Perhaps the shoe, in one form or other, is nearly as ancient as the
foot. It originally appeared under the name of sandal; this was no other
than a sole without an upper-leather. That fashion has since been
inverted, and we have sometimes seen an upper-leather nearly without a
sole. But whatever was the cut of the shoe, it always demanded a
fastening. Under the house of Plantagenet, the shoe shot horizontally
from the foot, like a Dutch skate, to an enormous length; so that the
extremity was fastened to the knee, sometimes with a silver chain, a
silk lace, or even a packthread string, rather than avoid _genteel
taste_.
This thriving beak drew the attention of the legislature, which
determined to prune the exorbitant shoot; for, in 1465, we find an
order of council, prohibiting the growth of the shoe toe beyond two
inches, under the penalty of a dreadful curse from the priest--and, what
was worse, the payment of twenty shillings to the king.
This fashion, like every other, gave way to time; and, in its stead, the
rose began to bud upon the foot, which, under the house of Tudor, opened
in great perfection. No shoe was fashionable without being fastened with
a full blown rose. Ribbons of every colour, except white, the emblem of
the depressed house of York, were had in esteem; but the red, like the
house of Lancaster, held the preeminence. Under the house of Stuart the
rose withered, which gave rise to the shoestring. The beaux of that age
ornamented their lower tier with double laces of silk, tagged with
silver, and the extremities were beautified with a small fringe of the
same metal. The inferior class wore laces of plain silk, linen, or even
a thong of leather; which last is yet to be met with in the humble
plains of rural life.
The revolution was remarkable for the introduction of William, of
liberty, and the minute buckle, not differing much in size and shape
from the horse bean.
This offspring of fancy, like the clouds, is ever changing. The fashion
of to-day is thrown into the casting-pot to-morrow.
The buckle seems to have undergone every figure, size, and shape of
geometrical invention. It has passed through every form in Euclid. The
large square buckle, plated with silver, was the _ton_ of 1781. The
ladies also adopted the reigning taste; it was difficult to discover
their beautiful little feet, covered with an enormous shield of buckle;
and we wondered to see the active motion under the massive load.
In 1812, the whole generation of fashions, in the buckle line, was
extinct; a buckle was not to be found on a female foot, nor upon any
foot except that of old age.