Soft Shoe Shuffle

How many pairs of shoes do you own? Seriously, do you actually know? I have a good few pairs tucked away, some dusty and neglected that don’t fit, and a few favourites well-worn and frequently used. Some people have hundreds. Any made from bark? Probably not, but the earliest known shoes are sagebrush bark sandals dating from approximately 7000 or 8000 BC, found in the Fort Rock Cave in Oregon in 1938. Why were they worn? Warmth or comfort? Turns out some of the early designs were very simple, often mere ‘foot bags’ of leather to protect the feet from rocks, debris, and cold.

During the Kassite period in Mesopotamia, soft shoes were introduced by mountain people on the border of Iran, who ruled Babylonia during that time. This first type of shoe was a simple wraparound of leather, with the basic construction of a moccasin, held together on the foot with rawhide lacings.

Humans have probably been wearing shoes of some sort for at least 40,000 years. Analysis of skeletons from Tiankyuan Cave in China showed changes in toe bones potentially associated with decreasing the strain on the forefoot from not walking barefoot.

Shoes did not develop all at one time and were probably created by multiple groups based on their specific environments and needs. Despite the early development of shoe wear, many ancient civilizations, including the Greeks, did not routinely use shoes, with Alexander the Great conquering the world with barefoot armies, and the Romans were the first to design separate shoes for the right and left foot, issuing these to their soldiers. Generally, shoes were made at home or by a cobbler as time went on.

Cobblers. Artisans who make shoes by hand are called cobblers, but the term ‘cobbler’ was originally used somewhat rudely back in the 18^th century, to indicate that someone did not know their craft - and it became a term for those who repaired shoes but did not know enough to make them. I would guess we have all used the term ‘cobbled together’ to mean a slapdash way of putting something together, without realising its origins.

What are modern shoes made of? Modern-day shoes vary – good ones are handmade leather, even the soles, and for thousands of years, shoes were crafted by hand out of natural materials, even plaited papyrus leaves. While it's still possible to find handcrafted shoes, they tend to be expensive. The majority are made from a dizzying array of plastic, cloth, and rubber. Thanks to technology, you'll also find advanced materials in many shoes, including ethylene vinyl acetate, polyurethane foam, and gel or liquid silicone.

Shoe styles. Some outrageous styles in shoes have come and gone, and some have gone full circle and come back again! Pointy-toed shoes were all the rage in medieval times, with toes that curled back on themselves – and I am old enough to remember modern-day pointed shoes, staggering around in ‘winkle-pickers’, where we stuffed the toes with cotton wool and stuck drawing pins in the sole of the point to prevent them wearing too much. The name ‘winkle picker’ originated in England, where periwinkle snails, or winkles, were a popular seaside snack eaten using a pin or other pointed object to extract the soft parts from the shells, hence the phrase: ‘winkle something out’. Most shoes in olden times were flat, but today towering heels are a fashion thing, designed to make the legs to appear longer, the wearer appear taller, and accentuate the calf muscle (and ultimately make the feet hurt!)

Shoe Sizing. This still bugs me - why can’t sizing be standardised across the world? American sizes are different from English ones and both are different to European sizes. Take a look at these: 6 (US), 5 (UK), 38 (Europe), 5 (Australia), 39 (China) and 23.5 (Japan). And that’s just one of the ladies’ sizing’s.

Ultimately nowadays, there’s a pair for every occasion – to make an impression, boost your confidence, protect your feet, get you through muddy situations, or even give you that little extra you need to win a race.

Marilyn writes regularly for The Portugal News, and has lived in the Algarve for some years. A dog-lover, she has lived in Ireland, UK, Bermuda and the Isle of Man. 

Marilyn Sheridan