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Shoes have come a long way from rudimentary protective strips of
bark and skin from which they originated to objects of embellished
craftsmanship, art even. Along the way they have been imbued with all the sorcery
and mystique of covering while uncovering, embellishing and delineating the
status of the wearer.

And not just women, vanity is universal. ‘Im shoe de nak!’ was a
statement uttered in admiration of the wearer in the days when cobblers would
hammer tiny nails into the sole of a man’s shoe so that the sound of his
approach preceded him and lingered as he departed. His tread had a brand, to
use contemporary parlance. Of course the opposite was the tripping click click
sound of high heels.

It is true you can recognise a person you know by the sound and
rhythm of their footstep. Every gait is individual and inherited. You can see
the father in the daughter, the mother in the son. The angle of the sway and
the rhythm of the swing might be different but the root is discernible.

Shoes tell the story of the wearer, just as your feet tell the
history of your life. Do you lean more heavily to the left or the right, what
side of your sole wears down faster? If the road you have traveled has been
hard and stony, or your passages well cuffed and smooth your feet will tell. Do
you drive or are you driven, or are your feet constantly in touch with the
earth, grounded as it were, in your roots? Do you till the soil and toil with
your livestock; are you dependent on waiting for others to provide your
conveyance? Your feet and shoes will tell.

Like many other crafts that were passed on by hand, the art of
the shoemaker has disappeared. Most shoes are mass produced in factories.
Custom made shoes are now a luxury but the language of shoemaking is replete
with terms that show it began as hand worked craft, fitting and shaping to
individual dimensions. A selection of shoe making terms written by Desiree
Stimpert (About.com) reveal a craft that at every stage was made to conform to
the quirks of the wearer, to fit like a second skin.

A shoe has a footbed, also known as an inner sole. The goring is
an elasticized piece of material that makes the opening of the shoes without
laces more flexible so you can ease your foot in, comfortably. There is a heel
breast, the side of the heel that faces forward when the shoe is on the foot. A
shoe has a throat that is what you put your foot into.

The shank of a shoe supports the foot and gives the shoe its
structure. It runs between the heel and outsole (distinct from the inner sole)
and sits under the arch of the foot. The vamp is the part of a shoe that covers
the front. Vamps, as in a particular type of seductress, and shoes with high
arches have a close literary association. A shoe has a waist, a reference to
the arc and instep of the foot.

A relationship that has bloomed and mellowed and conformed to the
mould of the lovers is very much like an old hand made shoe that you can slip
your feet into effortlessly, and simply be. There is no stiff shiny newness
that has to be broken in, no pinching and squeezing to be endured while you
make inyanga with pain just to look fine. Pretty, yes at first, but unyielding
until you try it out hoping that it will still maintain the shape that first caught
your eye as you pray that beauty and form will marry in comfort, soon.

And so we come to types of shoes: Pumps; pump what? Loafers that
are easy to slip on and take off and loafers a reference that stereotypes men,
who just want to get along without too much effort just as long as you are
prepared to keep working. There are also mules, even easier to slip on because
they are backless. Mules are usually the favorite foot accompaniment for agbada
and babanriga adding an easy elegance to the wearer. For a woman, a mule with a
heel that lifts the back of the foot off the ground has a different kind of
suggestiveness. Stilettos, named for the thin narrow bladed knife with the
furtive lethal action bring us back to the current fashion for stratospheric
heels and sky-high platforms.

My question to a random selection of men and women was: What do
you think about the current female fashion for sky high heels and stacked
platforms, that make every woman who wears them instantly tall and imposing?
Does that make the woman more attractive, intimidating or inaccessible?

Women on pedestals, more of that next week…