From ancient Egyptian sandals to modern sneakers. A history of footwear in pictures
Shoes are not only practical and dressy. They also tell us a lot about the person wearing them and the society where they come from: The golden sandals from the 6th century BC should guarantee their owner a safe and proper transition to the afterlife as grave goods. The medieval pontifical shoes are a symbol of the pure way of life of the person wearing them. Chinese Gin Lien shoes should forcibly keep the feet of their wearer as small as possible so that they corresponded to the East Asian ideal of beauty – a painful ritual lasting 1000 years that has been forbidden since 1911.
If you want to know more about the shoes of the Wunder von Bern (Miracle of Bern), Marlene Dietrich's hiking boots or the iconic "Chucks": Step inside!