Footwear is worn to protect the feet and as a fashion item. Footwear in all its various forms has many different styles nowadays, though globally there is, like with other types of clothing, a great deal of standardisation. I have basically divided footwear into five:
Shoe: a covering for the foot, with a sturdy sole and not reaching above the ankle (Fig. 2).
Boot: like a shoe but reaches above the ankle (Fig. 8).
Sandal: a sole that is strapped to the foot (Fig. 21).
Slipper: any backless, low-cut shoe into which the foot may be easily slipped (Fig. 15).
Clog: a type of shoe made of wood (Fig. 23), or with the top part made of leather and the bottom part of wood.
Footwear can be made of various animal and plant materials as well as metal and artificial materials. The earliest known shoes are sandals made of tree bark that date from ca. 7000 or 8000 BCE (they were found in the Fort Rock Cave in the US state of Oregon in 1938). The world’s oldest leather shoe, made from a single piece of cowhide laced with a leather cord along seams at the front and back, was found in a cave complex in Armenia in 2008 and is believed to date to 3500 BCE. However, tracks and tools indicating that early humans wore shoes have been dated back to even earlier time, 73,000 and 136,000 BP (before present/before physics).
Traditional costumes are often associated with a specific type of footwear; however, often the footwear worn by dolls does not reflect the original. Dolls are often bare-footed (Fig. 4) or wear a sort of generic plastic shoe (Figs. 5, 6 & 35). Nonetheless, I do have some dolls with interesting footwear typical of the particular costume. Doll footwear can be painted on (Fig. 7), moulded as part of the body (Fig. 34) or separate items made of plant [bast (Fig. 1), cotton (Fig. 37), wood (Fig. 23)] or animal [leather (Figs. 24, 31 & 32), felt (Figs. 14 & 38), woollen cloth (Fig. 25)] materials or indeed papier-mâché (Figs. 3, 16 & 27), cardboard (Figs. 9 & 15) or some form of plastic.
Figure 01: Belarus: These are a pair of traditional Belarus bast shoes (luptsi ). Bast is a fibrous material obtained from the phloem (vascular tissue) of jute, hemp, flax, etc. (Flax violinist)
Figure 02: Bulgaria: These soft leather shoes are called tsarvouli . This couple are both wearing them, but the woman’s toes are more pointed than the man’s. (See also Figs. 31 & 32)
Figure 03: Croatia: These red shoes made of papier-mâché (?) are possibly supposed to represent the red leather slippers (crvene papuce ) worn by Croatian women for festive occasions. [Dubrovnik, Dalmatia (II)]
Figure 04: France: This fisherman’s feet are free of shoes so that he can wade through the water to do his fishing. (Provencal santon figurine – fisherman with net and fish)
Figure 05: France: A very modern pair of black plastic shoes with straps and laces on a Mediaeval queen. (Isabella, Queen of France 1370—1435)
Figure 06: Germany / Austria: Generic black shoes made of plastic, though they have laces moulded into them. (Allgäu)
Figure 07: Germany: The black shoes of this very old doll have been painted on, though the paint has worn off in places. In older dolls like this, the foot is formed like a human foot with all the toes and this is just painted over. Newer dolls often have the shoe form moulded onto the bottom of their legs. [Bückeburg (I), Lower Saxony]
Figure 08: Germany: The black knee boots of this man from Mönchgut are made of plastic. [Mönchgut, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania ]
Figure 09: Germany: This woman from Brunswick Land is wearing a typical pair of black shoes though they are lacking the traditional silver buckles. The shoes are made of thin plastic with a cardboard sole. (Brunswick Land)
Figure 10: Germany: These laced shoes go up to the ankle, so they could be called ankle boots (her male companion is wearing the same footwear). The material is a leather-like plastic (Upper Bavarian girl)
Figure 11: Greece: These are tsarouchia , the leather moccasin-like shoes with pompons (foundes ) in the Greek national colours (white and blue) worn by the Presidential guard. [Presidential guard (I)]
Figure 12: Hungary: The bride’s black shoes have a piece of leather at the front forming a point going up the front of the leg. (Matyó bridal couple, Upper Hungary)
Figure 13: Hungary: The black boots with a curved top typical of Matyó menswear. (Matyó bridal couple, Upper Hungary)
Figure 14: Hungary: Her ankle boots are made of black plastic with black felt soles. They have a similar point going from the instep up the front of the leg as the Matyó bride’s shoes in Fig. 12. (Married Matyó woman)
Figure 15: Hungary: Typical traditional Hungarian mules (backless slippers ) made using cardboard for the sole and plastic for the top. [Kalotaszeg, Transylvania (?) (I)]
Figure 16: Hungary: These bright red boots up to the knees are typically worn by Hungarian dancers. These ones are made of painted papier-mâché (one is now slightly damage). Such boots are also worn in Romania (Fig. 30) and Russia (Fig. 33). (Nógrád county, Northern Hungary)
Figure 17: India: This Indian woman is wearing painted-on pointed red shoes . (Married Indian woman)
Figure 18: Ireland: These shoes are called ghillies and are typical of a soft-shoe dancer. However, these have been made with straps with press studs rather than the usual laces. (Irish soft-shoe dancer)
Figure 19: Korea, South: These white shoes are called heukhye. They have been formed as part of her plastic body. (Fan dancer)
Figure 20: Lebanon: Both this Druze Sheik and his Shaykhah are wearing short black boots . (Druze Sheikh and Shaykhah)
Figure 21: Malaysia: These flip-flop-like plastic sandals each held in place by a silver sequin may be representatives of the capal (the traditional Malay sandal which normally has a piece that goes between the first and second toes). (Malayan man)
Figure 22: Moldova: The low brown slip-on shoes of this farmer are made of plastic. (Farmer)
Figure 23: Netherlands: A typical pair of wooden Dutch clogs . See also Netherlands: Clogs. (South Beveland)
Figure 24: North America: These shoes represent leather moccasins in a folded-over style (USA, left) and a more tailored style (Canada, right) (Canda: Northern Plains & USA: Northern Plains)
Figure 25: Norway: The shoes (nutukkaat ) of this Sámi couple are made of frieze, though the decorations are different (hers are in red and his in white). (Sámi man and woman) Frieze is a Middle English term for a coarse woollen, plain weave cloth with a nap on one side.
Figure 26: Poland: These are the typical flat leather shoes (kierpce ) worn by the Goral. (Goral man, Zakopane, Podhale Region)
Figure 27: Poland: Boots modelled from papier-mâché and painted white. [Stefan Batory (1533—1586) – King of Poland]
Figure 28: Poland: Black boots painted on to the wood of this doll representing a student. (Young student)
Figure 29: Poland: Black plastic boots tied with red thread laces. (Białystok)
Figure 30: Romania: Knee-high red boots (painted plastic) similar to those worn in Hungary (Fig. 16) and Russia (Fig. 33). (Ineu, Arad, West Transylvania)
Figure 31: Romania: These leather peasant sandals are called opinci . The opinci ties are wound around the socks to just below the knees (hidden by the skirt) (cf. Fig. 31). (Region unknown) Evidence for this style of footwear can be seen on a clay foot found in Turdaș (Romania), dating from around 2500 BCE. Opinci were worn not only throughout Romania but also over a wide area in south and east Europe, being known as opanke (Serbia), tservuli/tsarvouli (Bulgaria; Fig. 2), etc. Such sandals are made of a single rectangle of cow, ox or pig hide and are gathered round the foot in various ways. The opinci are worn with woollen socks (călțuni ) as in this doll or with hemp canvas, woollen or felt foot wraps (obiele ).
Figure 32: Romania: This doll is also wearing opinci , but they are tied differently to those in Fig. 30. The ties of these sandals are wound around the socks to form a 1-cm band just over the ankles. (Vilcea, Wallachia)
Figure 33: Russia: The doll’s red boots are made of plastic. Such boots apparently figure in Russian folklore and fairy tales, and they are often worn for traditional Russian folk dances. They are similar to the boots worn in Hungary (Fig. 16) and Romania (Fig. 29) (Unmarried Russian girl)
Figure 34: Spain: Typically, flamenco is danced in shoes with a square heel. This doll’s black high-heeled shoes are moulded to her body. [Andalusia (I) flamenco dancer] Although high heels are now almost exclusively associated with women, they were actually introduced into fashion by men. Persian and Mongolian horsemen in the Middle Ages were among the first to wear a heel, as a means of keeping their feet from sliding out of their stirrups. Such high heels also helped to keep riders still when they needed to stand up and shoot arrows.
Figure 35: Spain: Her plain shoes are made of white plastic and are moulded to her body. In contrast to such a fine lady-like costume, her shoes are more for clodhoppers. [Andalusia (II)]
Figure 36: Thailand: Her gold and orange striped shoes have long pointed toes curled up at the front. Interestingly, the male temple dancer has similar shoes. [Female Thai temple dancer (Lakhon nai)]
Figure 37: Türkiye (Turkey): The shoes of this doll are made of red painted fabric wrapped around a piece of wire, which can be seen as a hoop pointing backwards (to the left) and seems to give her the ability to stand (though she is very unstable). (Ottoman harem costume)
Figure 38: USA: This young fashionista is wearing felt boots . [1960s girl (II)]
Figure 39: Slovenia: Black boots worn by a Feathery Kurent dancer. (Feathery Kurent)
Figure 40: Vietnam: These are Vietnamese sandals , the traditional guoc. They have a black base and a red tie over the instep. [Kinh (Viet) woman (I)]
Figure 41: Peru: These are a pair of so-called Yankees (ajotas ) made from wheel tires and worn typically by the Andean peoples. [Andean (V) woman with knitting]
Sources of information