The most famous models of equestrian shoes
„You want to fall in love with a shoe, go ahead. A shoe can’t love you back, but, on the other hand, a shoe can’t hurt you too deeply either. And there are so many nice-looking shoes.”.
[Allan Sherman]
Shoes play a very important role in people’s lives. Many of the famous models, which appear regularly on the catwalks are modeled on equestrian footgear. As these kind of shoes were worn by the highly born people, they were associated with wealth. Apart from the stabilising foot in the stirrup function, they used to “elevate their owner, give an impressive posture, and highlight the muscular calves” (Margaret Visser, an anthropologist).
I’ll start with my favourite ones – the jackboots.
Traditionally, they are made from soft leather. Their cut hasn’t changed much over time, contrary to the amount of decorations. The high spot was reached in the 16th century (spurs, fitting, stamping ets. were in vogue).
Discrimination against women in horsemanship was very vivid. They travelled on horses passively in the saddle which resembled a chair. They had no right to steer the horse, just like they had no right to steer their own lives. All these caused the female riding shoes to appear pretty late, and women’s patch to the jackboots was extremely tough. Of huge importance was brave role models like Isabella Bird. She was born in the 19th century, she was a writer, traveller, who learned to ride like a man. The next brave woman was Ethel Tweedie, who travelled to Iceland “Riding like a man is way less tiring and much more pleasant, especially on rugged ground”. Fortunately, the women’s efforts were successful and nowadays the jackboots serve riders of both genders.
The jackboots are loved for their slender shape. They repeatedly appear in the new collections, just like jodhpurs, which they gave rise to.
You will find more about shoes in the next posts ;).
This post were inspired by the book entitled “Shoe Innovations: A Visual Celebration of 60 Styles”.
Source of the photos: Pinterest
