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Fun Trivia : Footwear Encyclopedia FunTrivia

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    Footwear

    What was the name given to shoes with a long pointed toe, fashionable amongst teenagers in the late 1950s and early 1960s?Best Foot Forward for this Footwear

      winklepickers. The reference is to the pin needed to extract winkles from their shells in order to eat them. The name, probably first used as a joke, quickly passed into advertising and gained a degree of respectablity as a real term. It is first recorded in the written language in the "Spectator" magazine of 1960.

    What was the name given to the military sandal used by the Romans?Best Foot Forward for this Footwear

      caliga. The caliga exposed the toes and had a lattice-patterned upper, front lacing and a heavily nailed sole. The sole consisted of three or four layers of vegetable tanned cattle hide. Other styles included the "calceus" and the "gallica", both with a closed toe - a style more suited to service in northern climates such as in Britain.

    By the end of the 1760s thick heels began to thin down but became not very strong and the top became wider and more wedge-like. Which was the correct name for this new type of heel?Best Foot Forward for this Footwear

      The Italian Heel. Again soon after the "Italian" heel fashions for women's shoes began to change. Towards the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century women's shoes became lower and lower cut, and heels become lower until they disappear altogether for a while.

    What was an important innovation to the shoe fashion world in 1660?Best Foot Forward for this Footwear

      The buckle being used to fasten a shoe.. Samuel Pepys wrote in his diary on the 22nd January, 1660, "This day I began to put on buckles to my shoes." In the 17th century men wore shoes and mules with a square toe, often blocked and domed. Around about the same time women decided that a pointed toe was more elegant.

    Which decade of the 20th century was dominated by enormous platform shoes?Best Foot Forward for this Footwear

      The 1970s. Garish colours and glitter also made their presence strongly felt by the middle of the 1970s. Some men enjoyed the flamboyance just as much as the women, and quite a few people took their inspiration from the "Glam Rock" pop stars of the day.

    During the reign of Henry VIII soles reaching six and a half inches wide were common. What was the name given to this sort of shoe?Best Foot Forward for this Footwear

      foot bags. The pointed shoe had disappeared at the end of the Middle Ages and was replaced by round and square toe shapes. At first they were a sensible size but gradually became larger and larger until they became "foot bags"

    Back in the 1320s in England the popular styles of footwear included "pikes", "crackowes" and "poulaines". What was the most notable feature of such styles?Best Foot Forward for this Footwear

      The toes of the shoes became a sharp point.. The sharp point was known as the "scorpion's tail". The length of one's toe point became an indicator of one's high status. The King and his court had the shoes with the largest toes. This style wasn't normally worn by women.

    Which elastic-sided boots were popular during the early 1960s?Best Foot Forward for this Footwear

      Chelsea Boots. The boots had in fact been invented over 125 years earlier. Amongst other things that made them popular again in the 1960s was the fact that the Beatles were sometimes known to wear them.

    Which shoe style for men was named after a British city with a famous university?Best Foot Forward for this Footwear

      Oxford. A dictionary definition of an "Oxford shoe" is merely "a low shoe laced over the instep". There is no exact date for its introduction but it developed in popularity during the first two decades of the 20th century. A style of trousers which was very wide at the ankles became fashionable in the 1920s and was known as "Oxford bags".

    What does the word "stiletto" originally mean?Best Foot Forward for this Footwear

      little dagger. The Italian stiletto had a strong period of popularity in the 1950s, replacing the chunky styles of the 1940s and complimenting the postwar "New Look" in clothes. Later problems with carpets and flooring in general brought the competition between common sense and fashion into a new arena.

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