If there was ever an item of clothing to epitomise the style and fashion of an era it would have to be shoes (or their absence). The following presentation is a brief review of rock shows in the later part of the 20th Century.

1. A BRIEF HISTORY OF ROCK
SHOES (1956-1990)
Cameron Kippen
toeslayer2000@yahoo.com.au

2. Iconiclastic Footwear
If there was ever an item of
clothing to epitomise the
style and fashion of an era it
would have to be shoes (or
their absence).
Pick up a dozen covers of
compilation hits and a
significant number will depict
the age with fashionable
shoes of the time.

3. Blue Suede Shoes
The most famous shoes of the rock and
roll era were Carl Perkin's Blue Suede
shoes. Although Elvis Presley had the big
hit the credit was always given to Perkins.
The idea for the song came from his
early days when he and Johnny Cash
were queuing for some tucker.
Someone in front cried a warning
to another in the queue not to tread on
his foot.
'Hey don't step on my blue suede shoes".
Cash was moved to say to his companion
that would be a good title for a song.

4. Penny Loafers
Penny Loafers were much favoured by
the ‘Preppies’ in the US. Essentially a
two-piece moccasin with a hard sole
and a strap or saddle, made of leather,
over the instep.
KerrybrookeTeenright Smoothies
often had a good luck penny stuck in
the leather saddle.
At the time suede was a shoe cover
preferred by effeminate men so the kids
took to them, to flaunt convention.
Buddy Holly, by contrast wore brown
suede shoes.

5. Brothel Creepers
In the UK Teddyboys in the
UK; Halbstarke in Germany;
and Blousans noirs in
France wore a more crude
Suede shoe called Brothel
Creepers.
These had two inch thick
crepe soles and were a
hybrid of the desert shoe.
Worn originally with drapes and
drainpipe trousers

6. The Baby Boomers
Young American men wore Converse All
Stars (Chucks), a sneaker designed for
basketball star Chuck Taylor (Buffalo
Germans and Akron Firestones).
Teenage cheerleaders wore tight
sweaters, short skirts, ankle or
bobby socks with canvas topped
shoes called to Keds.

7. Skiffle
In the mid fifties skiffle enjoyed
brief popularity in the UK . Similar
to the 1920s Jugs bands of Chicago
skiffle groups played makeshift
instruments and wore non
conventional clothing including
sandals (thongs) on stage.
UK Skiffle was contemporary with
the hip generation and Bohemian
Beatniks
Outside the US Lonnie Donnigan
became one of the first guitar heroes
of modern music

8. Hip Sneakers
In Jailhouse Rock (1957 ) fans
Caught sight of 'The Pelvis‘
sporting sneakers.
The fashion was officially
sanctioned when James
Dean was photographed
wearing Levi jeans and
white Converse Jack
Purcell's.

9. The Barefoot Stomp
By 1957, Sydney's
bodgies & widgies
(Australian Teddyboys
and Teddygirls)
abandoned their
restrictive "St Louis
Blues" (rhyming slang for
shoes), and came to dance
in their bare feet.

10. The Wild Ones
'Ton Up Boys' (Rockers) considered themselves
Outlaws and tougher than the Teds. Their main
obsession was motor bikes and they wore
leather jackets (with or without gang
colours), white Ts, blue jeans, studded belts, and
engineer's boots.
The significance of the above the ankle boot
was very sensible as it protected the lower leg
from the damaging heat of the bike's exhaust.
The heavy boots also, by coincidence provided a
useful offensive weapon to use in the ubiquitous
rumble with sworn enemies.
Inspired by 'The Wild One" (Marlon Brando)
the bikers liked to Rock’n Roll.

11. Juvenile Delinquents
Every country had their
own "Wild man of Rock",
the original was Jerry Lee
Lewis and all others paled
into insignificance.

12. Hush Puppies
By the late fifties the anger was taken out of the
first wave of the rock generation and
conservative Tin Pan Alley once again produced
novelty records for teenagers.
Suede shoes (i.e. Hush Puppies) become
the preferred fashion of the university
students with their duffle coats, college scarfs
and a commitment to the Campaign of
Nuclear Disarmament (CND) tempered
with their love for Trad Jazz.
This thinking generation were the new moderns
and forerunners of the Mods.

13. Sneaks kick the loafers
By the time West Side Story screened in the
early 60s the sight of freuding Jets and
Sharks wearing sneakers was art imitating
life.
Sneakers were cool and just as well because
the jive was especially energetic dance. Its
spasmodic body movements interspersed with
vigorous gyrations meant lightweight durable
footwear was ideal.
The shoes encouraged freedom of movement
as well as offering greater traction on the
dance floor.
As fast as you could sing "High Heeled
Sneakers" canvas topped shoes replaced
"Blue Suede Shoes" as the symbol of
youthful rebellion.

14. Preppy Cool Set
The Peppermint Lounge meant venues for
listening and dancing to music changed.
Restricted space dictatd popular dance took
place standing in one spot.
The Twist required shoes to be twisted, circular
fashion, against the floor in a left and right
manner, as if flattening a cigarette butt. This
was combined with swinging the arms and hips
as if an imaginary towel was drying the back.
These gyrations were best viewed when the
dancers wore tighter clothing showing off their
long legs. Winkle pickers or needlepoint shoes
replaced the cumbersome crepe soled shoes for
men.
The pointed toes were a reworking of
the scandalous poulaines of the Middle
Ages.

15. The Stiletto Heel
Courtship took place on the dance
floor and ability 'swing right' was
essential.
The new innovative pantyhose
meant women's hemlines became
even shorter.
During the early sixties the
instrumental made a popular come
back. The preferred instrument was
the electric guitar and the music
had a strong beat with an obvious
percussion driving it.

16. The British Invasion
When the Beatles arrived, they came wearing boots
with Cuban heels. Brian Epstien commissioned the
Mayfair firm of ballet shoes makers, Anello and Davide
to make the Fab Four, distinctive footwear.
Beatle boots were high heeled, Chelsea Boots which
instantly became vogue. Chisel toes soon relaced the
sharp toe and for the price of one pound, local cobblers
would oblige you by converting your peaks into the new
chisel toe fashion. They just chopped off the end.
Fashionable Beatle Boots often incorporated a French
seem or central stitch running from ankle to toe on the
upper. In the convention of symbols this referred to
female genitalia rather the phallus of long toed or
winklepicker shoes.

17. Bad Boy Sneakers
If the Beatles had the 'boy next door' image
then their nemesis the Rolling Stones had to
be different. For a short time the lads wore
Clarke's dessert boots to counteract the
Beatles leather Chelsea boots.
However as anarchy ruled, and the scruffy
London, five piece appeared on stage
wearing the clothes they wanted to wear. No
Saville Row suits for them and the order of
their day was casual and not necessarily
smart.
Something which did bind them together
however was their footwear because they all
sported sneakers.
Mick Jagger was such a devotee he
wore his Chucks (Chuck Taylor
Converse All Star's) to his wedding
with Bianca.

18. Pantyhose and Mini Skirts
Tights and mini skirts meant once again female
legs became the focus of attention with the
sixties generation.
The longer the leg the better and girl singing
groups like The Shangri Las captured the sultry
look perfectly.
The Vietnam War meant many young
conscripts went into battle with only a pin
up image of the sexy girls waiting for them at
Home.

19. The Regency Revival
Jim Proby (aka PJ Proby) will probably be
best remembered for his trouser splitting
performances in 1965. His sartorial style was
inspired by the film of the season, 'Tom
Jones', the Henry Fielding classic. Albert
Finney played the lead role in this raunchy
tale of an English larrikin. Proby wore his
hair in a bow and the tight pants and high
heeled court shoes with silver buckles.
Similar in style to those worn by
the Sun King (Louis XIV).

20. The Mods
In the UK the nouveaux moderns (or mods),
followed the black music of Motown and
wore expensive designer clothing. They
were the sworn enemies of rockers and took
every Bank Holiday opportunity, according
to the popular press, to terrorise coastal
towns by fighting on the beach.
Mods wore lightweight dessert boots
(Chukka Boots) to protect their ankles from
the exhaust pipes of their Italian scooters.
The Who were the Mod band and wore
Italian made bowling shoes.

21. Barefeet and the Love Generation
60s Pop Diva Sandie Shaw seldom appeared
on stage in shoes and preferred to sing
barefoot. A habit she shared with many
young idealists now following the road
to enlightenment and self discovery.
Perhaps as a reaction to Vietnam and
rejection of western materialism,
Hippies symbolically went without
shoes. Thongs, kaftans, bells, loons and
Afghan coats were the uniform of the
love generation.

22. Going Underground
The cream of pop culture
came together for three
days of love, peace and
music at Yasgor's Farm.
Hippies and rockers
united to show it could be
done.

23. Bluebeat and Skinheads
Towards the end of the sixties as music went
underground (heavy metal) and grew their hair.
An alternative sprung up listening to the music
of Jamaican Ska. Blue beat suited the small
clubs where the early ravers danced the night
away.
Robust footwear was the order of fashion and
Doc Martin became the shoes to wear.
ervicable yet fashionable the heavy duty boots
were useful in a rumble and could be worn by
either sex. Unisex was definitely in fashion.
Suede heads, then skin heads wore eight eyelet
1460 Doc Marten (DM) boots
The counter movement to Hippies
became the urban bad boys and girls
who were the remnants of the Mods.

24. High and Mighty
By the seventies Glam rock had arrived
with larger than life groups parading on
stage wearing platform shoes.
The androgyny unisex style of the glam
rockers pop stars such as Bowie, Rod
Stewart and Elton John made them
firm fixtures in the charts.
Tiny Elton John needed the extra
leverage of his boots to gave him the
necessary reach to make contact with
the piano keys on his Steinway during
live performances.

25. And then there was Abba
More sophisticated sounds meant
nightclubs and lavish clothing.
During the seventies Abba , from
Sweden, became the toast
of the Disco.
Eagerly followed and lavishly
copied the outlandish costumes
they wore soon became the
elegant sartoria of straights,
cross dressers and drag queens.

26. Punks and DMs
By the mid seventies working
class kids from the suburbs
rejected the sophistication of
studio based music preferring
home made live music .
The Punks or Thatcher's no
Future generation wore
clothes more suited to
bondage with the proverbial
DMs

27. The Quiet Revolution
In the late 70s mothers of teenagers found a
new outlet for music and thanks to execise
innovators, such as Jane Fonda, a new
aerobic revolution began. Out went the old
sweatshirts and daks and in came designer
Ath Fashion including chic designer trainers.
Keeping fit set to music started a
movement which affected all ages . Shoes
needed to match the outfit and to keep
demand high adidas and Puma regularly
brought out new ranges of colourful
trainers with eye catching designer logos.
The young enjoyed the exclusive,
designer element and older people
found the broad based cushioned
footwear comfortable to wear.

28. Hip Hop
Marketing was targeted
firmly towards inner city
youths, mainly Afro
American, Hispanic or
Asian. No street kid could
be seen in anything other
than the latest fashion.

29. Drug Shoes
A combination of clever marketing and the
teenage desire to rebel against conservatism
assured the sneaker culture endured.
Some companies were accused of cashing in
on street drug culture by using street slang
as names for their latest wears. Trainers were
often referred to as 'drug shoes' or 'Chronics'.
Celebrity endorsement extolled the virtues
of being cool in the latest styles and peer
pressure ensured parents parted with
enormous amounts of money to buy the
latest hip kicks.

30. The Soccer Casuals
Despite an economic global down turn,
the importance to look cool continued
and when the English Soccer Youths
savoured the Continental styles during
their frequent forages to follow their
national Soccer team, they soon
discovered Italian designer's shoes and
trainers which were proudly worn as a
badge of office. The fashion caught on
and no self respecting Casual of the
eighties would be seen in public, unless
they were wearing expensive designer
footwear.
Many of these young people had
no visible means of income and
hence association was made with
criminal activities including illicit
drug trafficking.

31. New phase, new wave, dance craze
How about a pair of pink sidewinders
(sandals)
And a bright orange pair of pants?
You could really be a Beau Brummel
baby, If you just give it half a chance.
Don't waste your money on a new set of
speakers, You get more mileage from a
cheap pair of sneakers.
Next phase, new wave, dance craze,
Anyways It's still rock and roll to me. Billy Joel’s Still Rock’n Roll to
me

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