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My ongoing hunt for the perfect bridal shoe is, admittedly, egocentric and totally obsessive. To relieve my guilt for putting so much weight on my shoes, I started researching traditions, superstititions, and the symbolism of shoes in weddings to help justify my quest. So after a little hunting, here are a few varied but fun factoids for today’s friday shoe history corner which I was surprised to read.

• Shoes tied to the back of the newlyweds’ car has evolved from the Tudor custom where guests would throw shoes at the newlywed couple. It was considered lucky if they or their carriage were hit. The shoes were later replaced with tin cans because guests were tired of going home with only one shoe and because the noise from the tins was believed to ward off evil. ¹

• The custom of the bride tossing her bouquet over the shoulder was originally performed by throwing one of her shoes over her shoulder. ² - I’m sure modern day wedding guests are delighted that this tradition is no longer upheld. Can you imagine the odors? 

• In Hungary, the groom drinks a toast to his bride out of her wedding slipper.³ - So this is why I need new shoes! I wouldn’t want my fiancee to drink out of dirty old shoes.

• In ancient Egypt, the bride’s father gave the groom her sandal as a symbolic gesture, indicating she now belonged to him and to symbolize the passing of responsibility for the daughter to her new husband.⁴

• In ancient China, brides wore lotus shoes which were decorated with instructions on how to consummate the marriage. ⁴

• In Greek weddings, the names of all the bridesmaids are written on the sole of the shoe.  The names of those rubbed off at the end of the night would eventually get married.  Those whose names were left were, well screwed. ⁵

Sources:

¹ Bed Bath and Beyond: Bridal Facts and Fun Trivia
² Wedding Customs and Superstitions
³ The Information Please Girls’ Almanac: Shoes as Symbols
⁴ Bridal.com.au: Bridal Shoes
⁵ Big Fat Greek Wedding: The Bridal Shoe

There now. I feel my shoe hunting is now (somewhat) more justified.

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From the  Bata Shoe Museum: “The famous shoemaker Jean-Louis François Pinet (1817-1897) created this intricately embroidered boot. Part of his fame rested on the “Pinet” heels he designed; a somewhat thinner and less splayed version of the popular “Louis” heel. His beautifully constructed and elaborately decorated boots peeked out from under the skirts of the best-dressed women in the Western world.”

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This Shoe History etymology factoid was first told to me by Paul, the designer of London Underground Shoes. Thanks Paul!

When I think of clogs, images of women dancing in wooden shoes or these Victor and Rolf clogs come to mind.  However, I was recently tickled to learn that clogs have a deeper history and potentially helped coin another term in our language.

The story dates back to the Industrial Revolution. During this time, power machines were brought in replace artisans.  Workers who were angry and worried that their occupations were being threatened, would toss their clogs (which in French are called sabots)  into the machinery to clog and break them.  Effectively they were engaging in industrial sabotage.

Still another story, from Wikipedia, is that the word sabotage  “comes from the slang name for people living in rural areas who wore wooden shoes after city dwellers had begun wearing leather shoes; when employers wanted strikebreakers they would import ’sabots’/rural workers to replace the strikers. Not used to machine-driven labor the ’sabots’ worked poorly and slowly. The strikers would be called back to work (with demands won) and, could win demands on the job by working like their country cousins - the sabots.”

Authentic wooden clogs from Holland; Via StockPhotography

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Sometimes Friday Shoe History Corner includes shoes that are for sale to any and all comers. But in many of those cases (like Mrs. Henry Ford’s riding boots here), the prices aren’t easy to swallow.

Well, if you dream of owning a pair of historically-styled shoes, your day may just have arrived.

Fugawee is a company that makes custom shoes for men, women, and children that range in period from the French and Indian War to the Civil War (roughly mid-18th century to mid-19th century, if you’re fuzzy on the dates).

They use historically accurate lasts (some of which come in lefts and rights, some of which come straight… ergonomic design came about later) to make shoes that are high quality replicas suitable for any of your period footwear cravings.

Want a pretty Civil War/Victorian era ladies boot? Look no further than the Victoria with its pretty stitching details.

And it’s only about $80! For a leather boot!

In the mood to style yourself like The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere? Then these sleek riding boots are just the ticket (about $250).

I’m not a fan of the boots-over-jeans look, but I have to admit, these would look pretty hot with a modern outfit or a historical reenacting one.

Or if you want to play dress up like a well-to-do lady, then check out the options for brocaded shoes, where you choose your last and send in your own fabric (and $180, which is still pretty damn cheap for made-to-order shoes), and they’ll send you back a shoe like the courtly Jennifer.

The website is a bit difficult to navigate, but the merchandise seems to be high quality indeed, and even their most expensive pairs are a hell of a lot cheaper than shelling out for actual vintage shoes. And, of course, these you could actually wear!

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Van Gogh often painted shoes, especially old shoes, which to him symbolized the whole universe of the wearer–his pains, sorrows, hard labor, tiredness at the end of the day.

Vincent Van Gogh. Old Shoes. July-September 1886.

Vincent Van Gogh. Three Pairs of Old Shoes. 1887.

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