The first sneaker was developed by Converse Rubber Company.Sneakers were the world's first silent shoe. If you spun around fast on a basketball court, they would produce a high-pitched squeal, but essentially they provided stealth and surefootedness.They got the nickname sneakers because they were so quiet, a person wearing them could sneak up on someone They made it possible for a person to move like a cat.
The original sneakers were made of rubber and plain brown canvas.
They became popular in 1917.
http://chucksconnection.com/articles/sneaker.html
This shoe was the first rubber soled shoe called plimsolls, but they were pretty crude—for one thing, there was no right foot or left foot. But now they can walk comfortably in rubber. http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0932723.html
By the sixteenth century, embroidery had become a highly developed art form in England and on the Continent. The proliferation of printed materials, particularly books of embroidery designs, provided a wealth of motifs for both the amateur and professional embroiderer http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/shoe/ho_29.23.11.htm
The poulaine, a long pointed shoe, remained the popular footwear, with its overall length expanding and contracting, for almost 150 years.toe points were often stuffed with moss or other materials for support. Intentional slashing and embossing of the leather were common decorative embellishments. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/07/euwb/ho_29.158.914.htm
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