1955 | TWO-TONE SHOES IN NAPLES & BOLOGNA

1955 | Valentino | Naples

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | Valentino | Naples

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | Ferrari | Bologna

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | Ferrari | Bologna

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | Ferrari | Bologna

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | Torrisa | Bologna

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | Pancaldi | Bologna

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | Pancaldi | Bologna

Source: Ars Sutoria

1957 - 1971 | THE CHANEL TWO-TONE SLINGBACK
THE HISTORY IN PICTURES

TWO-TONE RECORDS SHOES
THESE BOOTS ARE MADE FOR WALKING #17

1955 | MADE IN ITALY LOST & FOUND

Lost in time explains better. We know nothing about these shoemakers not even the place of origin but maybe you do. If so, drop us a line.

1955 | MORENA | Civitanova Marche [?]

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | MORENA | Civitanova Marche [?]

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | GISELLA

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | POLO

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | MARILA

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | BRUNIS [VIGEVANO] WITH CORIA SOLES BY PIRELLI

1955 | Brunis With Coria Soles (Pirelli)

Vigevano

1955 | Coria Soles by Pirelli

Resists The Passage Of Time

INTRODUCING

BRUNIS | VIGEVANO

1950 - 1959 | BRUNIS
SHAPE EVOLUTION

1971 - 1973
BRUNIS | VIGEVANO

Coria soles by Pirelli (offset lithograph)

Graphic by Bruno Munari

MoMA Collection

17TH CENTURY | CHOPINES / CLOGS | SHAKESPEARE & THE SHAKESPEARE GUIDE TO ITALY

Zoccoli (clogs) had been introduced sometime in the fourteenth century due to the mud and standing puddles in the many streets and squares that were then unpaved, including St. Mark’s Square. The zoccoli grew to absurd heights and continued to be worn well into the seventeenth century, becoming an item of ostentation among the wealthy. The wealthier the woman, the higher her clogs, some so high she couldn’t walk in them without placing her hands on the shoulders or heads of servants walking along on either side of her.

From: The Shakespeare Guide To Italy by Richard Paul Roe (Harper Perennial, 2011)

Zoccoli | Clogs | Chopines

Source: Book Of The Feet (Simpkin, Marshal & CO., 1847) by Joseph Sparkes Hall

(Patent Elastic Boot Maker To her Majesty The Queen)

"Your ladyship is nearer heaven than when I saw you last, by the altitude of a chopine," 

Hamlet
William Shakespeare | Hamlet | Act 2, Scene 2

Paul Lacroix | Curiosités De La Chaussure

From: Histoire De La Chaussure (Adolphe Delahays, Libraire - Editeur, 1862)

… For your sake, jewel, I am glad at soul I have no other child, for thy escape would teach me tyranny to hang clogs on them … 

Brabantio To Desdemona

William Shakespeare | Othello | Act 1, Scene 3

Venetian Chopine

Photograph Christophe Villard

Source: Romans Musée International de la Chaussure

It is ridiculous to see how these ladies crawl in and out of their gondolas, by reason of their choppines [clogs]; and what dwarfs they appear when taken down from their wooden scaffolds; of these I saw nearly thirty together, stalking half as high again as the rest of the world.

John Evelyn | Diary - June 1645

From: The Shakespeare Guide To Italy by Richard Paul Roe (Harper Perennial, 2011)

1589 | Pietro Bertelli

Venetian Courtesan | Engraving

Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich

FOOTNOTES

Some have supposed that the jealousy of Italian husbands gave rise to the invention of the chopine.

Paul Lacroix

From: Histoire De La Chaussure (Adolphe Delahays, Libraire - Editeur, 1862)

Pianella attributed to Beatrice D'Este

International Footwear Museum Of Vigevano

Photograph: WOP

(Francis) Douce adds (in Illustrations Of Shakespeare - 1839), that "the first ladies who rejected the use of the chopine, were the daughters of the Doge Domenico Contarini, about the year 1670."

Paul Lacroix

From: Histoire De La Chaussure (Adolphe Delahays, Libraire - Editeur, 1862)

Doge Domenico Contarini

Source: Venipedia

1955 | FONTALCÒ | ROME

1955 | Fontalcò (Sorelle Fontana & Dal Cò)

Rome

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | Fontalcò (Sorelle Fontana & Dal Cò)

Rome

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | Fontalcò (Sorelle Fontana & Dal Cò)

Rome

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | Fontalcò (Sorelle Fontana & Dal Cò)

Rome

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | Fontalcò (Sorelle Fontana & Dal Cò)

Rome

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | Fontalcò (Sorelle Fontana & Dal Cò)

Rome

Source: Ars Sutoria

FONTANA SISTERS

1956 | Interchangeable Heels

1961 | Interchangeable Shoes

1955 | FRATTEGIANI | FLORENCE

1955 | Frattegiani

Florence

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | Frattegiani

Florence

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | Frattegiani

Florence

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | Frattegiani

Florence

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | Frattegiani | Mod. Caccia Al Tesoro (Treasure Hunt)

Florence

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | Frattegiani | Mod. Burlotto

Florence

Source: Ars Sutoria

1949 | FRATTEGIANI
THE KIMO CONCEPT BEFORE THE KIMO SANDAL

1955 | Frattegiani

Florence

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | ERCOLE | CIVITANOVA MARCHE

1955 | ERCOLE

Civitanova Marche

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | ERCOLE

Civitanova Marche

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | ERCOLE

Civitanova Marche

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | DIANA | PIACENZA

1955 | Diana | Piacenza

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | Diana | Piacenza

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | Diana | Piacenza

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | Diana | Piacenza

Source: Ars Sutoria

1955 | Diana | Piacenza

Source: Ars Sutoria

I. MILLER | PREDOMINANTLY DOMINANT

A snippet of I.Miller history as told by Diane Arbus biographer Patricia Bosworth.

Cast of characters:

The Nemerov's: Mr.David Nemerov and Gertrude Russek (Diane Arbus'parents)

Jerrold (Jerry) Miller: I.Miller family/Margaret Jerrold cofounder

1961 | Eddie Carmel - The gentle Jewish giant in Manhattan

I.Miller store in the background

At least once a week an extra maid would be hired to help serve a dinner party of twelve which invariably included the Millers, who were still the Nemerovs’ closest friends (when you asked Miller how his shoe business compared with other shoe businesses, he’d always answer, “We’re predominantly dominant”). 

Patricia Bosworth

Diane Arbus A Biography (W. W. Norton & Company, 1984)

1973 | Jerrold (Jerry) Miller

Press photo by Greg Gilbert

Source: Spring Essential/ebay

David Nemerov listened to his son’s plans in silence; there was no question now that Howard would ever take over Russeks, so he didn’t bring up the subject, but he was bitterly disappointed. Supposedly he confided his disappointment to his close friend I. Miller, whose son Jerry had followed his father into their shoe empire. Jerry recalls, “If you didn’t make a career out of the family business, it was like deserting the Armed Forces or something. You could redeem yourself by being very successful in another field—but to be a writer, to be a poet, well, it was considered a terrible failure, particularly if you were the only son.”

Patricia Bosworth

Diane Arbus A Biography (W. W. Norton & Company, 1984)

I.MILLER
DeLuxe Shoe
I N D E X

FOOTNOTE

Eddie Carmel, the gentle Jewish giant (8'9") was going to became even more famous after the Diane Arbus portrait in 1970 (last photograph).

1961 | Eddie Carmel polishing his shoes

Source: Bettman/Corbis

1970 | Diane Arbus (b. 1923, New York; d. 1971, New York)

A Jewish giant at home with his parents in the Bronx, N.Y.C., 1970

Source: The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

1972 - 1979 | LET IT ROCK, SEDITIONARIES & EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN | FOOTWEAR FOR THE REST OF US

The oral history of the style revolution at 430 King's Road - Chelsea - London. 

1973 | Grey Suede Lace-up Diano

On sale at Let It Rock | Ordered by Malcolm McLaren from George Cox

Source: Paul Gorman

The attraction with (the store) Let It Rock was they sold brothel creepers that you couldn’t get anywhere else. They had a jukebox in the corner which had quite good stuff on it. They basically sold drapes and brothel creepers, and the selection on the other side was all rubber gear and bondage stuff ...

Gene October - vocals, Chelsea [1]

1972 | Malcom McLaren outside Let It Rock | Detail

430 King's Road, London | Photograph: Mirrorpix

Source: Paul Gorman

I remember when (the store SEX) was Let It Rock and it used to sell clothes to Teddy boys. Malcolm and Vivienne were really a pair of shysters: they would sell anything to any trend that they could grab onto.

Johnny (Rotten) Lydon - vocals, Sex Pistols/Public Image Limited [1] 

... even cowboy boots

Malcolm McLaren inside Let It Rock

Source: Seditionaires

During the pre-SEX days, Malcolm and Vivienne (Westwood) sold sex aids to dull people as well as Teddy Boy gear and the Bowie-esque puffed shoulder blouse tops. They also had fifties’ rip-offs like pegged pants and smooth slip-on shoes. It would be the same old cut from the fifties, but their angle would be to make the pants pink instead of black or the shoes gold instead of brown or blue. I would buy from the shop occasionally, but that would only be part of my mix and match. I’d buy clothes everywhere, and it would always deeply annoy Malcolm and Vivienne

Johnny (Rotten) Lydon [2] 

1976 | Johnny Rotten Lydon at the 100 Club
Shod in George Cox (mod. 3705)
Source: George Cox

I had a stall on the Kings Road with Lloyd Johnson, between the Roebuck pub and the SEX shop. I used to see Malcolm and Vivienne in the shop – a friend of mine called Alan Jones [5] used to take me in. He was working there at the time. The first time I went into the shop it was called Let It Rock. An incredibly intimidating shop. The sales staff treated you abysmally – if you were lucky they ignored you! It was like a very exclusive club, almost religious. I was intrigued. I did buy a T-shirt there immediately, which cost £15, a week’s wages.

Nils Stevenson - Manager, early Pistols/Siouxie & The Banshees [1]

Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die

Source: Paul Gorman

I was into the Roxy Music glamour thing. I then discovered the Sex shop, where they were doing it in a different way. I was looking for a pair of brothel creepers and I heard rumours of a Teddy boy shop in the Kings Road. The SEX shop was called Too Fast to Live then. It had a big skull-and-crossbones outside. I walked in the first time and I didn’t know you were meant to be scared! [laughs].

Marco Pirroni - guitar, Adam And The Ants, Siouxie & The Banshees [1]

SEX

430 King's Road, London

Source: Seditionaires

Ever the fashion victim, it was Sid (Vicious) who’d heard about this outrageous clothes store called SEX, and suggested we go and check it out. There were a couple of expeditions walking up and down the King’s Road before we actually found it. Someone could have said, it’s at the farthest end, away from anything useful. Us being young and silly, we didn’t put the dots together. But once we got there . . This would’ve been mid-1975, and in those days it was still selling Teddy boy gear. That was the main financial gain – really special Teddy boy outfits, and of course the brothel creepers.

Johnny (Rotten) Lydon [3]

1975 | Kevin Coyne | Matching Head And Feet | Virgin Records

Source: Discogs

I’m always trying on the shoes and boots in the shop. One time there was a pair of red ankle boots shaped like buckets, a bit fetishy but too ugly to be sexy, on a shelf. They’d been there for ages and Vivienne was musing out loud about how surprised she was that nobody had bought them because she thought they were beautiful. Then she turned to me and said, ‘You should get them, Viviane, they’ll look good on you.’ I looked at these hideous boots, not convinced at all, but I had to try them on; she insisted. They made my legs look fantastic. I still thought they were too expensive and very odd-looking but I bought them anyway, I couldn’t say no to Vivienne twice. I still wear those boots. They’re my favourite item of clothing.
Viv Albertine - guitar - vocals, The Slits [4]

2014 | Viv Albertine

Shod in SEX boots by Vivienne Westwood

Photograph: Carolina Ambida

Source: Viv Albertine

I was into the Roxy Music glamour thing. I then discovered the Sex shop, where they were doing it in a different way. I was looking for a pair of brothel creepers and I heard rumours of a Teddy boy shop in the Kings Road. The SEX shop was called Too Fast to Live then. It had a big skull-and-crossbones outside. I walked in the first time and I didn’t know you were meant to be scared! [laughs].

Marco Pirroni - guitar, Adam And The Ants, Siouxie & The Banshees [1]

Source: Seditionaires

We went down to the shop and saw all the SEX stuff in it. I really liked it, but it was just too dear. There was no way we could afford it. I did have a shirt from there when it was Let It Rock. It was the only place that sold original Sixties shirts so I’d already bought stuff there. The jukebox had some great music you never heard anywhere, like Nico.

Vic Godard - vocals, Subway Sect [1]

Source: Seditionaires

AFTERWORDS

I didn’t go down to SEX with thirty bob and buy my whole punk outfit. I picked up bits and pieces every week. The 1976 punk look was a mixture of absolutely everything. A lot of Ted, a lot of rocker, a lot of fetish stuff, transvestite sort of stuff, a bit of mod, and a lot of glam. That’s what it was.

Marco Pirroni - guitar, Adam And The Ants, Siouxie & The Banshees [2]

I hate that Seditionaries/Kings Road bollocks, apart from a couple of the Pistols who were nice blokes. People who went in that shop were buying £200 bondage suits. Imagine what that is in today’s money. The only people who could afford them were posh c***s. They walked around with £200 bondage suits telling everyone else they weren’t proper punk! F**k ’em! That’s ridiculous.

Captain Sensible - bass, guitar, The Damned [1]

CREDITS

[1] Text from Punk Rock. An Oral History by John Robb (Ebury Press, 2006)

[2] Text from Rotten. No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs by John Lydon With Keith And Kent Zimmerman (Plexus Publishing LTD, 1994)

[3] Text from Anger Is An Energy. My Life Uncensored by Johnny Lydon With Andrew Perry (Simon & Schuster, 2014)

[4] Text from Clothes Music Boys by Viv Albertine (Faber & Faber 2014)

Source: Seditionaires