The Evolution of the Shoe

Things to look for: What influenced the shoe design? Think about history and culture of that time period 2. What styles do you see that cycle through the generations? 3. How does the form of the shoe evolve?

Some of the first shoes were made from rope and wood Shoes were originally intended to protect our feet. They were made from rope and wood not as fashion statement, but as a necessity

Roman Shoes In the time of the romans, the main purpose of shoes was protection while riding on carts and during combat. But you can see that a sense of fashion started to develop.

1900’s In the 1900’s shoes really started to develop a sense of style. The heals had an hour glass shape and the toes were very pointy.

20’s The roaring twenties! They were celebrating the end of ww1 and lived in a very elaborate way. There were flappers and parties and shoes evolved to suit the occasion.

30’s The 30’s are when the great depression took place. Womens shoes took on a more sensible and masculine appearance because women were entering the work force

40’s WW2 took place during the first half of the 40’s. Women’s shoes designs were still based on sensibility rather than style. Men’s dress shoes were designed in a similar way to what we see today

50’s The fifties was the era of greesers and poodle skirts. Saddle shoes and boat shoes were very popular

60’s Shoes really began to change because of the freedom of expression. New colors and styles were influenced by pop culture (such as the beetles)

70’s The 70’s there were the time of disco, hippies, classic rock, and many more styles. Disco fans wore tall, chunckey, platform shoes. This is also when the tennis shoe was first acceptable to wear as a normal all day shoe (rather than just while exercising) this is also when velcro was first used on shoes

80’s In the 80’s music influenced the fashion a lot. Rap and glamour rock were very popular (Think vanilla ice, madona). Yes Mrs. Johnson wore the colorful high top Rebocks

90’s During the 90’s shoes were advertised as something that could improve your athletic performance (Air Jordans were suppose to help improve your basketball game) We also had a weird fascination with see through materials. My very favorite pair of shoes were my Jellies!

Early 2000’s Most of you were born during this decade so these styles should be familiar to you. Shoe designers were trying to come up with new things that hadn’t been seen before. Odd looking shoes like the toe shoes and crocs were popular because of the new shapes and materials

2010’s

Wait: what’s that comin’ back around?

SHOE ARE YOU? What do you need to do? Create a shoe that captures an aspect of your personality -essentially a SELF PORTRAIT SHOE ARE YOU?

How do you want to express yourself through your shoe???

What kind of personalities do you think these shoes could symbolically represent?

What about for men? What type of personalities could these symbolically represent?

LEARNING TARGET(S): I can create a complex sculpture using a combination of slab clay pieces that is structurally strong. I can express myself through my artistic choices. I can evaluate and adjust my works during the creation process. I can identify how an artist is influenced by culture and environment.

Getting Started Use the sole of a shoe handout Design your sides and toe box to match the style of shoe you plan to create.

INSTRUCTIONS Roll out even slabs of clay about ¾” thick. Cut your clay pieces out and check for basic fit before attaching. Score, slip, wiggle, and blend pieces together to create the basic structure of your shoe. Use worms as needed. Refine your structure for stability and neatness Attach/subtract details and textures. When finished with the construction, go back through and make sure all areas are clean, free of crumbs and cracks, and neat.

Examples

Student examples

Student examples

Student examples

Student examples

Student examples