
Long, Pointy Shoes in Medieval Fashion - pseudolus
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/medieval-europeans-pointy-shoes
======
pitzips
Similarly, the pointy shoes still live on in Mexico and Southern USA:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_pointy_boots](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_pointy_boots)

~~~
pseudolus
The story mentions modern day successors in the form of winklepickers which
were apparently a highlight of 1950's/1960's fashion [0][1]. I'm predicting a
resurgence in the early 2020's until the TSA declares them a menace to airport
security at which point they fall out of favour again until the early 2050's.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winklepicker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winklepicker)

[1] [https://gucinari.co.uk/shoes/boots/the-history-of-
winklepick...](https://gucinari.co.uk/shoes/boots/the-history-of-
winklepickers/)

~~~
Jill_the_Pill
I had read the term "winklepicker" a few times in the past, with no photo or
description, and just assumed it was the snappy British equivalent of the
American "clamdigger" \-- a sort of short pants you'd wear collecting
mollusks.

A classic example of "what you know that just ain't so."

------
aresant
A restored pair that illustrates the appeal -

[https://collections.mfa.org/objects/122170](https://collections.mfa.org/objects/122170)

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hirundo
The pointy shoes are a shibboleth. They identify a group not despite their
impracticality but because of it. Another example is the belief in miracles,
the more unlikely the better, because it is the absurdity of the belief that
distinguishes you from unbelievers.

There are oodles of such shibboleths in modern times, particularly in
politics. Just think of any political proposition that is absurd on its face
and more absurd on reflection. If it's still widely supported by a particular
group that may well be because of its group-identifying absurdity rather than
despite it.

But it is often not a scam of any kind, but sincerely accepted by adherents.
This kind of cognitive flexibility goes a long way toward explaining modern
politics and not so modern religions. I suspect pointy shoes may have been the
same, with their wearer's convinced of their inherent value.

~~~
ForHackernews
> not despite their impracticality but because of it

This isn't part of the definition of a shibboleth, as I understand it. A
shibboleth is simply a marker of group identity (the original case was the
speaker's accent when pronouncing the word 'shibboleth').

You seem to be referring to something more analogous to peacock feathers,
where hewing to some practice in spite of its impracticality signals the depth
of one's commitment.

~~~
hirundo
OK, but it's a better marker of group identity the more peculiar it is to that
group. So absurdity or impracticality are common characteristics of effective
shibboleths because they make the marker a better discriminator with fewer
false positives.

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Fnoord
Hmm, wasn't there a James Bond where there was a stiletto-like knife hidden
inside a shoe?

Also, apparently the trend of the pointy shoe came back [1]. Most recently in
Mexico.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointed_shoe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointed_shoe)

~~~
ptrkcsk
It was Rosa Klebb in From Russia with Love.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Klebb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Klebb)

~~~
moioci
Played by none other than Lotte Lenya, famous singer of the 30s and 40s.

------
kgwgk
I did not bother reading the article, but the title made me think of
signaling. "I can afford them, and I don't even need to work for that so I
don't care how impractical they are".

[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
srv/style/feed/a41653-1999d...](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
srv/style/feed/a41653-1999dec28.htm)

"Elegant dress serves its purpose of elegance not only in that it is
expensive, but also because it is the insignia of leisure," Thorsten Veblen
wrote in his classic "The Theory of the Leisure Class" (1899). "It not only
shows that the wearer is able to consume a relatively large value, but it
argues at the same time that he consumes without producing."

~~~
garren
Medieval conspicuous consumption?

My first thought looking at the examples in the article was that the soles of
the shoes don't look much thicker than the uppers.

I read an article not too long ago about how the medieval walking style was
different than today. The author believed it was more "toe-centered" [0]
primarily because of thin-soled shoes.

[0] [http://mentalfloss.com/article/505105/why-people-walked-
diff...](http://mentalfloss.com/article/505105/why-people-walked-differently-
medieval-times)

