The History of Shoes

Thomas H. Lee, M.D.

History of Shoes

• Early shoes were made of animal skins. They had no last. A last is a mold of a shoe.

History of Shoes

• Medivel shoes had straight lasts. There were no difference between left and right shoes. Colonel von Blucher made the first major discovery with the Blucher lace system. The vamp does not come together as you can see here.

History of Shoes

• Renaissance shoes were much more narrow. They had left and right shoes. They also had heels to make men taller. The most popular shoe lace system comes from Balmoral Castle in Scotland. It is still used today.

History of Shoes

• Now in the 20th century, there is no rules for the last or heels. Any type of shoe is game. Many of these wild configurations lead to our most common foot and ankle problems.

An attractive sexy shoe like these can frequently result in significantly deformed feet.