THE ANCIENT ORIGINS OF FOOTWEAR
STEPPING BACK IN TIME: FROM THE FIRST FOOT COVERINGS TO THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE SHOEMAKING TRADITION
THE FIRST SHOES WERE NOT DESIGNED. THEY WERE DISCOVERED. WRAPPING THE FOOT IN HIDE OR PLANT FIBRE WAS A RESPONSE TO TERRAIN AND CLIMATE, NOT AN AESTHETIC DECISION. THE FORM FOLLOWED THE NEED EXACTLY. AND YET THE OBJECT THAT EMERGED FROM THAT FUNCTIONAL RESPONSE WOULD BECOME ONE OF THE MOST CULTURALLY SIGNIFICANT ARTICLES IN HUMAN HISTORY.
THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD
THE OLDEST SURVIVING SHOES ARE SANDALS WOVEN FROM SAGEBRUSH BARK, FOUND IN FORT ROCK CAVE, OREGON, AND DATED TO APPROXIMATELY 10,000 YEARS AGO. BUT EVIDENCE FROM BONE STRUCTURE SUGGESTS FOOT COVERINGS WERE WORN SIGNIFICANTLY EARLIER, PERHAPS 40,000 YEARS BEFORE THE PRESENT. THE SMALL TOES OF HUMANS FROM THIS PERIOD BEGIN TO SHOW REDUCED DEVELOPMENT CONSISTENT WITH REDUCED LOAD IN WALKING. CUSHIONED FOOTWEAR CHANGES WHICH STRUCTURES THE FOOT DEPENDS ON. THE BONES CARRY THE RECORD OF WHAT WAS WORN.
FROM PROTECTION TO SIGNAL
BY ANCIENT EGYPT THE SHOE HAD ACQUIRED A FUNCTION BEYOND PROTECTION. SANDALS INDICATED STATUS. THE PHARAOH'S SANDAL BEARER HELD A SIGNIFICANT COURT POSITION. SERVANTS WENT BAREFOOT. NOBLES WENT SHOD. THE SHOE AS SOCIAL SIGNAL IS AS OLD AS ORGANISED SOCIETY.
IN ROME, THE CALCEUS TOLD THE OBSERVER YOUR PLACE IN THE HIERARCHY BEFORE YOU SPOKE. DIFFERENT MATERIALS AND FASTENINGS FOR DIFFERENT CLASSES. THE SPECIFIC COMMUNICATION OF STATUS THROUGH FOOTWEAR THAT CONTINUES, IN EVOLVED FORM, TO THIS DAY.
THE GUILD TRADITION
MEDIEVAL EUROPE FORMALISED SHOEMAKING THROUGH THE GUILD SYSTEM. THE WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF CORDWAINERS, FOUNDED IN LONDON IN 1272, ESTABLISHED STANDARDS FOR MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION THAT ELEVATED THE CRAFT TO A REGULATED PROFESSION. THIS TRADITION OF STANDARDS, OF UNDERSTANDING WHAT A CORRECTLY MADE SHOE IS AND WHAT IT IS NOT, IS THE DIRECT ANCESTOR OF THE ENGLISH SHOEMAKING TRADITION THAT 1812 WORKS WITHIN TODAY.
THE ORIGINS ARE ANCIENT. THE STANDARD IS PRESENT. THE SNEAKERS ARE STILL MADE BY HAND IN ENGLAND.
