By: Amanda Bloye, FW Writer

In life there are few sure things. It is never
certain that you will find the perfect man and it
is never known for certain that the perfect job
is just around the corner. But there is one thing
in a woman’s life that offers her hope above all
else. This four-letter word evokes more passion
than any man and a greater sense of pride and
satisfaction than any job. Ladies, I am talking
about the shoe.

Although at first this claim may seem
superficial, if you look deeper into yourself and
your footwear you will find a greater being.
Shoes are there in shop windows cheering you up
when you’re shopping your sorrows away. They
are giving us the strength we need to nail a really
tough interview or get through a hard day at the
office. And, above all else, our shoes are there
to provide us with the support we need to walk,
run, skip, jump and dance through life.

There is an episode of Sex and the City in
which Carrie spots a gorgeous pair of Manolo
Blahniks while walking through the street. She
promptly stops, gazes at the shoes lovingly and
breathlessly exclaims, “Hello, Lover.” With
those words the eyes of women everywhere
welled up with the recognition of the purity of her reaction. Yes, there are few certainties in life
but one of them is definitely a great pair of shoes.

In our quest for perfect footwear it is
rare that we stop to think how or where those
pumps and runners first began. It is rare that
we consider just how much the show has truly
evolved. Just where did these strappy Adonis’
really come from?

It’s safe to say shoes, or some version of the
shoe, have been around almost as long as there
have been feet to put them on. According to The
Big Site of Amazing Facts (BSAF) not one style
of shoes you see today is less than 400 years old.
The earliest versions of shoes are in fact much older. According to the site, those in the
Christian era saw shoes as a sign of dignity. The
website explains that in the Book of Exodus, 3:5,
God’s first command to Moses is to remove the
shoes from his feet as a sign of respect to the holy
ground he was walking on.

Another recognizable role shoes have played
throughout history is to act as a means of class
distinction. BSAF explains that the Ancient
Egyptians would use shoe styles as a way to
indicate social rank. Slaves and peasants were
usually barefoot, occasionally wearing a crude
version of sandals made from palm leaves.
Common citizens wore papus sandals with a flat
sole tied to the foot by a thong between sandals.
Finally, the highest ranked members of society
would wear sandals with pointed toes while
Aristocrats were the only class accepted to wear
the colours red and yellow on their feet.

As time passed the way shoes were fashioned
began to evolve as well as their status as a
staple of societal fashion. In Ancient Greece
Aristocratic women would have as many as
twenty pairs of shoes, while in Ancient China
women would bind their feet to appear smaller
and fit into a smaller shoe size. During the
Middle Ages shoes evolved into the designs we
recognize today as cold weather caused sandals
to give way to more modern, protective versions.

From these Ancient designs individuals
have worked to create, develop and design the
next generation of footwear. Now, thousands of
years later, women view shoes as an extension
of themselves. According to BSAF the average
women buys five pairs a year, selecting them
from over 150 sizes and thousands of styles. So
whatever style you choose to love remember to
stay true to yourself and show your soles a little
love and admiration. Those shoes have come a
long way to keep you style savvy today.