Womens shoes - origin and growth of the trends in womens shoes
Shoes have been around for many thousands of years in the records of man (and woman) but the purpose of wearing shoes has changed over the years; with social, cultural and economic turns in society and civilization, the reasons for staying well-shod have ranged from protection, to functionality and practicality to combining sensibility with style and simply shock-value too, especially women's shoes markets.
Fashions and new trends in women's shoes have existed from the time that makeup and dressing up constituted a basic feminine need rather than weather-protection or issues of modesty, even as early as 1,000 - 700 B.C. Way back then, men and women's shoes, or rather crude forms of today's sandals, used to be created to allow our ancestors to carry on with their nomadic sojourns through densely covered forest areas, negotiate nimble footsteps over jagged rocks and walk through streams without ending up with perforated soles while staying protected (consider them being feet-wise) even as they trampled over burning sands and other hazardous terrain.
A few hundred odd years later, when softer and likely durable material for women's shoes were discovered and tried out for comfort and protection, the onus of shoe making material fell on the various types of bark, leaves and rawhides that were hunted down by the males, history reveals. Earliest functional and somewhat fashionable first women's shoes were of two main categories, namely, sandals and moccasins. Constructed by hand out of a base consisting a simple sole that was strapped to the foot, the earliest women's shoes and sandals were found mainly in warmer regions of the earth and aimed to shield the sole of the foot, while the more moccasins offered greater coverage and protection to those living in colder areas. Women's shoes that were the early hand-made moccasin type were patterned out of tanned animal hides with primitive shoemakers punching holes around the circumference, embellishing the raw product with vines woven through punched holes and enclosing the foot in the hide for giving warmth to the wearer.
Of course, womankind and shoemakers alike have come a long way since the early days of fashioning (actually, constructing would be a better word) women's shoes and varied cultural trends globally reveal certain distinct trends in important areas of functionality, protection and fashion for more discerning ladies. While women's shoes in the Medieval times often had pointed and longer toes, though less detailed than the men's pointy-toed ones, the more common variety were ankle shoes with side laces that gave way to round and square toes in the Middle Ages. Soon after, wider soles and high heels came into fashion for women's shoes by the late 1500s while dainty lady's styles to and Oxford boots gained prominence by the 17th century. heels began to draw as much attention as toes. Laces, buckles, ties, leather, silk, gems and net all make up some of the finest fashions lent to women's shoes in later times till now when shoemaking automation has led to a revolution of women's shoes in modern times.
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