A BRIEF HISTORY OF ROCK SHOES (1956-1990)

Cameron Kippentoeslayer2000@yahoo.com.au

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

Commonwealth of Australia

WARNING

This material has been copied and communicated to you by or on behalf of The Footman © pursuant to Part VB of

the Copyright Act 1968 (the Act).

The material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further copying or

communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright protection under the Act.

Do not remove this notice

Copyright Regulations 1969