The march of History

by Marie-Josèphe, Bossan-Picaud
(Conservateur du Musée International de la chaussure)

Copyright Musée international de la chaussure, Rue Saint Just, 26100 Romans, T +33 (0)4 75 05 51 81, musee(at)ville-romans26.fr
Crédit photographique © Christophe Villard

XVe

“Bear’s-foot” style solleret, a component of foot armour. France, XVIth century.

ca. 1675

Postillion boot in black leather, also known as a seven league boot. Seven leagues represent the distance covered by postillions between two post relays. Each boot weighs 4.35 kg. France, end of XVIIth century.

XVIIe

Musketeer boot in leather, also known as a “funnel” or “cauldron” boot, decorated with intaglio fleur de lys motif. France, XVIIth century.

XVIIe

Funnel boot in leather adorned with fleurs de lys motif in relief. Louis XIV Period. Jacquemart Collections, Musée National du Moyen-Âge archive, Thermes de Cluny, Paris.

XVIIIe

Riding boot in purple velvet embroidered with floral motifs in gold and silver thread. Worn during excursions from the winter residence. Persia, XVIIIth century.

XVIIIe

Woman's boot. Red velvet and green silk embroidered with gold and silver thread in relief. Silk tufting. Tatar-style seaming, encircled by a hand of green velvet. Wooden heel covered in sharkskin. Provenance uncertain (Russian Turkestan, Uzbekistan or Russian Turkmenistan?).

1804 - 1814

Boot in black leather attributed to Marshal Oudinot. Upper shaft decorated with ornate blanket stiching. france, First Empire

XIXe

Marriage boot. Woman's two-part boot in white leather. Embroidered upper shaft. Boot interior in white canvas embroidered with flowers. Sealskin upper lining and cuff. Greenland , XIXth century.

XIXe

Over the knee boot. Leatherwork and decoration typical of Sub-Saharan Africa, demonstrating the technical virtuosity of African craftsmen. Soft hide sole. Towards 1880 or beginning XXth century.

XIXe

Mandarin boot or theatre boot. Bordeaux-coloured satin, entirely relief-embroidered with metal thread. Satin and stylised dragon's head appliqué, thick boat sole covered in white canvas. China, XIXth century.

XIXe

Man's boot in sharskin. Flat leather sole with up-turned toe. Mongolia, XIXth century.

XIXe

Man's boot in embroidered green leather, polychromatic raised motif inlays in the style of Russia and Central Europe. Half-moon heel and leather sole. Russia, XIXth century.

Booted and ready

by Gilles Bransbourg

The masculine boot – which seems to have been associated with all things military since time immemorial – was originally just used to keep feet and legs warm. The Tyrolean Alpine snowman is an involuntary archeological testimony to that. The professional soldier, who was a product of the first organised societies, evolved in the Near-Eastern and Mediterranean temperate climates and had to be as light on his feet as possible. The Egyptians attacked barefoot, the Romans in hobnailed sandals. The boot was still not fundamentally necessary at this point since the Assyrian infantryman wore a cuirass that reached down to his feet, the Greek hoplites had tough leggings, Roman legionaries were protected behind their long shields and the Sarmathian heavy cavalry and their horses were covered from head to toe in armour.

Everything changed when the horsemen of the Steppes brought the stirrup with them. From this moment on, the warriors of Charles Martel were better able to
grip to their horses in order to charge. The boot was pushed down into the stirrup, giving the horseman a firm seat and then was covered with steel. Thenceforth the infantry was swept off the battlefields of Europe by cavalry right up until the revenge of the Flemish and English military rank and file on the French knight, at the battles of Courtrai, Poitiers, Crécy and Agincourt.

Although more modern riders became lighter so as to gain mobility against discharging weapons and then firearms, they still nonetheless kept the boot, which became more visible than ever, ending up black and shiny as part of the tasselled uniforms that were not yet required to serve as camouflage. Horse, stirrups and boots constituted the trinity of the queen of battles, which was brought to its tactical apogee by Napoleon.

However, the combination of fire and motor allowed the inexorable rise of the assault tank, which proved so decisive in concluding the Great War. While the lesson was forgotten by those who invented it, the German officer corps, despite its already anachronistic bootwearing, ended up replacing the horse with the armoured division. Finally the particularly laid-back attitude of the American soldiers liberating Europe ultimately led to the boot being ousted from the practical arena of war. Although nostalgic dictators of Latin America and
the troops of communist states still parade in boots, their operational use is nowadays limited to the cold climates from whence they came.

Now only the legend, certain images and some elegant parades remain to remind one that before being used to make the feminine silhouette desirable, the boot was a redoubtable instrument at the feet of men.

1001 Boots

by Catherine Örmen

The most elegant women decide what they’re going to wear on their feet before they even decide on which clothes and accessories … after all, it is a truism that one doesn’t develop in quite the same way in riding boots as in high heels. As such, common sense must be observed where stylish effect is concerned in the ar  of wearing thigh-boots under an evening dress!

Coco Chanel was the first, in 1958, to have made by her bootmaker Massaro a pair of two-tone almost flat-heeled, calf-height ‘threequarter’ boots. She wore them, not with trousers, bu  with her famous little suits. This was a first! According to her, wearing them like this had the advantage of lengthening the silhouette …

Since then the boot has come a long way. Designers have transformed it into a super-sexy thigh-boot, they’ve used vinyl, velvetcovered calfskin or embroidered denim; it has transmute  into a plumed ankle boot, a clumpy urban clodhopper or a lacecovered galosh. Thi  is what was shown recently at the ‘1001 accessories’ exhibition at the Hôtel Artur  Lopez, in Neuilly-sur-Seine.