Shoes are a creation of a master craftsman. It expresses the social standing of the wearer while simultaneously providing delicate structure of the feet with optimum protection from the stress and strain of everyday life. This book takes a look into the making of shoes, famous shoe designers, shoe brands, shoe culture and much more. What will be explored is the relationships between people and shoes, how shoes is a form of art as well as a fashion statement. This book is for those with a sense of fashion, for those who love shoes.
Shoe History Sandals were the most common footwear in most early civilizations, however a few early cultures had shoes. In Mesopotamia, (c. 1600-1200BC) a type of soft shoes was worn by the mountain people who lived on the border of Iran. The soft shoe was made of wraparound leather, similar to a moccasin. As late as 1850 most shoes were made on absolutely straight lasts, meaning there is no difference between the right and the left shoe. Shoe Making Machinery Jan Ernst Matzeliger developed an automatic method for lasting shoes and made the mass production of affordable shoes possible. Lyman Reed Blake was an American inventor who invented a sewing machine for sewing the soles onto the shoes. In 1858, he received a patent for his specialized sewing machine. Patented on January 24, 1871, was Charles Goodyear Jr’s Goodyear Welt, a machine for sewing boots and shoes.
Shoe Laces An aglet is the small plastic or fiber tube that binds the end of a shoelace to prevent fraying and to allow the lace to be passed through an eyelet or other opening. This comes from the Latin word for “needle.” The modern shoestring (string and shoe holes) was first invented in England in 1790. Before shoestrings, shoes were commonly fastened with buckles.
Rubber Heel Irish-American Humphrey O’Sullivan patented the first rubber heel for shoes on January 24, 1899. O’Sullivan patented the rubber heel which outlasted the leather heel.
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Elijah McCoy then invented an improvement to the rubber heel. The first rubber soled shoes were called plimsolls. They were developed and manufactured in the United States in the late 1800s. In 1892, nine small rubber-manufacturing companies consolidated to form the U.S. Rubber Company. Among them was the Goodyear Metallic Rubber Shoe Company, organized in the 1840s in Naugatuck, Connecticut. This company was the first licensee of a new manufacturing process called vulcanization, discovered and patented by Charles Goodyear. Vulcanization uses heat to meld rubber to cloth or other rubber components for a sturdier, more permanent bond. On January 24, 1899, Humphrey O’Sullivan received the first patent for a rubber heel for shoes. From 1892 to 1913, the rubber footwear divisions of U.S. Rubber were manufacturing their products under 30 different brand names. The company consolidated these brands under one name. When choosing a name, the initial favourite was Peds, from the Latin meaning foot, but someone else held that trademark. By 1916, the two final alternatives were Veds or Keds, with the stronger sounding Keds being the final choice. Keds were first mass-marketed as canvas top “sneakers” in 1917. These were the first sneakers. The word “sneaker” was coined by Henry Nelson McKinney, an advertising agent for N. W. Ayer & Son, because the rubber sole made the shoe stealthy or quiet, all other shoes, with the exception of moccasins, made noise when you walked. In 1979, the Stride Rite Corporation acquired the Keds.
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Shoe Production 4
How Quality Shoes Are Made Shoes are not merely meant for protection and utility. They have been a fascination and fashion statement from time immemorial and remain the oldest and most profitable business of the manufacturing industry. They are made of vinyl, leather, canvas, and even fiber or plastic. Shoes can be mass produced or custom made. While the latter serves a very expensive and niche clientele, majority of the populace go for mass production as they are affordable as well as comfortable. Leather is still the first choice in shoes and they are derived from cows, pigs, snakes or even deer and elks. You can distinguish genuine leather from hybrid version with the differences in the softness and thickness. Most custom or handmade shoes are in demand for their unique styling and comfort. They are made according to your feet patterns and take into consideration your weight, height or disabilities if any. They are also durable with special maintenance instructions, which make them look new, even after years. Shoes are designed and tailored in ways very similar to clothes. Following the design various parts of the shoe are then created and stitched into one single piece.
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This can be explained in three very basic and easy steps: 1. You can begin the process by attaching
the Insole to the last and then start stitching the rest. 2. Concentrate on creating the various
singular prices of the upper sections. Once they are done you can then atached them to the last and insole. 3. Once the Sole and the Upper sections
have been successfully created, you can then complete the shoemaking process by attaching the sole to the upper.
Materials for uppers may vary from genuine leather of cows, sheep, alligators, and pigs, to fabrics like denims, cottons, fibres, canvas or polyesters fabrics. If you are deliberating on which kind of shoe to buy you may want to experiment on a handmade custom product. They are more expensive but are always excellent value for money by being unique and long lasting. Though most people opt for readily available shoes from branded or retail stores, the experience of one handmade shoe can change your whole outlook. But no assembly line prodution can beat the extraordinary comfort and design status of a crafted custom made shoe.
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The Process
Various parts of the shoe are created and stitched into one single piece.
The shoe is then sewn by hand to give it it’s shape. This can be a very tedious procedure as it has to be precise or the shoe will go out of shape.
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After it is sewn, the shoes will be stretched and pliers will be used to carefully adjust and tighten the stitching.
A layer of leather protector will be then sprayed onto the shoes to protect the leather as well as give it a shine.
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The next step would be sewing the sole onto the shoes.
The final stage would be checking the shoes and making sure both sides are equal in size and quality before being packaged.
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A preview of a finished high quality shoe.
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How Running Shoes Are Made 11
While most footwear protects and supports the foot, the running shoe goes beyond what one would expect of the ordinary shoe. Its advantages have been the subject of intense scrutiny in recent years, a focus that results from an increasingly health and leisure-conscious population in general, and from the popularity of running in particular. As more people have become involved in the sport, more and more varied equipment has become available to runners. Consequently, the running shoe has evolved quite dramatically over the past 15 years. Running as a sport can be traced back to the ancient Greeks, who advocated a culture based on sound bodies and sound minds. During Greek athletic contests, runners competed barefoot and often naked. Later, the Romans mandated that their messengers wear thin-soled sandals. As shoemaking evolved through the centuries, leather became and remained the favored material because of its durability. However, the first references to shoes designed specifically for running don’t appear until 1852, when historians noted a race in which runners wore shoes with spiked soles. In 1900, the first sneaker, or all purpose athletic shoe, was designed. Made primarily of canvas, this sneaker featured a rubber rim made possible by Charles Goodyear’s 1839 discovery of vulcanized rubber. Known about for 1,000 years, rubber was finally rendered commercially useful when Goodyear heated
and combined it with sulphur, thereby preventing it from hardening and losing its elasticity. In athletic shoes, rubber helped to cushion the impact of running on hard surfaces. However, it did not last as a shoe making material. It was not durable, and leather returned as the preferred material for running shoes. Yet leather wasn’t the ideal fabric, either. In addition to being expensive, leather shoes caused chating, and runners had to purchase chamois liners to protect their feet. A Scotsman known as “Old Man” Richings provided some relief when he invented a customized shoe designed with a seamless toe box (a piece of material inserted between the toe cap and the shoe lining and treated with a hardening agent, the toe box protects the toes against rubbing). In 1925, Adolph Dassler, a German shoemaker, decided to concentrate on athletic shoes, and founded a business with his brother, Rudolph, to do so. The Dasslers’ running shoes provided both arch support and speed lacing, and their high-quality products attracted prominent athletes including some Olympians: Jesse Owens is reported to have worn Dassler shoes during the 1936 games in Munich. The brothers later formed separate companies—Adolph, the Adidas company and Rudolph, the Puma company. Another manufacturer of running shoes during the mid-twentieth century was Hyde Athletic of New England, although the company specialized in football shoes.
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SHOES IN SUBCULTURE
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Shoefiti Shoe flinging or "shoefiti" is the practice of throwing shoes whose shoelaces have been tied together so that they hang from overhead wires such as power lines or telephone cables. This practice plays a widespread, though mysterious, role in adolescent folklore in the United States. Shoe flinging has also been reported in many other countries. Shoe flinging occurs throughout the United States, in rural and urban areas. The shoes that are flung at the wires are usually sneakers but elsewhere, especially in rural areas, different varieties of shoes including leather shoes and boots are also thrown. Soldiers leaving the military often paint a pair of combat boots yellow or orange and toss them over a power line or telephone wire near the barracks or unit to which they were assigned. A number of sinister explanations have been proposed as to why this is done. The foremost is bullying in which a bully steals a pair of shoes and puts in a position where the victim cannot reach it. Some also say that shoes hanging from the wires advertise a local crack house where crack cocaine is used and sold (in which case the shoes are sometimes referred to as “Crack Tennies”). It can also relate to a place where heroin is sold to symbolize the fact that
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once you take heroin you can never ‘leave’, a reference to the addictive nature of the drug. Others claim that the shoes thrown commemorate a gang related murder, or the death of a gang member, or as a way of marking gang turf. A newsletter from the mayor of Los Angeles, California cites fears of many Los Angeles residents that “these shoes indicate sites at which drugs are sold or worse yet, gang turf,” and that city and utility employees launched a program to remove the shoes. However, the practice also occurs along relatively remote stretches of rural highways that are unlikely scenes for gang murders, and have no structures at all to be crack houses. Other less sinister explanations have been ventured for the practice. Some claim that shoes are flung to commemorate the end of a school year, or a forthcoming marriage as part of a rite of passage. In Scotland, it has been said that when a young man has lost his virginity he tosses his shoes over telephone wires to announce this to his peers. It has been suggested that the custom may have originated with members of the military, who are said to have thrown military boots, often painted orange or some other conspicuous color at overhead wires as a part of a rite of passage upon completing basic training or on leaving the service.
Others claim that the shoes are stolen from other people and tossed over the wires as a sort of bullying tactic, or as a practical joke played on drunkards. Others say that shoe flinging is a way to get rid of shoes that are no longer wanted, are uncomfortable, or do not fit. It may also be another manifestation of the human instinct to leave their mark on, and decorate, their surroundings. It has been reported that workmen often throw shoes if they are not paid for waxing floors. In some neighborhoods, shoes tied together and hanging from power lines or tree branches signify that someone has died. The shoes belong to the dead person. The reason they are hanging, legend has it, is that when the dead person’s spirit returns, it will walk that high above the ground, that much closer to heaven. Another superstition holds that the tossing of shoes over the power lines outside of a house is a way to keep the property safe from ghosts. Yet another legend involves that shoes hanging from telephone wires signals someone leaving the neighborhood onto bigger and better things. Of course, only each individual shoe thrower knows why his or her pair of shoes hang from a wire.
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Introducing Shoes-Off 17
In many parts of the world, it is the custom to remove one's shoes when entering a home. It is taught to do so from young. Most people associate this custom with Asian countries such as Japan, Thailand or India. Yet it is practiced in other parts of the world too. In some African countries and in much of the Middle East it is common. In Eastern European countries such as Russia, Slovakia and Bulgaria, guests will change from outdoor shoes to slippers. Moving west, removing shoes is almost universally practiced in Scandinavian and Nordic countries. Removing shoes is very common in much of Canada. It is also common in the northern parts of the United States and of course, in Hawaii, everybody leaves their slippers at the door. Sadly, in some countries such as the U.K, people tend to keep their shoes on. There are many things which are great about the U.K, but sadly, looking after carpets and flooring is not among them. If you visit most British homes, you will find that the owners have really filthy carpets. There are lots of people who recognise the benefits of removing shoes at the door. They may remove their own shoes and make their children take their shoes off. But asking guests to remove their shoes is considered a rather daunting thing to do. Sometimes a guest will offer to remove his or her shoes. This sometimes results in a ridiculous game where the host insists this is not necessary yet would secretly like the guest to remove them, while the guest dithers about whether to listen to these protestations or not.
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Shoe Brand Idols 20
Just Do It The Nike athletic machine began as a small distributing outfit located in the trunk of Phil Knight’s car. From these rather inauspicious beginnings, Knight’s brainchild grew to become the shoe and athletic company that would come to define many aspects of popular culture and myriad varieties of ‘cool.’ Nike emanated from two sources: Bill Bowerman’s quest for lighter, more durable racing shoes for his Oregon runners, and Knight’s search for a way to make a living without having to give up his love of athletics. Bowerman coached track at the University of Oregon where Phil Knight ran in 1959. Bowerman’s desire for better quality running shoes clearly influenced Knight in his search for a marketing strategy. Between them, the seed of the most influential sporting company grew. The story goes like this: while getting his MBA at Stanford in the early ‘60s, Knight took a class with Frank Shallenberger. The semester-long project was to devise a small business, including a marketing plan. Synthesizing Bowerman’s attention to quality running shoes and the burgeoning opinion that high-quality, low cost products could be produced in Japan and shipped to the U.S. for distribution, Knight found his market niche. Shallenberger thought the idea was interesting, but certainly no business jackpot.
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Cut to 1963. Phil Knight traveled to Japan on a world-tour, filled with the wanderlust of young men seeking a way to delay the inevitable call of professional life. Seemingly on a whim, Knight scheduled an interview with a Japanese running shoe manufacturer, Tiger - a subsidiary of the Onitsuka Company. Presenting himself as the representative of an American distributor interested in selling Tiger shoes to American runners, Knight told the businessmen of his interest in their product. Blue Ribbon Sports - the name Knight thought of moments after being asked who he represented was born. The Tiger executives liked what they heard and Knight placed his first order for Tigers soon thereafter. By 1964, Knight had sold $8,000 worth of Tigers and placed an order for more. Coach Bowerman and Knight worked together, but ended up hiring a full-time salesman, Jeff Johnson. After cresting $1 million in sales and riding the wave of the success, Knight et. al. devised the Nike name and trademark Swoosh in 1971. By the late ‘70s, Blue Ribbon Sports officially became Nike and went from $10 million to $270 million in sales. Katz (1994) describes the success via Nike’s placement within the matrix of the fitness revolution: ‘the idea of exercise and game-playing ceased to be something the average American did for fun,’ instead Americans turned to working
out as a cultural signifier of status. Clearly, the circumstances surrounding the shift are not this simple; it is one of the aims of this project to discover other generators of popular attention to health.
That same year Nike’s revenues were a staggering $6.74 billion. Expecting $8 billion sales in fiscal 1997, Nike has targeted $12 billion in sales by the year 2000. And all from the back of a car.
If Nike didn’t start the fitness revolution, Knight says, “We were at least right there. And we sure rode it for one hell of a ride”. The 80s and 90s would yield greater and greater profits as Nike began to assume the appearance of athletic juggernaut, rather than the underdog of old. “Advertising Age” named Nike the 1996 Marketer of the Year, citing the “ubiquitous swoosh.. which was more recognized and coveted by consumers than any other sports brand - arguably any brand”.
Few can question Nike’s financial hegemony. But nearly $7 billion in revenues clearly begs the question, What sells these shoes? It is my assertion that Nike’s power to sell comes from deep-rooted yearnings for cultural inclusiveness and individual athletic accomplishment. These seemingly paradoxical desires collide in consumers hearts and minds and produce the unyielding zeal for Nike shoes and apparel. Unfortunate effects of this zeal can be found in the rash of Nike apparel killings in 1991 and the profusion of Nike collectors and webpages designed around the company’s products. Nike appeals to these disparate elements of Americans’ personalities through an advertising philosophy that is, at once, simple and sublime. In addition, Nike’s practice of top-level athletes promoting their products appeal to countless ages and creeds as a way to identify with and emulate their athletic heroes. These forces work powerfully upon the individual consumer, but one should not lose sight of the cultural context in which the individual moves.
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Adidas Adidas started producing sports shoes in the 1920s, it has assisted countless athletes in their exceptional achievements, and made quite a number of spectacular contributions to the sporting world. It all began in the 1920s, in a German village called Herzogenaurach, when Adi Dassler, a highly skilled shoemaker and a passionate athlete, saw the need for performance athlete shoes and was determined to fulfil his vision to “ provide every athlete with the best possible footwear� So he began making his first football and running shoes using the few materials available after World War 1. By the 1930, adidas was already making 30 different shoes for 11 sports, which won the favour of many top athletes who won their gold medals wearing adidas. Adidas continued to gain momentum over the years but the breakthrough was when the German team won the FIFA World Cup in 1954 wearing adidas boots with screw-in studs that helped them to play on the wet football grounds. In the 1998 World Cup in France, the host team fought its way to becoming the new world champion, also wearing adidas football shoes with superior performance. Adi Dassler was the first to use sports promotion in order to make the public aware of his innovations.
This was done by using well-known athletes to advertise his products. Over the past few decades, adidas has had the following top athletes from various fields to endorse its products: basketball stars like Antoine Walker and Kobe Bryant: track and field champions like Arthur Jonath in he 1930s and present-day Donovan Bailey, tennis stars like Steffi Graf, Anna Kournikova and Martina Hingis, football stars like Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham, baseball star team the New York Yankees, and boxing legend Muhammad Ali. Today, adidas still aims for perfection in shoemaking by keeping in close contact with the world’s top athletes and coaches to develop products that best fit the human body through repeated experiments and trials. This garnered adidas the reputation of providing high quality sportswear to advance athletic performance for all sporting fields, including modern ones such as golf, street ball, skateboarding and extreme sports. Adidas has gone through several structural changes in the past few decades, but it has continued to make many breakthroughs in terms of design and function. The signature Three Stripes has also made its way into the fashion scene, shaping the new fashion style together with the new Generation Y, playing the leading role in providing the best quality diversified sportswear for the general consumer.
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The Converse Story The Converse Rubber Company was started in 1908 by Nicholas J. Wegner, in Massachusetts. When the company started, little did he know that the company would see such astounding success. Continuing success over the decades since the company was formed has catapulted Converse Shoes into a major brand in the footwear industry. Thanks to its endorsement by to basketball players in the country, they have become synonymous with this sport. But Converse Shoes’ road to accomplishment has hardly been easy. Situated in Malden, Massachusetts, the Converse Rubber Shoe Company was doing lukewarm business till basketball player Chuck Taylor came along. The NBA star Chuck Taylor often complained of pain in his feet while playing basketball. Converse Rubber Shoe Company, in the year 1917, introduced its most famous brand, the Converse All Star Basketball Shoe. This footwear invention became a rage in the world, and it continues to be one of the most sought-after sports shoes in the world even today.
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The USP of the Converse All Star shoe is its amazing comfort combined with great style. In fact, Converse All Star shoes shoes continue to rank number one for most celebrities. This however, does not mean that the brand did not have to contend with heavy competition, but its durability has led the Converse Shoes to emerge at the top of it. During the 1980s, the company Converse Rubber Shoe Company was bought by Nike, but the brand Converse All Star continued to live. In the present times, Converse shoes are worn not just by sports persons, but are also a huge favorite of the common man. Kids often wear them to school. While these shoes were available only in black and white colour initially, but later the colour swatch of Converse All Star Shoes was expanded to include seven additional colours.
All-Stars became popular again in the ‘90s as fans of the world famous grunge-punk band Nirvana emulated the band’s front-man Kurt Cobain, who had worn All-Stars for many years prior to the ‘90s due to the influence of different punk rock bands he enjoyed in his youth. Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello was (and still is) also known for commonly wearing Chucks. U2 guitarist The Edge has been seen wearing All-Stars onstage in recent years. Jackass star Johnny Knoxville is also known for his signature black hi-top All-Stars. Snoop Dogg has also been known for regularly wearing Chuck Taylors, as well as his associated rapper/friend Wiz Khalifa. Converse All Stars have also been seen in many movies and television shows. For example, in the movie “I Robot” Will Smith (the main character) wore a pair of classic black high tops. Also, in the television show “Chuck” the main character (Zachary Levi) wears his classic Chucks in almost every episode. The iconic shoes were also a signature of the Tenth Doctor being used in multiple
colors over the series. Today the shoes are very popularly worn by children, teenagers, and young adults of both sexes. The shoes are available in several core colors, seasonal colors, and a variety of print styles. Thus far, 800,000,000 pairs of Converse All Stars have been sold. Miscellaneous Converse shoes including several stylized versions of Chuck Taylor’s saw of the same rock-oriented youth cultures that have kept an affinity for the shoes since the late ‘70s/early ‘80s punk and new wave eras. Rock stars and punks often wore a pair of Chucks on stage, which immediately got the attention of many exuberant fans. In 2004, a wildly successful collaboration with designer John Varvatos gave rise to reinterpreted version of the classic Chuck Taylor All Star and Jack Purcell sneakers, including the creation of the John Varvatos Laceless Chuck Taylor.
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Shoe Gurus 28
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Christian Louboutin Shoe Designer As a child, Christian Louboutin would regularly sneak out of school, from the age of 12, to watch the showgirls at Paris nightclubs, because he was fascinated by their costumes. He cites this as his main inspiration for becoming a shoe designer: “ Showgirls influenced me a lot. If you like high heels, it’s really the ultimate high heel - it’s all about the legs, how they carry themselves, the embellishment of the body. They are the ultimate icons.” Even though Louboutin faced much opposition following his decision to leave school so early, he claims that his resolve was strengthened after watching an interview on TV with Sophia Loren in which she introduced her sister, saying she had to leave school when she was only 12 but when she turned 50 she got her degree. “Everybody applauded! And I thought, ‘Well, at least if I regret it I’m going to be like the sister of Sophia Loren!” Louboutin helped bring stilettos back into fashion in the 1990s and 2000s, designing dozens of styles with heel heights of 120mm (4.72 inches) and higher. The designer’s professed goal is to “make a woman look sexy, beautiful, to make her legs look as long as he can.” While he does offer some lower heeled styles, Louboutin is generally
assocated with his dressier eveningwear designs incorporating bejeweled straps, bows, feathers, patent leather and others. In his U.S. trademark application, Louboutin explains the inception of the signature red soles: “In 1992 I incorporated the red sole into the design of my shoes. This happened by accident as I felt that the shoes lacked energy so I applied red nail polish to the sole of a shoe. This was such a success that it became a permanent fixture.” Louboutin received inspiration for his lethal-looking stilettos from an incident that occurred in his early 20s. He had visited a museum and noticed that there was a sign forbidding women wearing sharp stilettos from entering for fear of damage to the extensive wood flooring. This image stayed in his mind, and he later used this idea in his designs. “I wanted to defy that,” Louboutin has said. “I wanted to create something that broke rules and made women feel confident and empowered. Louboutin has topped The Luxury Institute’s annual Luxury Brand Status Index (LBSI) for three years, the brand’s offerings were declared the Most Prestigious Women’s Shoes in 2007, 2008, and 2009.
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Alexander Mcqueen Alexander McQueen liked to refer to himself as a “stitch bitch”. Time and time again, I heard of his dazzling ability to fashion a dress straight out of his imagination. This was his core talent, the basis of his creative flair, and it never deserted him. Philip Treacy had arrived at McQueen’s studio for a meeting about his last show, at the beginning of this year, not long before his death. They had known each other for 20 years, drawn together by their love of Issie, even if, as Treacy put it, McQueen had seemed more like a love rival for Issie’s attention — both men, of course, were gay and not rivals at all in that way, except perhaps for Issie’s expansive affections. As Treacy arrived, McQueen had a bale of clothand a live model and was wrapping the fabric around her. Treacy had by now worked with the best designers in the world
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Karl Lagerfeld, Gianni Versace, Valentino, Ralph Lauren. But he always considered McQueen to be exceptional, and here before him was the proof. He had never seen anything like it as McQueen worked with remarkable skill and speed, doing it all himself, not relying as others would on a team of cutters and technicians, pinning and shaping this incredible dress on the model. Treacy said, did you just do what I thought you were doing? (Treacy liked to mimic McQueen’s gruff, guttural way of speaking.) McQueen said, dismissively, what? It did not invite further discussion. He was, Treacy could see, engrossed in his nextshow, the show he would never finish and not live to see that spring in Paris.
McQueen’s famous Shoe Boots inspired by Charles Darwin’s The Origin Of The Species. These fantastic new ballet style shoe boots are a whopping 12 inches and available in a vide variety of colours and materials from black to multicoloured snakeskin.
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Vivienne Westwood Vivienne Westwood is a British designer who is one of the most recognised and influential designers of the late twentieth century. By her mid twenties, Vivienne Westwood’s life seemed to be passing in a distinctly unremarkable way. At 25, she was married to an air steward, she lived in Willesden, went to church and taught in a local primary school. Then something remarkable happened, she met Malcolm Mclaren, future manager of the Sex Pistols, and he led her into the underground of the late 1960’s street. He lectured her on the political power of art and liberated her creative desires from their bondage in working class conformity. Westwood became a subversive seamstress of pop. Her first designs hung in Let it Rock on the King’s Road in 1971. Five years later the boutique, now named Sex, sold ripped T-shirts, chains and assorted bondage gear and Westwood was dressing Johnny Rotten and the Sex Pistols. The punk storm drove Westwood before it, putting her at the forefront of street culture but, as the drugs wore off and the hangover kicked in, Westwood was left thinking “what next?”
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Pirates were the answer. The early 1980s was the time of the New Romantics, an urban arts scene that eschewed gender distinctive dress to delight in the theatre of courtier costume and whirls of eyeliner. Catching their mood, Westwood looked back to the 19th Century for her first collection, which she called Pirates. With Pirates, Westwood’s success was secured. She showed in Paris in 1983 and never looked back. In the 1990s, her interest shifted into haute couture and she has made extensive use of British wools, tartans, tweeds and linens. She has twice been named British designer of the year and was awarded an OBE.
“Shoes must have very high heels and platforms to put women’s beauty on a pedestal” – Vivienne Westwood
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Shoe Art
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Louboutin Shoe Art A shoe advertisement campaign from the Christian Louboutin that was done in a unique manner – without models and in the Barocco style. Louboutin and the photographer Peter Lippmann created unique still life images inspired by the 18th century paintings to promote the designer’s new collection of shoes. The images have traditional for that art period fruits, sweets, pitchers, and dishes in combination with exquisite shoe models from Louboutin.
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David Brownings Nike Shoes David Brownings is an illustrator designer, who specializes in design. One of his passions is making artworks out of paper, he recently made a series of Nike shoes in various colors and is selling them on his website. They are sold for ÂŁ100 each.
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Shoe Photography
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Custom Shoes
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Toms Shoes In 2006, American traveler Blake Mycoskie befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS Shoes, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One. Blake returned to Argentina with a group of family, friends and staff later that year with 10,000 pairs of shoes made possible by TOMS customers. As of September 2010, TOMS has given over one million pairs of new shoes to children in need through Giving Partners around the world. TOMS mission transforms their customers into benefactors, which allows them to grow a truly sustainable business rather than depending on fundraising for support.
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Toms Shoes are famous for their custom shoes which are hand painted by artist such as Jason Chalker, Revise, CZR, Pebe, Veggie Somthn, Emmy Star Brown, and many others.
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Canvas Shoes Today, canvas shoes have become everyone’s staple and have paved the way for artists to express themselves a little differently. Days when we coveted those dull, plain canvas shoes are but a distant memory. Shoe painting is a fast-growing trend amongst many contemporary artists. All that is needed is fabric and paint markers with a combination of sharpies and a ball point pen. The rest is up to imagination. These are a few examples of custom hand painted shoes done by various local artist in the UK. These shoes can go up to £150 a pair.
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Classic Yet Modern
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Oxford Heels Oxford shoes were originally shoes that were worn by men, but over the years, they were changed. In the fashion world, women became interested in men’s clothing which lead to experimentation with Oxford shoes. The outcome was an ‘Oxford Heel’ which is a combination of an Oxford shoe with a high heeled shoe. The first few version of the shoe were uncomfortable due to their lack of experience making high heeled shoes. But Oxford exceeded in making the changes for it to work. The Oxford heel is designed
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with the best quality materials hence being more comfortable than most other shoes. Oxford shoes like most shoes with soles is made of rubber or plastic, while the expensive leather offers diversity and quality. The Oxford heel is unique as it is a classic shoe with a modern twist, the ‘heel’. In the fashion line, Oxford heels are now viewed favorably in casual and formal clothing.
Womens Oxford shoes come in a variety of designs fit the needs of women. Some are designed to look more stylish and elegant, for the women with the modern tastes. The shape is neat and fits perfectly into the modern world and have they developed over the years with the changing times in fashion. Womens Oxford shoes come with exquisite details such as embroidery and the lace is enhanced with the sensitivity of the natural woman. This is said because they can be tailored to the preferences of each individual women. The laces can be tightened or opened to allow more space depending on personal comfort. The shoes are also known as Oxford Balmoral in some countries. Oxford shoes are known for their comfort because the soles are made with the softest materials allowing a perfect fit. The shoes are also water resistant and durable. Womens Oxford shoes will always be popular in and out of fashion as women are always striving for shoes that have comfort and style to fit their busy lives.
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Quirky Shoe Designers 54
Marloes Ten Bhömer ‘I can’t change reality,’ says the shoemaker Marloes Ten Bhömer. ‘So,instead, I try to change people’s perceptions of it. My designs depart from their archetypal forms. But they still communicate what they are and how they function.’ Ten Bhömer,slim and fresh-faced at 24, has just received her MA in product design at London’s Royal College of Art. The footwear she makes is provocative and otherworldly. Created out of cuttingedge materials in fantastic shapes, ten Bhömer’s pieces are both forceful and dramatic. Yet every pair of shoes is also wearable. A native of Duiven in the Netherlands, she received her BA from Arnhem’s lively Hogeschool voor de Kunsten (Higher School of Arts).
‘Moulded leather shoe’, made in 2003. Materials used are vegetable tanned leather and carbon fibre.
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‘Red mâché shoe’, made in 2003. Materials used are stainless steel and leather.
‘Grey mâché shoe’, made in 2005. Materials used are leather and stainless steel.
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‘Rotational moulded shoe’, made in 2009. Materials used are polyurethane rubber and stainless steel.
‘Beige folded shoe’, made in 2009. Materials used are vegetable tanned leather and stainless steel heel.
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‘Grey glass fibre shoe’, made in 2004. Materials used is leather and fibreglass.
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Julian Hakes Hakes is an architect and, because of this, when he first set out to design a pair of shoes, he looked at the way the foot moved when walking and which were the points on which the most pressure was applied. Of course, those are the heel and the ball of the foot, which has driven him to the conclusion that a foot plate for a shoe is not necessary. Consequently, he took that out – and the result is this piece of futuristic, minimalist, funky-looking material, the Mojito shoe.
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The shoe is called the Mojito because it resembles the twisted piece of lime served in a glass of the Mojito cocktail. It’s made of rubber, leather and carbon fibre to create the impression that the woman wearing it is actually walking on air. This particular looking shoe – a high-heeled one, nonetheless – offers the most support for the heel and the ball of the foot, while also looking extremely good, Hakes says. At the same time, it also challenges the view we’ve had so far of how a shoe must look.
Julian Hakes early product design sketches that got him to where he is today.
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Little Known Shoe Facts 62
Top 10 Most Expensive Shoes In The World 10
Diamond-Encrusted Custom Nike : $50,000 These custom Nike shoes are decorated with chocolate colored diamonds of 11 carat along its edge.
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Nizam Sikandar Jah Slippers: $160,000 This slippers belong to Nizam Sikandar Jah. They were a symbol of royalty in 18th century, It sparkle with Rubbies and dazzle with diamond.
Weitzman’s “Diamond Dream”: 8 Stuart $500,000 Stuart Weitzman joined with jeweler Kwiat to realease his dream, diamond shoes. And that dream came true as Stilettos. This shoes come with 1,420 well cut Kwiat colorless diamonds set in platinum. Slippers from Wizard of Oz: 7 Ruby $666,000 These slippers are decorated with bugle beads, glass rhinestones and three large silver red glass jewels. It was sold in auction for $666,000 in 2000.
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Stuart Weitzman Shoes “Retro Rose” Pumps: $1,000,000 Another pair by the well renowned Stuart Weitzman. The perfect design combines with dazzles from 100 carat of 1,800 Kwiat diamonds.
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Stuart Weitzman “Platinum Guild” Stilettos: $1,090,000 This Stuart Weitzmans stilettos is decorated with 464 Kwiat round and pear shaped diamonds. Laura Harring was the first person who wore these shoes in 2002 Oscar Academy Awards.
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Stuart Weitzman Shoes “Ruby Slippers”: $1,600,000 This Ruby Slippers is decorated with 642 oval and round rubies in its possession. The rubies shine in pure platinum combination. This stilettos cost $1,600,000, an amount to pay for pride of the rich.
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Stuart Weitzman Shoes Tanzanite Heels: $2,000,000 Stuart Weitzman joined with Le Vian to realease this $2,000,000 Tanzanite Heels. These amazing shoes are decorated with 28 carats of diamonds and well-cut 185 carats of quality tanzanite. The most spectacular part of the shoes is the 4½ inch heels that encrusted with 595 carats of Kwiat platinum diamonds.
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Rita Hayworth Heels: $3,000,000 These shoes are the most expensive shoes from Stuart Weitzman and surely the most creative and delicate ones. Rita Hayworth Heels is dazzling with sapphires, rubies and diamonds.
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Ruby Slippers from House of Harry Winston: $3.000.000 These Ruby Slippers are the most expensive and spectacular slippers in the world. These slippers are the achievement of Ronald Winston, the designer of the House of Harry Winston. The beauty of design coming from 4,600 rubies of 1,350 carat. These shoes were worn by Judy Garland in the film The Wizard of Oz.
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How to Freshen Smelly Shoes Odor-causing bacteria thrive in dark, damp spaces, which makes your sweaty tennies an ideal habitat. You’ll need to wipe out the smelly bacterial population to achieve truly odor-free shoes. Follow these few easy steps to get your shoes smelling fresh as new.
1 Examine the shoes. Are the insoles
damp and causing the odor? Remove them and dry them. Or replace them with insoles formulated to kill bacterial growth, available at drugstores.
2 If the shoes are slightly damp, place
them in the sun or near a heater and allow to dry thoroughly. Remove laces and lift the shoes’ tongues to fully air out the shoes.
5 If all else fails, go to a pet store and
purchase an odor remover such as Nature’s Miracle that contains enzymes or bacteria. The enzymes and bacteria in these products literally eat away the source of the bad odors. Follow the instructions carefully as you apply the product to your shoes.
3 Put the shoes in a zipper-lock plastic
bag and place them in the freezer over night. The freezing temperatures will kill most odor-causing bacteria.
4 If odor remains after the freezing,
pour baking soda into the shoes and leave it in overnight to absorb the odors. Or use products designed to remove shoe odor, which are available at supermarkets and drugstores.
Tips & Warnings • Dry shoes thoroughly after they become wet to prevent smelly bacterial growth.
• If your feet sweat a lot, wear lightweight cotton socks that allow your feet to breathe. You can also try odor-absorbing foot powder. And invest in two pairs of athletic shoes so that your shoes can dry out.
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Shoe Fitting Pointers 1 When trying on shoes, make sure you’re
wearing the appropriate sock. For instance, if you’re trying on boots that you’d wear with heavy socks, don’t try them on with thin nylons.
2 The best time to try on shoes is usually
at the end of the day, when your feet are most swollen. However, don’t abuse this rule of thumb: if you’ve just completed a sightseeing tour which required 10 miles of walking, and that’s not your typical exercise routine, then by all means don’t try on office heels that night! The point of waiting until the end of the day is to make sure that the footwear can fit you when your feet is at your widest.
5 Don’t buy shoes that are too tight.
If you’re at the point where you’re praying they will stretch to be comfortable, they probably won’t. It’s true that soft leather and suede give slightly, molding to your foot, but they will not dramatically increase in width or length. There’s a difference between a “snug”, comfortable fit and a “tight”, uncomfortable fit. A few laps around a carpet should help you decide how you feel.
3 The first shoe you try on should be for
your larger foot. For most people, their larger foot is the opposite from the hand they write with. For example, if you’re right handed, your left foot might be bigger. Always fit the pair of shoes to this foot. Even though there are about 20 separate parts to an average shoe, the fact remains that they are mass-produced. It’s up to you to customize the fit-- a small heel pad, for instance, works wonders.
4 Stand up with your shoes on. Walk
around a bit. You should be able to wiggle your toes in the front of the shoe. For most footwear, your toes will be able to touch the top of the shoe, but there should be 3/8” to 1/2” of space between your longest toe and the end of the shoe.
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Did You Know? • In 1927, X-rays were used to help people find a fitting shoe. It was known as the Shoe-Fitting Fluoroscope but was later destroyed due to health hazards.
• Shoe sizes in Britain differ by 1/3 of an
inch, about the length of 3 barley corns?
• The open-toed shoe became fashionable in the 1930s as a result of the new vogue for sunbathing?
• The average person walks 2,000 miles a year?
• One quarter of the bones in your body are in your foot?
• There are 18 muscles in the human foot? • Fairy tales often use shoes as a symbol
representing an escape from an otherwise humdrum life?
• Red shoes have always been considered special?
• Shoes have traditionally been hidden in buildings to protect the house and its inhabitants from evil and misfortune?
• The boots Neil Armstrong walked on the
moon in are still floating around in space?!
• Heels were invented in the Middle East to help lift the foot from the burning sand?
• In 16th and 17th century Europe, heels on shoes were always colored red?
• Sneakers were originally called keds? • The first lady’s boot was designed for Queen Victoria in 1840?
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• In Biblical times a sandal was given as a sign of an oath.
• In Hungary the groom drinks a toast to his bride out of her wedding slipper.
• In the Middle Ages a father will pass his
authority over his daughter to her husband in a shoe ceremony. At the wedding, the groom hands the bride a shoe, which she will put on to show that she belongs to him.
• Sandals originated in warm climates where the soles of the feet needed protection but the top of the foot needed to be cool.
• In Europe it wasn’t until the eighteenth century
that women’s shoes were different from men’s.
• In the U.S. shoes are tied to the bumper of the bridal couple’s car. This is a reminder of the days when a father gave the groom one of his daughter’s shoes as a symbol of a changing caretaker.
• In China one of the bride’s red shoes is tossed from the roof to ensure happiness for the bridal couple.
Biggest Boot In The World The boot was created in 2005 to celebrate Red Wing Shoe Company’s centennial, the world’s largest boot traveled around the country in 2006 and 2007 before being stored in a facility in Red Wing, MN, waiting for its permanent home to be completed. Boot Facts Size: 638 ½ D (US) Length: 20 feet Width: 7 feet Height: 16 feet Weight: 2,300 lbs. The construction took 13 months to complete, with 60 people on the job. A person fitting this boot would stand 120 feet (12 stories) tall.
Largest Shoe Collection Former First Lady Imelda Marcos was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the woman with the largest collection of shoes. Reports said that when the Marcos family fled to Hawaii during the People’s Power Revolution in 1986, around 3,400 pairs of shoes were discovered in one room at Malacanang Palace. They were the First Lady’s collection.
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Appendix Bibliography Mary Bellis - The history of shoes Ehow Contributor - How to freshen smelly shoes Johanna Björk - Hakes Mojito Shoe By Julian Hakes Elena Gorgan - Julian Hakes’ Mojito Shoe Takes Minimalist Design to New Heights
Referred Sites concreteflower.se dezeen.com ezinearticles.com existem-am.com fashionnewspaper.com flicker.com marloestenbhomer.squarespace.com/couture-shoes/ newbalancewalking-shoes.com redbubble.com shoeme.com solesnappers.files.wordpress.com seeklogo.com softpedia.com tomsshoes.co.uk tonyxprice.com/shoes.html the-fashion-guru.com wikipedia.com wineandbowties.com
List of Illustrations shoe history - http://bit.ly/lYlcEq, http://bit.ly/kafT5s shoe production - http://bit.ly/l3APuE, http://bit.ly/jDnNab, http://bit.ly/j2N11N, http://bit.ly/mOnHAR, http://bit.ly/la8Iqq, http://bit.ly/mrcuEC shoes in subculture - http://bit.ly/k1T2sf, http://bit.ly/itnF87, http://bit.ly/ktrtp0 shoe brand idols - http://bit.ly/l0UL0i, http://bit.ly/jPzegw, http://bit.ly/gqu4ZY, http://bit.ly/kVkegi, http://bit.ly/j408FB shoe gurus - http://bit.ly/iOQSkn, http://bit.ly/kkG6io shoe art - http://bit.ly/lLMBlp, http://bit.ly/lRw3VP, http://bit.ly/lgxMDi, http://bit.ly/1w5q7v, http://bit.ly/lqzXuw, http://bit.ly/jh6Uks, http://bit.ly/iBJvTv, http://bit.ly/kjcHzN
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quirky shoes designers - http://bit.ly/jm0irA, http://bit.ly/jEl3kr, http://bit.ly/lvwsO6, http://bit.ly/kfclZF, http://bit.ly/ijdusz, http://bit.ly/jqaMAG, http://bit.ly/m5RrHG, http://bit.ly/6LUSh, http://bit.ly/kxNbLq little known shoe facts - http://bit.ly/mbeUlK, http://bit.ly/jJq81A, http://bit.ly/ka5oKX, http://bit.ly/f2jc0w, http://bit.ly/ja9hwd, http://bit.ly/iCOEa0, http://bit.ly/kF65Sm, http://bit.ly/iIzn0e, http://bit.ly/kKfOLJ, http://bit.ly/kwKQss, http://bit.ly/iqrwiY
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