Anyone who has ever shopped for a pair of shoes--especially anyone who does so with a passion--knows that shoes are much more than functional objects. From the sneaker to the stiletto, shoes have become potent signifiers of gender, class, personality, taste, and even politics. This lavishly illustrated work recounts the history of shoes with entertaining essays that cover everything from the eroticism of ancient shoe lacing, medieval fears about long-toed shoes, and the role of shoes in religious ritual to the infamous Chopine with a 23-inch heel and the modern cult of shoe designers. With 170 color photos and 30 black and white illustrations, the essays will entertain and inform casual shoe shoppers and fashionistas alike.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"At last a work that deals not only with the history of footwear, but also with its cultural significance. This volume helps transform the shoe from a mundane object of everyday use into something of great social and psychological power."--Manolo Blahnik
"If you have ever wondered why women are forever in search of, consumed by, in love with, transformed by 'The Perfect Shoe': wonder no longer. Simply read this history of shoes. Then go out and buy some more."--Stuart Weitzman
"Moves the shoe definitively from the margins of 'accessory' to the center of fashion. Long gone are the days of 'having the shoes to match the bag'; this coherent survey of the shoe in all its aspects--historical, cultural and global--reveals footwear as a key to the vicissitudes of fashion and iconic in itself."--Elizabeth Wilson, author of Adorned in Dreams
"If you have ever wondered why women are forever in search of, consumed by, in love with, transformed by 'The Perfect Shoe': wonder no longer. Simply read this history of shoes. Then go out and buy some more."--Stuart Weitzman
"Moves the shoe definitively from the margins of 'accessory' to the center of fashion. Long gone are the days of 'having the shoes to match the bag'; this coherent survey of the shoe in all its aspects--historical, cultural and global--reveals footwear as a key to the vicissitudes of fashion and iconic in itself."--Elizabeth Wilson, author of Adorned in Dreams
About the Author
Giorgio Riello is Research Officer in Global History at the London School of Economics. He has pubished widely on the topics of shoes, shoemaking, fashion and product innovation in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Peter McNeil is Professor of Design History, University of Technology, Sydney. He has published more than forty articles in journals including Fashion Theory, Journal of Design History and Art History.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Everything you ever wanted to know,
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This review is from: Shoes: A History From Sandals to Sneakers (Hardcover)
This is a very in-depth history lesson on shoes. Ever wondered where and when our fascination with high heels began? This is the book you must read. Very informative with lots of historic images and photographs.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Hmmm....,
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This review is from: Shoes: A History From Sandals to Sneakers (Hardcover)
This book was OK. I wasn't too inspired. Definitely has lots of pictures, but not of very interesting shoes.
9 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fashion shoes, yes, but there are others...,
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This review is from: Shoes: A History From Sandals to Sneakers (Hardcover)
My daughter got this book to use as a resource for a school report, and it does have some interesting history and great sections, like the Chinese shoes. But where are Birkenstocks and Earth shoes?? These also have changed shoe history, so why were they, and other "bohemian" shoes not included? Just because they are ugly to certain people, some of us are more concerned with comfort after years of wearing fashion (feet and posture killing) shoes, and now wear these, or similar "clunky" shoes. A real history would include everything.
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