The Shoeaholic thread

[Jacob(smooth)]

Anyone interested in the history of this stuff (and its probably just me ) should consider the writings of one Cameron Kippen, a podiatrist who has devoted his entire career to researching the interplay of foot, shoe and sexuality. Some history on pointed toes....

By the High Middle Ages fashion had costume for men and the fashion for long toed shoes called pigaches or poulaines caught on. The fashion lasted over three hundred years before it was eventually legislated against. At first extensions soon became longer and longer until they were so long they made walking almost impossible. Young bucks started to stuff wool and moss in the extensions to keep them erect. Blatantly phallic the long shoe now 24 inches longer than the foot had chain attachments to the knee to prevent tripping. A popular vulgarity was to paint the extensions flesh coloured, allowing them to flap with lifelike mobility. Small hawke bells were sewn to the end of the poulaine to indicate the wearer was a willing partner in sexual frolic. "Footsie, footsie" took on a more meaningful importance during this time and many boring banquets were enhanced with below table shenanigans. Sometimes worn by curling the toes, the poulaine was the forerunner to the codpiece. The origins of the shoes remain clouded but in some places they were referred to as Crackowe shoes. Certainly the fashion was wide spread throughout Europe and their popularity unopposed. Exaggeration is a constant theme of fashion and is used to give maximum impact to a new look and to prolong the life of a dying one. This may account for the eccentricities, which glorified masculine sexuality in a most obvious way. Youths were chastised for standing on the street corners waggling their toes suggestively as the young ladies walked by. The appearance of the poulaine was perhaps less by chance and more to do with and undercurrent belief in the worship of Phallus. This predated Christianity and may have represented a conscious resurfacing of occult practice in the Middle Ages. The Church was aware of the audacity of poulaines and shocked at the overt and ribald obscenity of the habit of wearing them. Sumptuary legislation to stop men from wearing them was introduced because the shoes physically prevented men from praying.

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The aristocrats of Provencal idealized got married for political reasons but upheld two "intimate ceremonies" as a form of courtship. Domnei or woman worship was a custom where the would-be suitor gazed on the partly or fully undressed lady; and Donnoi was when the couple lay naked together sometimes separated by a pillow. The test was the lover had to prove his depth of love by avoiding intercourse. This was sensual, carnal and openly encouraged the delights of kissing and embracing. The sight of a beloved’s nudity and the touching of her body provoked desire. Under these circumstances it would be no stretch of the imagination to work out what gainful employ a 24" long extension on the foot might be put towards. Indeed at a public banquet an average sized adult male with two 24 " long extensions on his feet could keep three women perfectly happy under the table, leaving his hands free to enjoy a health repast.

Those crazy aristocrats.

Can I get a kudos for getting an atheist theme (the church trying to ban pointed toes because they stop you kneeling to pray) into a thread about shoes?.