Shoes: An Illustrated History - Hardcover

The new book Shoes: An Illustrated History by Rebecca Shawcross charts the many ways we've clad our feet, from the oldest known shoes (mocassin-like footwear dating from 3500 BC, and discovered in a cave in Armenia) to the wild styles of today. Along the way, Shawcross explains how high heels became synonymous with feminine sexuality. * The New York Post * This new shoe compendium will raise you to 'new heights'. Taking the reader on a thrilling shoe odyssey, the work crosses all ground, from the everyday and the emotive, to the extravagant and the spectacular. Erudite and comprehensive, this book sets new standards in exploring the history of footwear. * Peter McNeil, Professor of Design History, UTS, Sydney Distinguished Professor, Academy of Finland at Aalto University * If you love shoes, buy this book! Learn about shoes across the centuries: prehistoric sandals, buskins, slap soles, and shoe designers. An attractive, appealing, informative, and gorgeously illustrated documentation. Rebecca Shawcross knows shoes. * Joanne B. Eicher, Regents Professor Emerita at the University of Minnesota, and Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion * My usual beef with most shoe survey books produced in the late 20th century is that they pretty much have all the same shoes in them ... [Shoes] has SO much more--so many other pairs of footwear that you just don't see in the majority of other books of this sort out there. This book is beautifully put together and enormously readable/browsable--a great balance of full color images, historical illustrations & engravings, and meaningful yet not dense text ... Shawcross gives equal weight to the progression of the history of footwear itself ... as she does to recurring iconic styles and innovations/innovators ... Ultimately, this is an exciting new book on a subject I adore, and I highly recommend it. -- Rachel Pollock * La Bricoleuse * Shoes: An Illustrated History isn't just about those things we stuff on our tootsies; there's Hollywood here, as well as biographies, pop culture, and plenty of history to dip your toes into. And while you'll find a satisfying amount of narrative, what's especially appealing are the dozens and dozens of full-color pictures of shoes, including bygone styles perfect for today's runway, and footwear you'd likely boot to the curb. I think anyone with more than ten pairs of shoes in the closet is missing something if this book isn't laying next to the bed. For you, Shoes: An Illustrated History is a real kick. -- Terri Schlichenmeyer * PBG Lifestyle Magazine * Shoes: An Illustrated History by Rebecca Shawcross shows the human fascination with footwear over millennia ... Shawcross knows her stuff. She uses historical documents, paintings, photographs and advertising to show the ongoing development of footwear for both sexes. -- Tish Wells * McClatchy DC * This beautifully illustrated compendium reveals the expertise of Shawcross, curator of the Boot and Shoe Collection (with more than 13,000 pairs, Europe's largest) at the Northampton Museum and Art Gallery, located in England's shoe trade center. Covering prehistory to the present, the author provides brief historical introductions for each period and discusses footwear design, types, fashion, manufacture, marketing, superstitions, uses, famous owners and designers, brands, and more ... the book would undoubtedly be a keepsake for shoe aficionados ... Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. -- B. B. Chico, Regis University * CHOICE *

From chopines to stilettos, Louis XIV to Louboutin, Shoes: An Illustrated History is the definitive guide to footwear. Shoes have always been more than just a practical necessity. They reveal the culture of the times in which they were worn - the sexual morals, the social power play, as well as the endless shifting of fashion. Rebecca Shawcross takes the reader on a fascinating journey - packed with social and historical detail - of making and wearing, of the spectacular and the everyday, of conforming and rebelling. Lavishly illustrated with a dazzling array of shoes from all over the world, Shoes: An Illustrated History tells the extraordinary story of this ultimate object of desire, from antiquity to the present.