Shoe Art & Fashion - Book

Shoes Fashion & Fantasy (Paperback)

by Colin McDowell

For the shoe-crazed. The tale of how the shoe evolved into today's status symbol. Fine color illustrations.

Customer Reviews

Review: This book reviews the history of shoes from ancient times to the present, concentrating most heavily on "western" styles. The text is quite substantial and informative from a writer and a publisher with good reputations. It is lavishly illustrated in both color and black & white with photographs of shoes and reproductions of historic illustrations. As compared with catalogs and chiefly pictorial collections, it has fewer shoes and more context illustrating social attitudes and people wearing shoes and much more information. There are sections on some of the most famous contemporary designers.

Review: I'm mad for Colin McDowell who must be the patron saint of fashion information professionals! This book has got it all, great photos, shoe sketches, acurate history and even shoe fantasy. I love to use this book to show our students that mules are not a twentieth century invention by Candies. Please take heed this is not a weekend reader for it contains quite a bit of text but, it is great to refer to for research and for those of us who can't get enough information about shoes. If you are interested in shoe design please check out the Ferragamo section; pure candy for the eyes.

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Take Care of Your Feet - Foot Health Book

Foot Reflexology: A Visual Guide For Self-Treatment (Paperback)
by Jurgen Jora

We were introduced to this book by a guest speaker at ShoeSchool. Even if you don't subscribe to "reflexology"- this is a fine foot care / good health reference. Outstanding illustrations.

Book Description
The healing and rejuvenating art of foot reflexology works on the principle that every part of the body in connected to the soles of the feet by nerve pathways and subtle energy channels. By massaging the foot, you can stimulate these connections, bringing soothing relief to the corresponding body part, whether the sinuses, back and neck, lungs, stomach, shoulder, hip, or other area of stiffness or pain. Conversely, massaging points on your hand is an effective way to treat foot injuries.A centuries-old form of medicine that has become one of today's most accepted healing arts, foot reflexology can help alleviate a broad range of acute and chronic health problems, including asthma, hypertension, headaches, and kidney trouble, as well as help ensure general well-being and relaxation. Simple, effective, and completely safe, reflexology massages are a wholly beneficial alternative to traditional medical methods, and a valuable skill to complement conventional treatments.this easy-to-use guide enables you to perform healing foot massage in your own home-on yourself or with the help of a friend. Forty-six unique, full-color diagrams show exactly where to find the foot's various reflex zones that contain important pain centers, and the clearly written text explains exactly how to perform massages that deliver immediate, satisfying relief.

Customer Review
I am a massage therapist and I sell this book to many of my clients. Everyone loves it! Jora illustrates the target areas in the body within the foot itself(got it)? Get it, you won't regret it; a masterful book from a renouned reflexologist. This one should be in everyone's library.

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A Century of Shoes - Shoes History Book

A Century of Shoes: Icons of Style in the 20th Century

by Angela Pattison, Nigel Cawthorne

Required feasting for the shoe-obsessed! A detailed look back at the 20th Century from a fascinating "shoepoint"- every key shoe style & designer captured in text and glorious photographs.

Book Description
A Century of Shoes features a feast of shoes from throughout the 20th century. Every imaginable shoe is here--photographed in full color and accompanied with a vignette of soulful information. Here are loafers, winklepickers, stilettos, platform shoes, Dr. Martens, Wellington boots, and sandals--some are practical, others purely fashionable. Shoes were first recognized as a fashion accessory in 1919, when Vogue magazine ran a story entitled "New Shoes for Cinderella." Shoes and fashion were now inextricably linked--and the next few decades witnessed an explosion of new styles and new designers. The book previews the most famous fashion innovators--Andrea Pfister, with his unique brand of fun but feminine designs; Roger Vivier, who reinvented the court shoe; and Joan Halpern, who created fashionable but comfortable women's shoes. Of course, in the latter part of the 20th century it is the sports shoe that has become a fundamental fashion statement for the younger generation. The phenomenal rise of Nike and other manufacturers makes for a fascinating read.

This pictorial history of the last century of footwear explores the function and evolution of the shoe in all its glory. From elegant ankle boots, Perugia pumps, and David Evins' shoes for the stars, to Patrick Cox "wannabe" loafers and Nike sneakers. Includes over 250 color photographs.

Customer Review

Great book, but slowly becoming out of date. Great pictures. Divided into sections which include stillettos and loafers. The more "modern" shoes featured are definitely more interesting. Good review of the shoes of last century, not much insight into future design although the last two pages are dedicated to this topic.

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About Footwear - Shoes History Book

Footwear: La Calzatura

by Eugenia Girotti

This wonderful book is part of the "Bella Cosa" (beautiful things) library series. Informative text and fine photos put this in the "must-have" category.

Book Description

Sandals, shoes, boots, and slippers at their most exotic and beautiful fill this small compendium. Featuring over 100 full-color photographs, this volume divides the footwear by historical period, and a brief description of the function and aesthetics that inspired the design introduces each segment. The fascinating examples, including a pair of Venetian clogs on stilts over 20 inches high, a Japanese gaming shoe with the sole mounted onto a spiral spring, and the Pope's ruby-red slippers, are accompanied by descriptive captions.

Customer Review

Makes you realize how well crafted shoes have been for hundreds of years.

Place to order this book (from Amazon.com)

Tips On Athletic Shoe Selection

Athletic Shoes : Characteristics
The function of a running shoe is to protect the foot from the stresses of running, while permitting athlete to achieve his maximum potential. While in some parts of the world athletes run and participate in sports barefooted, most of us require and benefit from the use of sport specific shoes. The forces and motions that occur in different sports vary greatly. Because of these differences it is important that active participation in varied sports will require varied shoes. A simple example of why this is so can be demonstrated by a brief contrast of the sports of running and tennis. Tennis and other raquet sports require much side-to-side motion and the shoe must provide lateral stability. The shoes appropriate for raquet sports usually do not have any heel elevation. If the shoe is unstable when the athlete is moving to one side to return a ball, the likelihood is great that they may suffer an ankle sprain. Recreational running on the other hand, usually occurs in a straight line. Lateral stability is not as important. These shoes usually have slight heel elevation which will reduce stress on the achilles tendon, but slightly reduce the lateral stability of the ankle. Running shoes also have a larger toe box, more shock absorption, and better pronation control than tennis shoes. Interestingly enough, many of the so-called walking shoes have characteristics that are more similar to tennis shoes than to running shoes. Walking and running both occur in a straight line and the similar requirements of these activities suggest that one would be better off using running shoes for walking, rather than a shoe that resembles a tennis shoe. Unless, of course, you walk down the street practicing your backhand returns.

Long distance runners usually contact the ground on their heels. Sprinters have forefoot contact. Middle distance runners vary and may have forefoot, midfoot or heel contact.

Flaws To Avoid In "Walking Shoes"

Over the past few years walking shoes from many companies have come to resemble running shoes more then tennis shoes. This bodes well for those who select "walking shoes" for walking rather then using running shoes for walking. New Balance and Saucony among others have some very well designed walking shoes. With that said, yes, you may still use running shoes for walking.

Some Sport Walking Shoes, however, are not well designed. The usually observed flaws are:

• Lack of forefoot cushioning in comparison with running shoes
• Flexibility in incorrect location - usually too proximal
• Lack of room in forefoot
• Inadequate support in rearfoot
• Lack of heel lift
• Skimping on quality of materials

by Stephen M. Pribut, DPM

A LADY’S SHOE : EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

ONE of a pair of lady’s shoes of graceful shape, made of silk brocade, with a pattern of flowers and leaves in various colours, pink, blue, green and gold. The latchets are wide, and were intended to be fastened across the instep flaps with buckles. The heels, covered with brocade, are 2¾ inches high, and the toes are extremely pointed. The shoes are lined with white kid leather, except the instep flap, and that has a lining of pale pink ribbed silk. They are thus described by their owner: “These shoes belonged to my maternal great-great-grandmother, Mrs. Cook, of the Manor House, Findern, Derbyshire. The date would be about 1720.” The property of Mrs. C. M. Prickett.

COMBINED SHOE AND CLOG

ONE of a pair of very elegant shoes and clogs combined, known also as double-soled shoes, made of white kid leather, which appears to have been covered with cream silk damask. The insteps and toes richly embroidered with pale pink or salmon- coloured silk are powdered with seed pearls; the heels retain traces of pink brocade; the latchets are made for tying, and seem from the fragments remaining to have had a fringe and ruching of pearly grey silk, which divided the shoe across the instep, while below the latchets on the instep flap four holes are punched at regular distances probably as a means of affixing a rosette or bow of ribbon. The heels taper downwards and are 2½ inches high, gaining an additional ½ inch by the thickness of the flat heel of the clog, which with the sole, also flat, is of brown leather. The toes, measuring inches across, are flat and square. The total length of the clogs is 10½ inches, the heels being 1¾ inches wide; though the colours of the brocade are faded, the shoes in other respects are in good condition.
Examples of these combined shoes and clogs are to be found in Van Dyck’s portrait pictures.
A similar shoe is in the museum at Northampton, and the Cluny Museum, Paris, has also a specimen of this peculiar foot-gear. Their date is probably of the first half of the seventeenth century.
In the collection of Mrs. Seymour Lucas.

Shoe Hollywood Stories - Celebrity Shoes

As sure as night follows day, the ultimate sexy shoe styles that celebrities are wearing on their feet, (APMA) will be purchased and worn by everyday fashion mavens tomorrow. But sporting the hottest shoe fashion often requires more than just a monetary sacrifice, as evidenced by a recent survey conducted by the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) stating that 82% of women say they are willing to sacrifice the health of their feet for fashion.

Celebrity
Cameron Diaz : (born August 30, 1972) is an American actress and former fashion model, She then regained mainstream success with My Best Friend's Wedding and There's Something About Mary, and won critical acclaim for Being John Malkovich, which earned her Best Supporting Actress nominations at the Golden Globes, the BAFTA Awards and the SAG Awards. Diaz has also starred in the hit adaptation of Charlie's Angels and its sequel, and she voiced a lead character in Shrek and its sequel, for which she earned $10 million. In 2001, she won nominations for Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Globes, the SAG Awards and the AFI Awards for Vanilla Sky. For Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, she became the second actress (after Julia Roberts) to earn $20 million for a role; the film underperformed at the box office.


Shoe Style
Flip-flops, Toe Ring Flats


Negative Impact on Foot Health By Causing

• Irritation between toes where strap fits
• Callus and dead skin build-up around heels
• Twisting of foot

Why ?

• Materials rubs skin between toes
• The edge of a backless shoe rubs against heel, creating friction that eventually leads to a callus
• Lack support and shock absorption

Solution

• Choose flip-flops made of natural material such as soft, supple leather
• Ensure shoe fits properly and foot doesn’t hang off the edge

Celebrity Shoes: A Look at Hollywood’s Elite Feet

” says APMA member Dr. Jane Andersen. “Wearing fashionable shoes doesn’t have to result in pain and discomfort. If you understand how an ill-fitting shoe can negatively impact your foot, in the end you’ll be able to purchase shoes this season that are both sensible and stylish.”
The APMA suggests the following guidelines for helping women from Hollywood to New York overcome the foot problems associated by wearing some of this season’s latest styles.
Celebrity
Jennifer Aniston : is an American actress, born February 11, 1969, is an Emmy and Golden Globe-winning American film and television actress. best known for playing Rachel Green on the television sitcom Friends.









Spring/Summer Shoe Style
Sling-backs


Negative Impact on Foot Health By Causing

• Blisters
• Toe pain
• Twisting of heel and ankle

Why?

• Tight strap chafes back of heel and foot slides forward in shoe, cramping the front of the foot
• Heel moves from side to side causing significant instability

Solution

• Select well-fitting, low-heeled shoes with a wide or square toe box
• Consider only wearing sling backs when extended walking or standing is not expected

*Read more articles at APMA*

Podiatric Medicine: A Career That Fits Your Future

There are eight colleges of podiatric medicine in the United States. They all receive accreditation from the Council on Podiatric Medical Education, which is recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council on Higher Education Accreditation. All of the colleges grant the degree of Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (DPM). Students who are interested in attending a college of podiatric medicine can contact any of the colleges directly for more information.Approximately 95% of all first-year students entering the colleges of podiatric medicine possess baccalaureate degrees and about 10% have advanced degrees. As with institutions granting MD and DO degrees, the colleges may consider candidates who show unusual promise and have completed a minimum of 90 semester hours at accredited undergraduate colleges or universities. Applicants for admission are also required to complete the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) as a prerequisite, although some of the colleges accept the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) as well.Candidates for podiatric medical schools can apply online by contacting the American Association of Colleges of Podiatric Medicine at www.aacpm.org. In addition, the AACPM has a mentor network that matches students interested in podiatric medicine to podiatrists in their area.

For more information on careers inpodiatric medicine, contact any of the following:
American Podiatric Medical Association9312 Old Georgetown RoadBethesda, MD 20814-16211-800-ASK-APMAwww.apma.org

American Association ofColleges of Podiatric Medicine15850 Crabbs Branch Way, #320Rockville, MD 20855-26221-800-922-9266www.aacpm.org

Shoes history period between 1931—1940

Designers began to experiment with shoe fashion. Platform shoes made their first 20th century appearance in the late 1930s. Created by designers such as Salvatore Ferragamo and André Perugia, these platforms were created from wood, cork and other materials, due to a shortage of leather and a war ban on rubber.
Shoes were also cut higher in the vamp, making them look "chubbier." Sandals were increasingly popular, reflected in strappy evening shoes with open toes revealing sheer, silk hose. Men were beginning to wear more spectator loafers and fewer boots. Women, seeking sensible, low-heeled footwear, mimicked the look.

Puma Extends Deal with African Team

NEW YORK (December 8, 2006) - Puma and the Cameroon Football Association have entered into a long-term extension of their partnership.
The partnership, which dates back to 1997, involves the Indomitable Lions and all of its associated teams, including the Men’s A, B, U21, U19, Youth and Futsal national teams, as well as Women’s A, U21 and Youth national teams. As part of the deal, Herzogenaurach, Germany-based Puma will be the official supplier of the teams beyond the 2010 World Cup, which will be held in South Africa.
The team has seen marked success in recent years, earning Olympic gold medals in Sydney in 2000 and winning the African Championships in 2000 and 2002.
“The announcement of the long-term partnership with the Cameroon Football Association underlines Puma’s commitment to support African football,” Jochen Zeitz, CEO of Puma, said in a statement. “Africa will be the center of attention with the African Cup of Nations in 2008 leading up to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.”
FN Footwearnews.com By NATALIE ZMUDA

Outsole : How are the outsoles patterns on shoes used in the same or different sports?

The main function of the outsole is to provide traction as well as to reduce wear on the midsole thereby increasing the overall durability of the shoe.
Flexibility - In some types of shoes, like bicycle road racing shoes, flexibility is not required, in fact, it is a liability. The cyclist needs to transfer all of the muscular energy produced by pedaling straight into the movement of her bike. Any wasted movement, like side to side movement or flexion of the foot, other than at the ankle, is wasted energy. Therefore a cyclist's shoe has a very stiff, relatively inflexible outsole. A basketball player on the other hand, like a runner, needs to have the shoe flex where the foot naturally flexes. Designers and sport researchers, similar to the design considerations for cushioning, must keep in mind the natural flex lines of the foot relative the specific need of the sport.
Traction - As mentioned earlier how well a shoe needs to grip depends on the sporting event. A cross country runner might need a different shoe on a rainy day than they would need on a hard compacted surface. A basketball player needs an outsole that will grip well when running, but not when they are pivoting. A basketball player also needs a shoe that will not stop them so suddenly, or grab, when the are trying to stop as this can cause them to turn there ankle and injure themselves. The traction properties of a shoe, really a measure of the friction between the outsole and the playing surface, are directly related to the materials used in the outsoles construction as well as the pattern on the outsole.
Durability - As an athlete runs in a shoe, the outsole wears away, due to friction. In particular the parts of the shoe that come into contact with the ground the most, wear away the fastest. Researchers and designers must take into account the points of contact specific to a sport in order to design outsoles that do not wear out to quickly. One would think that scientists could come up with outsoles that would never wear out. "Eternal life" outsoles might be possible, but could lend a false sense of security to the wearer. If a runner, for example, only paid attention to outsole wear as an indicator as to when new shoes should be purchased, they might continue to wear shoes that have lost their cushioning or overall motion control due to the midsole breaking down. From Slam Dunk Science

Shoes Museum - Art Gallery

Getting Cultural History under One’s Skin :
A specialized museum of its own kind is the German Shoe Museum in the DLM with over 15,000 artefacts. Besides being a representation of international costume history over seven millennia, the collection allows a view into humankind’s intellectual und cultural history, earning this part of the DLM the additional name "World Shoe Museum": for example considering 3500 year-old sandals from Egyptian mummy burials, boot amulets and shoe-formed containers of 8th pre-Christian century Luristan, bead-embroidered moccasins from the Great Plains, chopines of the Italian Renaissance, Chinese gin lien, plateau sandals out of an Ottoman harem, the silk boots of Empress Sissi and Joschka Fischer’s trainers.A new acquisition are the reconstructed mountain shoes of the Oetz Valley mummy: don’t think these are crude fur boots, bound primitively around the bare foot; they are finely sewn leather mules with a robust inner lining of fibre strings and filled with hay. Together with these "Ötzi", over 5000 years ago, already wore leggings like the North American Indians! Several hundred images of shoemakers and their products form the bridge to the Shoe Museum’s gallery. Here one can see how intensely the human foot and its covering (or exposing) has inspired and still inspires the creativity of designers and artists. In this gallery terms such as "Fetishism" or "Sexual Symbolism" find their visual shape just as "Irony", "Experiment" or "Implication".

Source from Shoes Museum in Germany.

Footwear: a glossary of terms

This Glossary attempts to define the more commonly used terminology. A

compiled by Cameron Kippen

ACHILLES TENDON PAD:
A lining inside the heel area of the upper designed to cushion and protect the Achilles tendon.

ADDITION METHOD:
A method of fitting up the custom made last, if the foot is broader, the instep or big toe higher, or the heel thicker than average. The shoe maker corrects the last by attaching various pieces of leather to it. Though shoes can be made from the modified last, quality shoemakers produce a new copy based on the modified original.

ADJUSTABLE WIDTH LACING:
A system of webbing loops or rings to secure the lacing of the upper, used in place of eyelets. Can also be called "speed" lacing.

AGLET:
The plastic tip at the end of a shoelace.

ALBERT:
A man's slipper with a straight top line to the quarters and the vamp extended upwards to form a tongue resting on the instep.

ALUM-TANNING:
The method of treating insole materials which sterilises the inner portion of the shoe.

APRON FRONT:
A shoe front describing a shield shaped apron on top, either underlaying or overlaying the remainder of the vamp. The style derives from a moccasin where it sometimes forms the top part of the upper after the pleats have been removed.

ATH-LEISURE WARE:
The Ath-leisure wear movement or athletic shoes was spearheaded by the seventies and eighties craze for keep fit. By the 1970's informality became interwined with the cult of health which had a marked effect on footwear. Ath-Leisure Ware market is primarily targeted at young markets.

ASSYRIAN BOOT:
The Assyrian boot was broad and rounded, the front was cut away with a loose leather flap covering the instep and leg. The lacing was loose so the foot was not constricted. Pointed boots were not introduced until the time of the Hittites (2000-1200 BC)

AWL:
An implement used to make holes in the welt for stitches, and a short awl makes holes for the wooden pegs in the rand.

AWL HOLES:
Square holes made with an awl for the wooden pegs used to attach the rand. The holes are eventually sealed with adhesive.

Pueblo: The Ancestors Farmers

Four thousand years ago, the ancestors of the Pueblo farmers began planting corn and living in large dwellings built from stone and adobe bricks (sun dried clay). Spanish explorers arrived in 1539 and named the local people Pueblos after the Spanish word for "village". At that time, the Natives had settled villages and could grow crops by using irrigation, which yielded a plentiful and dependable food supply. They kept a two to three year supply of dried food and grain stored so they would not go hungry if a drought came. To supplement their crops, the men of the village often held hunts, adding deer, antelope and rabbit meat to their diet.
Pueblo groups consist of many tribes who speak a variety of languages with differing customs and origins. The Hopi, who live in the western regions of the area and whose name means "peaceful ones", live in the longest continually inhabited communities in North America. The Zuni whose name means "people of the town" established their villages on high, flat-topped mesas and are descendants of the Anasazi.
During their centuries of living in a sedentary agrarian society, Pueblo Natives were able to afford time to develop their decorative arts, something, which is more difficult to develop when following a nomadic existence. Pueblo groups are known for their pottery, basketry and textiles.

Anasazi: The Ancient Ones

Evidence from prehistoric cultures of the Southwest dates back eleven thousand years. Examples of basketry and sandals have been scientifically dated as far back as eight thousand six hundred years. These have been found in sites with hard-beaten earthen floors and storage pits, which indicate a domestic lifestyle. From about four thousand years ago the development of agriculture supplied these cultures with corn, beans and squash as cultivated agricultural diet staples.
The pre-historic Anasazi were the ancestors of Pueblo peoples. The Navajo call them Anasazi, which means "the Ancient ones" in their dialect. The Anasazi culture became the most extensive culture of the Southwest, and, along with the Hohokam and Mogollon cultures, the most influential. They lived in large groups in caves and cliff-dwelling villages. Some multi-dwelling residences were so large that they were not eclipsed in size in North America until an apartment building was erected in New York in 1882.
Anthropologists have divided the Anasazi into the Basket Maker period (100 - 750 CE) and the Pueblo period (750-1300 CE). The Basketmaker period is named after the people's mastery of complex weaving, which produced household items and tools. The Pueblo period is so called for the refined ceramics and clay dwellings that were created and perfected at this time. A prolonged regional drought (1276 - 1299) combined with overcrowding, depletion of resources (wood and soil) and warring with neighbouring groups, led to their demise and

Know some interesting facts

That the average person walks 2,000 miles a year.

That one quarter of the bones in your body are in your foot.

That there are 18 muscles in the human foot.

That the first known images of footwear are boots depicted in 15,000 year old Spanish cave paintings .

That the boots Neil Armstrong walked on the moon in are still floating around in space!

That shoes were originally made as straights and could be worn on either foot. Left and right shoes only asserted themselves with the reintroduction of the high heel in the nineteenth century.

Shoes like you have never seen before

These shoes and many other stunning exhibits make up Shoe: A National Touring Exhibition from the City Gallery, Leicester. A sequel to the popular Handbag exhibition, Shoe will explore the role of the shoe in contemporary urban culture through exhibits from contemporary designers, makers and visual artists. Shoe takes an innovative approach to our favourite fashion accessories exploring our obsession with the femme fatale, examining how our consumption of shoes defines our consumer culture and perhaps most poignantly looking at how shoes function as souvenirs of the past. The exhibition promises to make you look at your favourite shoes in a new light.
Shoe is complimented by a display of footwear from the permanent collection of the McManus Galleries, Dundee. The World At Your Feet shows some of the major trends in Western footwear alongside spectacular material from the City’s rich Ethnographic collection. If you’ve an interest in twentieth century fashion or you’ve never seen an Indian paduka, Japanese geta or Chinese golden lotus slipper then this is the exhibition for you!
Image : Playing the Field
Pat Derrick © The Artist