Shoe
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot while doing various activities. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture to culture, with appearance originally being tied to function. Additionally fashion has often dictated many design elements, such as whether shoes have very high heels or flat ones.
The foot contains more bones than any other single part of the body. Though it has evolved over hundreds of thousands of years in relation to vastly varied terrain and climate conditions, the foot is still vulnerable to environmental hazards such as sharp rocks and hot ground, against which shoes can protect.
Shoes in literature
Shoes play an important role on the fairy tales Cinderella and The Red Shoes. In literature and film, an empty shoe or a pair of shoes signifies death.
Shoemaker
Shoemaking is the process of making footwear.
Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand. Traditional handicraft shoemaking has now been largely superseded in volume of shoes produced by industrial mass production of footwear, but not necessarily in quality, attention to detail, or craftsmanship.
Shoemakers (also known as cordwainers) may produce a range of footwear items, including shoes, boots, sandals, clogs and moccasins. Such items are generally made of leather, wood, rubber, plastic, jute or other plant material, and often consist of multiple parts for better durability of the sole, stitched to a leather upper
Trades that engage in shoemaking have included the cordwainer's and cobbler's trades. Today, shoes are often made on a volume basis, rather than a craft basis.
See also