A BRIEF HISTORY OF ROCK SHOES (1956-1990)
Cameron [email protected]
Iconiclastic Footwear
If there was ever an item ofclothing to epitomise thestyle and fashion of an era itwould have to be shoes (ortheir absence).
Pick up a dozen covers ofcompilation hits and asignificant number will
depictthe age with fashionableshoes of the time.
Blue Suede Shoes
The most famous shoes of the rock androll era were Carl Perkin's Blue Suedeshoes. Although Elvis Presley had the
bighit the credit was always given to
Perkins.
The idea for the song came from hisearly days when he and Johnny Cashwere queuing for some tucker.Someone in front cried a warningto another in the queue not to tread onhis foot. 'Hey don't step on my blue suede
shoes". Cash was moved to say to his
companionthat would be a good title for a song.
Penny Loafers
Penny Loafers were much favoured bythe ‘Preppies’ in the US. Essentially atwo-piece moccasin with a hard soleand a strap or saddle, made of leather,over the instep.
Kerrybrooke Teenright Smoothies often had a good luck penny stuck inthe leather saddle.
At the time suede was a shoe coverpreferred by effeminate men so the
kidstook to them, to flaunt convention.
Buddy Holly, by contrast wore brown suede shoes.
Brothel Creepers
In the UK Teddyboys in theUK; Halbstarke in Germany;and Blousans noirs inFrance wore a more crudeSuede shoe called BrothelCreepers.
These had two inch thickcrepe soles and were ahybrid of the desert shoe.
Worn originally with drapes and drainpipe trousers
The Baby Boomers
Young American men wore Converse All Stars (Chucks), a sneaker designed for basketball star Chuck Taylor (Buffalo Germans and Akron Firestones).
Teenage cheerleaders wore tight sweaters, short skirts, ankle or bobby socks with canvas topped shoes called to Keds.
Skiffle
In the mid fifties skiffle enjoyed
brief popularity in the UK . Similar
to the 1920s Jugs bands of Chicago
skiffle groups played makeshift
instruments and wore non
conventional clothing including
sandals (thongs) on stage.
UK Skiffle was contemporary with
the hip generation and Bohemian
Beatniks
Outside the US Lonnie Donnigan became one of the first guitar heroes of modern music
Hip Sneakers
In Jailhouse Rock (1957 ) fans
Caught sight of 'The Pelvis‘sporting sneakers.
The fashion was officiallysanctioned when JamesDean was photographedwearing Levi jeans andwhite Converse JackPurcell's.
The Barefoot Stomp
By 1957, Sydney'sbodgies & widgies(Australian Teddyboysand Teddygirls)abandoned theirrestrictive "St LouisBlues" (rhyming slang
forshoes), and came to
dance in their bare feet.
The Wild Ones'Ton Up Boys' (Rockers) considered
themselves
Outlaws and tougher than the Teds. Their main
obsession was motor bikes and they wore
leather jackets (with or without gang
colours), white Ts, blue jeans, studded belts, and
engineer's boots.
The significance of the above the ankle boot
was very sensible as it protected the lower leg
from the damaging heat of the bike's exhaust.
The heavy boots also, by coincidence provided a
useful offensive weapon to use in the ubiquitous
rumble with sworn enemies.
Inspired by 'The Wild One" (Marlon Brando) the bikers liked to Rock’n Roll.
Juvenile Delinquents
Every country had their
own "Wild man of Rock",
the original was Jerry Lee
Lewis and all others paled
into insignificance.
Hush Puppies
By the late fifties the anger was taken out of the
first wave of the rock generation and conservative Tin Pan Alley once again
producednovelty records for teenagers.
Suede shoes (i.e. Hush Puppies) becomethe preferred fashion of the universitystudents with their duffle coats, college
scarfsand a commitment to the Campaign ofNuclear Disarmament (CND) temperedwith their love for Trad Jazz.
This thinking generation were the new moderns
and forerunners of the Mods.
Sneaks kick the loafersBy the time West Side Story
screened in the
early 60s the sight of freuding Jets and
Sharks wearing sneakers was art imitating
life.
Sneakers were cool and just as well because
the jive was especially energetic dance. Its
spasmodic body movements interspersed with
vigorous gyrations meant lightweight durable
footwear was ideal.
The shoes encouraged freedom of movement
as well as offering greater traction on the
dance floor.
As fast as you could sing "High Heeled Sneakers" canvas topped
shoes replaced "Blue Suede Shoes" as the symbol of youthful rebellion.
Preppy Cool Set
The Peppermint Lounge meant venues forlistening and dancing to music changed.Restricted space dictatd popular dance tookplace standing in one spot.
The Twist required shoes to be twisted, circularfashion, against the floor in a left and rightmanner, as if flattening a cigarette butt. Thiswas combined with swinging the arms and hipsas if an imaginary towel was drying the back.
These gyrations were best viewed when thedancers wore tighter clothing showing off theirlong legs. Winkle pickers or needlepoint shoesreplaced the cumbersome crepe soled shoes formen.
The pointed toes were a reworking of the scandalous poulaines of the Middle Ages.
The Stiletto Heel
Courtship took place on the dancefloor and ability 'swing right' wasessential.
The new innovative pantyhosemeant women's hemlines becameeven shorter.
During the early sixties theinstrumental made a popular comeback. The preferred instrument
wasthe electric guitar and the musichad a strong beat with an obviouspercussion driving it.
The British Invasion
When the Beatles arrived, they came wearing bootswith Cuban heels. Brian Epstien commissioned theMayfair firm of ballet shoes makers, Anello and
Davideto make the Fab Four, distinctive footwear.
Beatle boots were high heeled, Chelsea Boots whichinstantly became vogue. Chisel toes soon relaced thesharp toe and for the price of one pound, local
cobblerswould oblige you by converting your peaks into the
newchisel toe fashion. They just chopped off the end.
Fashionable Beatle Boots often incorporated a Frenchseem or central stitch running from ankle to toe on
theupper. In the convention of symbols this referred tofemale genitalia rather the phallus of long toed orwinklepicker shoes.
Bad Boy Sneakers
If the Beatles had the 'boy next door' image then their nemesis the Rolling Stones had tobe different. For a short time the lads woreClarke's dessert boots to counteract theBeatles leather Chelsea boots.
However as anarchy ruled, and the scruffyLondon, five piece appeared on stagewearing the clothes they wanted to wear. NoSaville Row suits for them and the order oftheir day was casual and not necessarilysmart.
Something which did bind them togetherhowever was their footwear because they allsported sneakers.
Mick Jagger was such a devotee he wore his Chucks (Chuck Taylor Converse All Star's) to his wedding with Bianca.
Pantyhose and Mini Skirts
Tights and mini skirts meant once again female
legs became the focus of attention with the
sixties generation.
The longer the leg the better and girl singing
groups like The Shangri Las captured the sultry
look perfectly.
The Vietnam War meant many young conscripts went into battle with only a
pinup image of the sexy girls waiting for
them atHome.
The Regency Revival
Jim Proby (aka PJ Proby) will probably be
best remembered for his trouser splitting
performances in 1965. His sartorial style was
inspired by the film of the season, 'Tom
Jones', the Henry Fielding classic. Albert
Finney played the lead role in this raunchy
tale of an English larrikin. Proby wore his
hair in a bow and the tight pants and high
heeled court shoes with silver buckles.
Similar in style to those worn by
the Sun King (Louis XIV).
The Mods
In the UK the nouveaux moderns (or mods),
followed the black music of Motown and
wore expensive designer clothing. They
were the sworn enemies of rockers and took
every Bank Holiday opportunity, according
to the popular press, to terrorise coastal
towns by fighting on the beach.
Mods wore lightweight dessert boots
(Chukka Boots) to protect their ankles from
the exhaust pipes of their Italian scooters.
The Who were the Mod band and wore Italian made bowling shoes.
Barefeet and the Love Generation
60s Pop Diva Sandie Shaw seldom appeared
on stage in shoes and preferred to sing
barefoot. A habit she shared with many
young idealists now following the road
to enlightenment and self discovery.
Perhaps as a reaction to Vietnam and
rejection of western materialism,
Hippies symbolically went without
shoes. Thongs, kaftans, bells, loons and
Afghan coats were the uniform of the
love generation.
Going Underground
The cream of pop culture
came together for threedays of love, peace andmusic at Yasgor's Farm.
Hippies and rockersunited to show it could
bedone.
Bluebeat and Skinheads
Towards the end of the sixties as music wentunderground (heavy metal) and grew their hair. An alternative sprung up listening to the musicof Jamaican Ska. Blue beat suited the smallclubs where the early ravers danced the nightaway.
Robust footwear was the order of fashion andDoc Martin became the shoes to wear. ervicable yet fashionable the heavy duty bootswere useful in a rumble and could be worn byeither sex. Unisex was definitely in fashion.
Suede heads, then skin heads wore eight eyelet1460 Doc Marten (DM) boots
The counter movement to Hippies became the urban bad boys and girls who were the remnants of the Mods.
High and Mighty
By the seventies Glam rock had arrivedwith larger than life groups parading onstage wearing platform shoes.
The androgyny unisex style of the glamrockers pop stars such as Bowie, RodStewart and Elton John made them firm fixtures in the charts.
Tiny Elton John needed the extraleverage of his boots to gave him thenecessary reach to make contact withthe piano keys on his Steinway duringlive performances.
And then there was Abba
More sophisticated sounds meant
nightclubs and lavish clothing.During the seventies Abba , fromSweden, became the toastof the Disco.
Eagerly followed and lavishlycopied the outlandish costumesthey wore soon became theelegant sartoria of straights,cross dressers and drag queens.
Punks and DMs
By the mid seventies workingclass kids from the suburbsrejected the sophistication ofstudio based music preferring home made live music .
The Punks or Thatcher's noFuture generation woreclothes more suited tobondage with the proverbialDMs
The Quiet Revolution
In the late 70s mothers of teenagers found a
new outlet for music and thanks to execise
innovators, such as Jane Fonda, a new
aerobic revolution began. Out went the old
sweatshirts and daks and in came designer
Ath Fashion including chic designer trainers.
Keeping fit set to music started a
movement which affected all ages . Shoes
needed to match the outfit and to keep
demand high adidas and Puma regularly
brought out new ranges of colourful
trainers with eye catching designer logos.
The young enjoyed the exclusive, designer element and older people found the broad based cushioned footwear comfortable to wear.
Hip Hop
Marketing was targetedfirmly towards inner cityyouths, mainly AfroAmerican, Hispanic orAsian. No street kid
couldbe seen in anything
otherthan the latest fashion.
Drug Shoes
A combination of clever marketing and the teenage desire to rebel against
conservatismassured the sneaker culture endured.
Some companies were accused of cashing in
on street drug culture by using street slang
as names for their latest wears. Trainers were
often referred to as 'drug shoes' or 'Chronics'.
Celebrity endorsement extolled the virtuesof being cool in the latest styles and peerpressure ensured parents parted withenormous amounts of money to buy thelatest hip kicks.
The Soccer Casuals
Despite an economic global down turn,the importance to look cool continuedand when the English Soccer Youthssavoured the Continental styles duringtheir frequent forages to follow theirnational Soccer team, they soondiscovered Italian designer's shoes andtrainers which were proudly worn as abadge of office. The fashion caught onand no self respecting Casual of theeighties would be seen in public,
unlessthey were wearing expensive designerfootwear.
Many of these young people had no visible means of income and hence association was made with criminal activities including illicit drug trafficking.
New phase, new wave, dance craze
How about a pair of pink sidewinders(sandals)
And a bright orange pair of pants?
You could really be a Beau Brummelbaby, If you just give it half a chance.
Don't waste your money on a new set of
speakers, You get more mileage from acheap pair of sneakers.
Next phase, new wave, dance craze,Anyways It's still rock and roll to me.
Billy Joel’s Still Rock’n Roll to me
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