what-when-how
In Depth Tutorials and Information
C h a p t e r
4 
Chapter contents
Evolution of
footwear design
and purpose
Introduction  57
Origins and evolution of 
footwear design  58
The first footwear 58
Roman footwear 58
Medieval footwear 59
18th-century footwear 60
19th-century footwear 61
20th-century footwear 62
The social role of footwear  64
Body image and footwear  65
Summary  66
Review questions  66
Reflection 66
References  66
Further reading  66
“The status of a man's shoe is an indicator
of civilised values, economic well-being and
impeccable taste.”
Rev. Tom Foggy Dribble, 1825
Introduction
Footwear is much more than a protective wrap-
ping for the feet. Although Riello and McNeil
(2006) describe shoes as 'the principle intersec-
tion between the body and physical space' that
allow us to move around our environments and
experience the world in which we live, they also
have a powerful influence on the social and
emotional aspects of our lives. In this respect,
footwear acquires different roles and has differ-
ent meanings dependent on a person's taste,
national and professional identity, social status,
gender and sexual preferences. These mean-
ings have manifested in different ways from the
time of the ancient Egyptians and Greeks to
pre-modern China and present-day Western
societies. The purpose of this chapter is not to
provide a detailed and comprehensive history
of footwear, as there are whole books that focus
on this subject; rather, the aim is to highlight to
the practitioner how and why footwear became
more than just a protective covering for the
ancient Egyptians and Greeks. Thus, readers
will understand that the social role of footwear
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