The Effects of Hellenic, Late Roman, Early Byzantine Shoes on The History of Fashion

All along the history of humanity, shoes have been part of our agenda as an important element of dress and finery as well as a means of protection from natural conditions and covering. Shoes not only have protected mankind’s feet but in time been the main indicator of certain factors such as social status, nationality, profession and rank. Although in different regions shoes were found to date back to 8000 years before written history, the beginning of the history of shoes is accepted as the Hellenic civilisation. Antique civilisations influenced each other because of commercial reasons or warfare. During the period of the Roman Empire a serious study of shoe fashion can be observed. Although the Byzantian Empire remained faithful to its Roman heritage in terms of classic shoes, emperors, administrators and the nobility favored the use of bejewelled shoes. Beginning with Antique Egypt, all the shoe models that were tried were a source of inspiration in different periods. Especially in Europe, in period of decades, shoe fashion showed important changes. In every country, especially the king, the queen and the nobility were considered fashion icons. Even certain styles were named after a specific king or queen. In today’s fashion, some details we come across in the historical shoe styles are repeated with some form changes applied. In the study, Late Roman-Early Byzantine shoe models will be compared with shoe examples of the Middle Ages and Modern Ages. Based on chosen styles, interaction with contemporary fashion will be evaluated, and the similarities will be emphasized