| A shoe is an item of footwear
evolved at first to protect the human foot and later, additionally, as
an item of decoration in itself. The foot contains more bones than any
other single part of the body, and has evolved over hundreds of
thousands of years in relation to vastly varied terrain and climatic
conditions. Together with the proprioceptive system, it is what makes
possible balance and ambulation.
Most of the time there have been people, most people
have not worn shoes.
Only with the advent of mass production, making available for the first time the cheap flip-flop-type sandal, for example, has shoe-wearing become predominant. Appearance and design have varied enormously through time, and from culture to culture. They may, for example, have very high heels or no heels at all. Contemporary footwear varies in style, complexity and cost, from the most basic sandal, via high fashion shoes for women sometimes costing thousands of dollars a pair, through to complex boots specially designed for mountaineering or skiing. Shoes have traditionally been made from leather, wood or canvas, but are increasingly made from rubber, plastics, and other petrochemical-derived materials. |
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