I would like to continue my excursion into the history of footwear. The history of the design of shoes is so versatile that you can write about it endlessly. Let's find out the most important moments.
The history of footwear design is not limited to modern achievements. Many newfangled finds are only improved achievements of masters of antiquity. Without ancient prototypes, it is impossible to imagine modern shoe art. We already know about the significant discoveries of the Egyptians, Assyrians, Jews and Greeks. Let's continue to get acquainted with the achievements of ancient masters.
In ancient Rome, the main were two types of shoes: calceus and solea. The first - a pair of shoes that completely closed the leg and tied in front with ribbons. Solea - a kind of sandals, which protected only the foot, and fastened to the foot with straps. There were different shoes for different classes. There was a special footwear for the nobility, plebeians, philosophers. Special footwear for various purposes was also made: for visiting the Senate, for visiting temples, for everyday wearing. Know under the shoes worn special socks-gloves (so that today's fashionable socks with fingers is not a modern invention). After some time, the Roman nobles liked Greek sandals. Specifically, improvements were made. There were decorations in the form of lion's muzzles, embroidery, as well as chains, metal wreaths and other ornaments. Chaste women wore only closed shoes. But the courtesans demonstrated the beauty of their legs, emphasizing it with elegant open sandals. Shoes for men were traditionally black. But the women wore white. In especially solemn moments of life, the ancient Romans wore red shoes. This elegant footwear was decorated with intricate embroidery and pearls. The number of straps with which the shoes were fastened was also different. So patricians fastened their shoes with four straps, and plebeians only one.
The story of the design of the Scythian shoes was quite different. They preferred boots, which were made of leather, fur and felt. Such boots clasped the leg like a stocking, fastened with straps that gripped an ankle and a foot. Under the boots were worn special felt stockings, to which soles were sewn. For decoration on the top edge, stripe strips with ornamentation or simply colored scraps were sewn. Boots were worn over the stockings, and the pants were tucked into the stockings so that the ornament could be seen. The head of boots was traditionally made of soft leather. But the bootlegs were very interesting, not eccentric, but were sewn from the squares of fur and leather, or fur and colorful felt. Scythian women wore half boots, most often red. Women's boots were decorated much richer and brighter than men's. The joint of the bootleg and the head of the boot was marked with a bright red woolen braid, which, in turn, had applications of leather. Without decoration, even the sole did not get by. For this, a tendon thread, skin and even beads were used. And the sole was decorated not in vain. After all, the steppe peoples of Asia have the custom of sitting, setting their feet in a certain way, so that the soles are in sight.
Further development of the history of footwear design was in Medieval Europe. Europeans abandoned traditional sandals. They chose more pretentious shoes - shoes with long, curved up noses. There was a time when it was considered very fashionable to decorate the long noses of shoes with bells or bells. In those days, shoes became not just a piece of clothing, but a real family talisman. When building a new house, the shoe must have become embedded in its wall. Even today such findings are frequent.
The history of footwear design, as well as the history of footwear creation is multilateral. Do not just talk about all the features and design findings in one article. So the continuation follows ...