Research: Secondary

The first shoe: No one knows when the first shoes were worn for there are no records of such things so we can only make assumptions based on relics and primitive cave paintings. For sure, the development of some sort of covering was one of the first things primitive man did considering all of that outdoor activity such as hunting which required traipsing over jagged rocks and burning sand. Never mind the winter. So the first shoes were developed quite early and they were most likely bag-like wrappings made of fur or skins. Cave Paintings (c.8000 BCE) show these foot bags and some even show images of shoes that look like fur boots. The earliest European shoes discovered were that of the Ice Man found in the Alps which date all the way back to 3300 BCE and were made of rawhide bearskin and woven plant fibers.
The sandal: Sandals are believed to be the first crafted footwear. They were plain, practical and consisted of only two parts: The sole and the thong. The first “flip flop” so to speak. Except these first sandals weren’t made of colourful plastic or rubber obviously, they had to be made from whatever was available. Egyptians learned to tan hide, sandals were made from leather and these early leather shoes were not made to accommodate right and left fittings, instead constructed exactly the same giving no allowance for the big toe or instep which I imagine made walking a bit awkward.
In ancient Egypt, the sandal was the sign of power and rank, because they were considered a luxury and not everyone could afford good ones. Which makes sense. But those Egyptians went so far as to allocate class by colour. Gold and jewelled sandals were for the king and his court, pastels for dignitaries with red and yellow being the only colours allowed for the middle class. The slaves went barefoot, of course.
The 16th century: women basically wore the same type of shoes as the previous century with the added interest of a new crazy shoe fad that originated in Venice and quickly spread to the rest of Europe. Like the patten, the chopine was a type of over shoe with a raised platform sole meant to be worn over other shoes to give the wearer height. And similar to other shoe fashions, they fell pray to exaggeration whereas the soles got higher and higher until some were up to thirty inches. Walking on such tall shoes would be like walking on stilts except you had nothing to hold on to, but women wore them anyway requiring a maid or cane to help them walk. Oddly enough, the church approved of Chopines but for all the wrong reasons. Chopines impeded movement and movement was required for such sin producing activities such as dancing. And if you can’t move, you can’t dance. Everyone is happy (or at least the Church was.) But they were eventually outlawed in Venice after a number of women miscarried after falling off their shoes.
In the 1660s: women to pay more attention to their shoes and no longer wanted the same shape as men’s. A variety of exquisitely embroidered shoes in silk, satin and velvet appeared trimmed with lace which fell in a deep flounce over the foot. Slippers had heels often measuring six inches made of colored satin to match the costume.
In the 1700s: shapely and richly lavished shoes. High heels were a must, along with rich brocades, embroidered silks and painted leathers. Large showy buckles topped them off along with metallic braid in silver and gold which could be transferred from one shoe to the next depending. After the French Revolution in 1792, shoes styles changed dramatically.Heels disappeared and expensive silks were replaced with more affordable and practical leathers.
In the 1800s: men's shoes become steadfast and conservative and basically stayed that way for centuries to come. Black becomes basically the only color for shoes. The riding boot becomes fashionable for a time at the beginning of the century which were low heeled and practical.
The laced up shoe which can still be seen today became popular at the beginning of the century and has been with us ever since. When it comes to men's shoes, they changed and developed and consisted of some crazy styles here and there until the end of the 19th century when suddenly perfection was attained and the search was over. Kaput. This was it. Why bother anymore? You won't find much variation from this time on with a brief detour in the 1970's with the Anything Goes era.
In the 1900's: As usual, women’s legs were never shown and feet were only glimpsed once in a while when sitting down so stockings and hose weren’t high up on the fashion must haves.
The wealthy women wore silk stockings in dark colors and handmade shoes and boots with pointed toes and a two or three inch heel. Silk or fine kid was used for the dressy styles with buckles or bows as decoration and that completely matched their whole outfit.
In the 1910's: For men, patent leather pumps were still seen, but only for the most formal of events. Splats were a fashionable item for formal dress. The first sneaker was developed called Keds in 1917.
In the 1920's: Women’s shoes became lighter and finer with a pointed toe and the delightful addition of straps. Bar shoes became all the rage for they didn’t fall off your foot while dancing the night away. T-straps were popular too for the same reason and were worn primarily with afternoon gowns. In the twenties, shoes were all about the strap.
The 50's: The race to achieve the slimmest possible heel was foremost in shoe design. Gone were the prior decade's chunky styles and in came the new light pumps with cut toes, curved vamps and enticing “v” shapes with molded heels.Teen girls wore loafers with white socks, saddle shoes, flats and ballet slippers. Men wore black and white converse tennis shoes, two toned suede or white bucks.
60's: It's hard to discribe a distinct shoe look for the 60’s. Conservative women stuck with the stiletto but slip on shoes with clunky heels were also popular to wear with pants. Of course, there were boots to go along with the mini skirt. First they were loose plastic or plain leather but eventfully they morphed into clinging treated textiles. Go-go boots were the must have and came in every different height imaginable. Men wore ankle boots with a square Cuban heel or Chelsea or Beatle boots. And the colors! The colors! They had it all. And suede. Colored suede!
70's: High heels, flats, platforms, wedges, clogs and stilettos.
Toss in the “anti heeled” earth shoes where the heel was suddenly discovered to be ecologically healthier LOWER than the rest of the foot and boots. Men also wore platforms.
Heel charity: Looking at fabolous magazine, a charity is currently in place to raise money for the charity "wellbeing of women". we discovered after reading the special edition dedicated to the appeal that celebrities are wearing heels in a bid to raise money. We found this could be relevant to our documentary as it is current and can intrest our planned target auidence. Celebrities such as Amanda Holden, Fearne Cotton, Dame Kelly Holmes and also males such as Peter Andre, Vernon Kay and Andrew Castle.