Footwear refers to garments worn on the feet, which typically serves the purpose of protection against adversities of the environment such as wear from ground textures and temperature. Footwear in the manner of

shoe A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from cultur ...

s therefore primarily serves the purpose to ease locomotion and prevent injuries. Footwear can also be used for

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fash ...

and adornment as well as to indicate the status or rank of the person within a social structure. Socks and other hosiery are typically worn additionally between the feet and other footwear for further comfort and relief. Cultures have different customs regarding footwear. These include not using any in some situations, usually bearing a symbolic meaning. This can however also be imposed on specific individuals to place them at a practical disadvantage against shod people, if they are excluded from having footwear available or are prohibited from using any. This usually takes place in situations of captivity, such as

imprisonment Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is " false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessar ...

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

, where the groups are among other things distinctly divided by whether or whether not footwear is being worn. In some cultures, people remove their shoes before entering a home. Bare feet are also seen as a sign of humility and respect, and adherents of many religions worship or mourn while barefoot. Some religious communities explicitly require people to remove shoes before they enter holy buildings, such as temples. In several cultures people remove their shoes as a sign of respect towards someone of higher standing. In a similar context deliberately forcing other people to go barefoot while being shod oneself has been used to clearly showcase and convey one's superiority within a setting of power disparity. Practitioners of the craft of

shoemaking Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or cobblers (also known as '' cordwainers''). In the 18th century, dozens or even hundreds of masters, journeymen ...

are called shoemakers, cobblers, or

cordwainer A cordwainer () is a shoemaker who makes new shoes from new leather. The cordwainer's trade can be contrasted with the cobbler's trade, according to a tradition in Britain that restricted cobblers to repairing shoes. This usage distinction is ...

History

Chalcolithic leather shoe from Areni-1 cave

Footwear has been in use since the earliest human history, archeological finds of complete shoes date back to the

Chalcolithic The Copper Age, also called the Chalcolithic (; from grc-gre, χαλκός ''khalkós'', "copper" and ''líthos'', "Rock (geology), stone") or (A)eneolithic (from Latin ''wikt:aeneus, aeneus'' "of copper"), is an list of archaeologi ...

(ca. 5000 BCE). The Romans saw clothing and footwear as unmistakable signs of power and status in society, and most Roman citizens wore footwear, while slaves and peasants sometimes remained barefoot. The

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

saw the rise of high-heeled shoes, also associated with power, and the desire to look larger than life, and artwork from that period often depicts bare feet as a symbol of poverty. Depictions of captives such as prisoners or slaves from the same period well into the 18th century show the individuals barefooted almost exclusively, at this contrasting the prevailing partakers of the scene. Officials like prosecutors, judges but also slave owners or passive bystanders were usually portrayed wearing shoes. During the Middle Ages, men and women wore pattens, commonly seen as the predecessor of the modern high-heeled shoe, while the poor and lower classes in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, as well as slaves in the New World, were usually barefoot. In the 15th century,

chopine A chopine is a type of women's platform shoe that was popular in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. Chopines were originally used as a patten, clog, or overshoe to protect the shoes and dress from mud and street soil. Chopines were popularl ...

s were created in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

, and were usually high. These shoes became popular in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

and throughout Europe, as a status symbol revealing wealth and social standing. During the 16th century, royalty such as Catherine de Medici and Mary I of England began wearing high-heeled shoes to make them look taller or larger than life. By 1580, men also wore them, and a person with authority or wealth might be described as, ''well-heeled''. In modern society, high-heeled shoes are a part of women's fashion and are widespread in certain countries around the world. Ötzischuh 2

Materials

Modern footwear is usually made up of

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hog ...

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adapta ...

, and

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

. In fact, leather was one of the original materials used for the first versions of a shoe. The soles can be made of rubber or plastic, sometimes having a sheet of metal inside. Roman sandals had sheets of metal on their soles so that it would not bend out of shape. More recently, footwear providers like Nike, have begun to source environmentally friendly materials.

Components

* Adhesives * Buckle * Counter (footwear): Backstay fitting between upper and lining in heel area and giving structure to back of shoe and supporting ankle. * Eyelet * Heel * Hook * Insole *

Outsole A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture to ...

* Laces * Shank * Sole *

Tack TACK is a group of archaea acronym for Thaumarchaeota (now Nitrososphaerota), Aigarchaeota, Crenarchaeota (now Thermoproteota), and Korarchaeota, the first groups discovered. They are found in different environments ranging from acidophilic ...

Tongue (footwear) A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture to ...

: Part of shoe covering top of foot underneath laces * Tread * Welt

Types

Boots

Boot A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is c ...

s ** Chukka boots ** Combat boots ** Cowboy boots ** Derby boots ** Fashion boots **

Go-go boot Go-go boots are a low-heeled style of women's fashion boot first introduced in the mid-1960s. The original go-go boots, as defined by André Courrèges in 1964, were white, low-heeled, and mid-calf in height, a specific style which is sometimes ...

s ** Hiking boots **

Motorcycle boots Motorcycle boots are associated with motorcycle riders and range from above ankle to below knee boots. They have an outside of a typical boot but a low heel to control the motorcycle. To improve motorcycle safety, motorcycle boots are general ...

** Mukluk ** Platform boots ** Riding boots **

Russian boot Russian boot is the name applied to a style of calf- or knee-length fashion boot for women that was popular in the early part of the 20th century. Russian boots fell out of favor in the 1930s, but were the inspiration for the high-leg fashion boo ...

s ** Seaboots ** Tabi boots ** Tanker boots **

Thigh-high boots Thigh-high boots, known also as thigh-length boots or simply thigh boots, are boots that extend above the knees to at least mid-thigh. Other terms for this footwear include '' over-the-knee boots'' (abbreviated OTK boots; the full term is also u ...

** Valenki ** Veldskoen ** Waders ** Wellington boots **

Winklepicker Winklepickers, or winkle pickers, are a style of shoe or boot worn from the 1950s onward, especially popular with British rock and roll fans such as teddy boys. The feature that gives both the boot and shoe their name is the very sharp and long ...

Shoes

Shoe A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from cultur ...

s **

Athletic shoe Sneakers (also called trainers, athletic shoes, tennis shoes, gym shoes, kicks, sport shoes, flats, running shoes, or runners) are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but which are now also widely used ...

s (also known as trainers or sneakers) ** Ballet flats ** Brothel creepers ** Court shoes (known in the US as pumps) ** Diabetic shoes ** Espadrilles ** Galoshes ** Kitten heels ** Lace-up shoes *** Derby shoes *** Oxford shoes *** Brogues *** Blucher shoes **

High-top The high-top is a shoe that extends slightly over the wearer's ankle. It is commonly an athletic shoe, particularly for basketball. It is sometimes confused with the slightly shorter mid-top, which typically extends no higher than the wearer's ...

s ** Loafers **

Mary Janes Mary Jane (also known as bar shoes or doll shoes) is an American term ( formerly a registered trademark) for a closed, low-cut shoe with one or more straps across the instep. Classic Mary Janes for children are typically made of black leathe ...

** Moccasins ** Monks ** Mules ** Platform shoes ** Plimsoll shoes ** School shoes ** Skate shoes ** Sneakers ** Tap shoes ** Toe shoes Vibram FiveFingers KSO

Sandals

* Sandals ** Kolhapuri Chappals **

Peshawari chappal __NOTOC__ The Peshawari chappal ( ps, پېښوري څپلی, Urdu: پیشاوری چپل) is a traditional type of footwear of Pashtuns, worn especially by Pashtuns in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region. The shoe takes its name from the city of Pesh ...

** Flip-flops (thongs) ** Slide ** Wörishofer ** Avarca, from Balearic Islands Sandalen

Slipper

* Closed slippers * Open slippers

Specific footwear

* Ballet shoes * Boat shoes * High-heeled footwear * Climbing shoes * Clogs * Football boots *

Sabaton A sabaton or solleret is part of a knight's body armor that covers the foot. History Fourteenth and fifteenth century sabatons typically end in a tapered point well past the actual toes of the wearer's foot, following fashionable shoe shapes ...

* Safety footwear * Sailing boots * Ski boots * Snowshoes * Ice skates * Surgical shoe * Pointe shoes * Swimfins (flippers) *

Barefoot sandals Sandals are an open type of footwear, consisting of a sole held to the wearer's foot by straps going over the instep and around the ankle. Sandals can also have a heel. While the distinction between sandals and other types of footwear can som ...

Traditional footwear

* Abarka, of leather, from

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

* Areni-1 shoe, 5,500-year-old leather shoe found in

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...

* Bast shoe, of bast, from Northern Europe * Crakow, shoes from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

with long toes popular in the 15th century * Galesh, of textile, from

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

* Geta, of wood, from

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

* Klompen, of wood, from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

* Opanci, of leather, from

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

Pampooties Pampooties are rawhide shoes, which were formerly made and worn on the Aran Islands of County Galway, Ireland. History They are formed of a single piece of untanned hide folded around the foot and stitched with twine or a leather strap. Hide fro ...

, of hide, from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

Socks

* Socks ** Anklets **

Bobby socks Bobby or Bobbie may refer to: People * Bobby (given name), a list of names * Bobby (actress), from Bangladesh * Bobby (rapper) (born 1995), from South Korea * Bobby (screenwriter) (born 1983), Indian screenwriter * Bobby, old slang for a constab ...

Diabetic socks People with diabetes have a greater chance of developing neuropathy, vascular disease, and infections, especially in the legs, so socks and footwear that reduce or eliminate pressures or hot spots is important. A diabetic sock is a non-restrictive, ...

Dress socks Dress socks are dress clothes socks for men traditionally in dark colours like black, blue, gray or brown. For more casual wear they are sometimes offered in other colours or checkered patterns. Dress socks are worn in accompaniment to dress ...

** Footwraps ** Knee highs **

Toe socks Toe socks (also known as fingersocks, glove socks, 5-toe socks or digital socks) are socks that have been knitted so that each toe is individually encased the same way as fingers within a glove. All sock lengths are available as toe socks, from n ...

** Tabi

Footwear industry

In Europe, the footwear industry has declined in the last years. Whereas in 2005, there were about 27,000 firms, in 2008 there were only 24,000. As well as the number of firms, the direct employment has decreased. The only factors that remained almost steady was the value added at factor cost and production value. In the U.S., the annual footwear industry revenue was $48 billion in 2012. In 2015, there were about 29,000 shoe stores in the U.S. and the shoe industry employed about 189,000 people. Due to rising imports, these numbers are also declining. The only way of staying afloat in the shoe market is to establish a presence in niche markets.

Safety of footwear products

To ensure high quality and safety of footwear, manufacturers have to make sure all products comply to existing and relevant standards. By producing footwear in accordance with national and international regulations, potential risks can be minimized and the interest of both textile manufacturers and consumers can be protected. The following standards/regulations apply to footwear products: *

CPSIA The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008 is a United States law signed on August 14, 2008 by President George W. Bush. The legislative bill was known as HR 4040, sponsored by Congressman Bobby Rush (D-Ill.). On December 19, 200 ...

GB Standard The National Standards of the People's Republic of China (), coded as , are the standards issued by the Standardization Administration of China under the authorization of Article 10 of the Standardization Law of the People's Republic of China. ...

s such as ** GB20400－2006 Leather and fur-limit of harmful matter ** QB/T1002-2005 Leather shoes ** GB/T 15107 Athletic footwear * EN Standards for Footwear * ASTM Standards *

ISO standard The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ) is an international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Membership requirements are given in A ...

s * AAFA Restricted Substance List * BIS (ISI) : IS 15298-I: 2011 test methods, IS 15298 –II for safety footwear, IS 15298-III Protective footwear, IS 15298-IV Occupational Footwear

Impressions

Footwear can create two types of impressions: two-dimensional and three-dimensional impressions. When footwear places material onto a solid surface, it creates a two-dimensional impression. These types of impressions can be made with a variety of substances, like dirt and sand. When footwear removes material from a soft surface, it creates a three-dimensional impression. These types of impressions can be made in a variety of soft substances, like snow and dirt. Two-dimensional impressions also differ from three-dimensional impressions because the latter demonstrate length, width, and depth whereas two-dimensional impressions only demonstrate the first two aspects.

References

External links

Britannica: clothing and footwear industry
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