because they could not afford them. Only with the advent of mass production, making shoes available very cheaply, has shoe-wearing become predominant.

The foot contains more bones than any other single part of the body. Though it has evolved over hundreds of thousands of years in relation to vastly varied terrain and climate conditions, the foot is still vulnerable to environmental hazards such as sharp rocks and hot ground, which shoes can protect against.

In the Beginning

Shoes were one of the first items man learned to make.  When traversing rough, rocky terrain, humans quickly realized the importance of finding a way to protect their feet.  Historical records of Chinese, Egyptians and other early civilizations all show mention of shoes.  The Bible also has frequent references to footwear.  Even fables and fairy tales passed down over the centuries were often based on shoes, including 'Cinderella', 'Puss in Boots', 'Mercury's Winged Sandals', and many others.

The earliest people wore sock-like coverings on their feet.  The first shoes with a rigid sole, a sandal style, were created by early Egyptians.  Not unlike today, the quality of the shoes worn reflected the status of the wearer.  Royalty wore sandals with a toe that extended upward in a spiral while lesser beings wore plain-toed sandals.  Slaves, unfortunately, were not allowed to wear shoes at all and had to go barefoot.
It was the Greeks who made shoemaking more of an art form.  They also introduced the world to heeled shoes.

The next advance in shoemaking was what is known as turned shoes, that is shoes that had the sole and upper sewn together and were then turned inside out to hide the stitching.  During the Medieval era, pointed shoes became a fashion craze, but it soon got out of hand.  Many governments passed laws that restricted shoes from having toes that extended more than two inches from the end of a person's foot. 

Other shoe extremes followed, including square toed shoes and extremely wide shoes known as bear claws. 
Another outlandish foot fashion was elevated shoes that would raise women as far as two feet off the ground.  So many women fell and were injured, laws were again passed to restrict the impractical shoes.

Men's heels became popular for the elite in the 17th and 18th centuries until the French Revolution.  Heel heights returned to normal levels after that as a symbol of equality. 

In the 1800s North America saw the beginnings of a simple form of mechanical shoemaking.  This made it easier to make shoes to fit either the right or left foot.   In fact, it has now been nearly 1900 years since right and left shoes began to be differentiated, but it was difficult to produce them before the industrialized era began.

During the late 1800s, basketball became a popular sport and brought about the invention of one of the all-time favorite shoes ever produced - the sneaker.

Next time you look at the huge variety of styles of footwear available today, you might want to stop and think about what our ancestors wore on their feet.  It will make you grateful that you didn't have to walk a mile in their shoes.

While you were choosing which of your many shoes you will wear, have you ever stopped to wonder about the history of shoes?  When did people start wearing them?  What were they originally made from?  How did they become the all-important fashion accessory they are today?  Books could be written about this fascinating topic, but here is just a brief look at the history of shoes.