Dr Giorgio Riello
Giorgio's publications include: 'The shaping of a family trade: the Cordwainers' Company in eighteenth-century London', in I. Gadd and P. Wallis, eds., "Guilds, Society and Economy in London, 1450-1800" (London: Centre for Metropolitan History, 2002), pp. 141-159; and "La chaussure à la mode: product innovation and marketing strategies in Parisian and London boot and shoemaking in the early nineteenth century", Textile History, XXXIII - 1 (forthcoming 2003).
'Pretty Shoes, Arrayed with Ribbons that Make you Look Like Flare-floated Pigeons': Footwear, Innovation and Fashion in the Long Eighteenth Century
Until recently, history of fashion and history of design have considered footwear as simple accessories. Their importance has been hidden by an overall concern with clothing as one single entity. This paper examines a complex series of meanings related to class, age and gender conveyed by footwear during the long eighteenth century. Such meanings were constructed and in many cases reversed. Boots appeared in the late seventeenth-century, but for nearly a century were considered suitable only for the countryside environment. However, in the late eighteenth century boots became symbolic of participation in public affairs. The product's image was reshaped by military values - the famous Wellington boots are a good example of this phenomenon. Buckles began to be applied to shoes in the 1660s. They were also important indicators of wealth and status and could be easily replaced, thus changing the appearance of shoes. The buckle's fashionable status was lost during the French Revolution when buckles were donated for the Patriotic cause. Buckles became the sign of political as well as fashion conservatism. Until the first decade of the nineteenth century high heels were used both by men and women and expressed class rather than gender differentiation. By the end of the century high heels were replaced by flat shoes, especially for women. Women 'were forced' to wear stylish but impractical shoes that were unsuitable for outdoor activities. All examples of footwear should be considered as part of the profound political and social transformation of the eighteenth century.
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