Can I vent a moment about tassled loafers? I've never enjoyed seeing them on either men or women and though I'm not the princess of fashion and certainly nobody asked me but -- I'd like to share what a friend of mine sent about such a shoe that he found on a now-defunct website:
Symbolism in Shoes
...a common use of decoration was display of trophies. The strength and courage of animals was admired by the early hunters and gatherers who wore their skins to harness these qualities. This probably accounts for why shoes were made from animal skin. Prehistoric people decorated and scarified their skins to protect themselves from imaginary evil spirits. These patterns were incorporated into clothing designs as talisman with significant social and spiritual meaning. Such designs are clearly visible today in the brogue patterns worn in shoes. Victors also kept momentos of the vanquished, such as their testicles. These curios are seen in tassels on loafers. Lucky tokens were also a feature of primal decoration to which the penny loafer is a good example. Rank, occupation and wealth were also encoded into types of clothing. Unshod feet in Roman times was the mark of slaves, male citizens had the right to wear sandals, and military station was depicted by the height of boot worn by the soldier. From early biblical times elevated sandals were worn by sex workers.
There's a whole bunch of stuff written at length about footwear and blog is right up my alley called foot talk .
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