Shoes: A History from Sandals to Sneakers

by Giorgio Riello, Peter McNeil

From practical wardrobe accessories to objects of desire, this book is a stunning visual and fascinating historical reference exploring every aspect of shoes. From ancient times to the present, shoes have been so much more than things to walk in. We use them to signal how fashionable we are, but beyond style, shoes can communicate our sexual desires, aesthetic sense, social status, and personality. Within the pages of this lavishly illustrated book, you’ll find the cultural mixed with the practical as the story of shoes unfolds from the foot-binding shoes of China to the infamous twenty-three-inch chopine platform shoe to the mens’ shoes worn by dandies of the eighteenth century to the move toward conservatism that brought the Wellington boot to the irresistible sex appeal of the high heel to the cult rise of the sneaker. Shoes is a revealing, insightful, and beautifully presented fashion history collection.

Genres: Fashion

448 pages, Paperback

First published October 25, 2011

About the author

Giorgio Riello is chair of early modern global history at the European University Institute in Florence and professor of global history and culture at the University of Warwick, UK. He has written on early modern textiles, dress and fashion in Europe and Asia.

Reviews

[Jane Cook]

Thorough history of shoes.

[Tenghe Keita]

bratz-dana