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76-437: Cultures have different customs regarding footwear. These include not using any in some situations, usually bearing a symbolic meaning. This can however also be imposed on specific individuals to place them at a practical disadvantage against shod people, if they are excluded from having footwear available or are prohibited from using any. This usually takes place in situations of captivity, such as imprisonment or slavery , where

152-480: A prisoner exchange . Prisoners serving a full life or indefinite sentence may never be released. Released prisoners may suffer from issues including psychiatric disorders, criminalized behaviours and access to basic needs. Some criminals, particularly criminals convicted of serious crimes ( felonies or indictable offenses ,) are given restrictions after release, including bans from buying firearms or jury duty exclusion. Post release resources may be provided by

228-550: A tannery . The English word for tanning is from medieval Latin tannāre , derivative of tannum ( oak bark ), from French tan (tanbark), from old-Cornish tann (oak). These terms are related to the hypothetical Proto-Indo-European * dʰonu meaning ' fir tree'. (The same word is source for Old High German tanna meaning 'fir', related to modern German Tannenbaum ). Ancient civilizations used leather for waterskins , bags, harnesses and tack, boats, armour , quivers , scabbards , boots , and sandals . Tanning

304-441: A bath solution containing vegetable tannins, such as found in gallnuts , the leaves of sumac , the leaves of certain acacia trees, the outer green shells of walnuts , among other plants. The use of vegetable tanning is a process that takes longer than mineral tanning when converting rawhides into leather. Mineral tanned leather is used principally for shoes, car seats, and upholstery in homes (sofas, etc.). Vegetable tanned leather

380-499: A decline in the footwear industry. While about 27,000 firms were in business in 2005, only 21,700 remained in 2009. Not only have these firms decreased in number, but direct employment has also reduced within the sector. In the U.S., the annual footwear industry revenue was $ 48 billion in 2012. In 2015, there were about 29,000 shoe stores in the U.S. and the shoe industry employed about 189,000 people. Due to rising imports, these numbers are also declining. The only way of staying afloat in

456-427: A high content of glycine , proline , and hydroxyproline , usually in the repeat -gly-pro-hypro-gly-. These residues give rise to collagen's helical structure. Collagen's high content of hydroxyproline allows cross-linking by hydrogen bonding within the helical structure. Ionized carboxyl groups (RCO 2 ) are formed by the action of hydroxide. This conversion occurs during the liming process, before introduction of

532-480: A large factor in how hazardous wastewater results in contaminating the environment. This is especially prominent in small and medium-sized tanneries in developing countries. The UN Leather Working Group (LWG) "provides an environmental audit protocol, designed to assess the facilities of leather manufacturers," for "traceability, energy conservation, [and] responsible management of waste products." Untanned hides can be dried and made pliable by rubbing and stretching

608-465: A last resort but not generally as punishment, except in the Songhai Empire (1464–1591) and in connection with the slave trade. In the colonial period, imprisonment provided a source of labor and a means of suppression. The use of imprisonment has continued to the present day. Incarceration in what became known as Australia was introduced through colonization . As noted by scholar Thalia Anthony,

684-545: A sign of respect towards someone of higher standing. Similarly, deliberately forcing other people to go barefoot while being shod oneself has been used to clearly showcase and convey one's superiority within a setting of power disparity. Practitioners of the craft of shoemaking are called shoemakers, cobblers, or cordwainers . Footwear has been used by humans since prehistoric times , with paleoclimatology suggesting that they would have been needed in some areas of human settlement by at least 50,000   years ago during

760-400: A skin at a slaughterhouse, farm, or local fur trader. Before tanning, the skins are often dehaired, then have fat, meat and connective tissue removed. They are then washed and soaked in water with various compounds, and prepared to receive a tanning agent. They are then soaked, stretched, dried, and sometimes smoked. Preparing hides begins by curing them with salt to prevent putrefaction of

836-416: A solid surface, it creates a two-dimensional impression. These types of impressions can be made with a variety of substances, like dirt and sand. When footwear removes material from a soft surface, it creates a three-dimensional impression. These types of impressions can be made in a variety of soft substances, like snow and dirt. Two-dimensional impressions also differ from three-dimensional impressions because

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912-412: Is a tort called false imprisonment . In England and Wales, a much larger proportion of the black population is imprisoned than of the white. When a prisoner completes serving their sentence, start probation, or is given a compassionate release they are no longer considered prisoners and are released to the outside world. A prisoner of war may be released as a result of the end of hostilities or

988-419: Is considered one of the most effective tanning compounds. Chromium-tanned leather can contain between 4 and 5% of chromium. This efficiency is characterized by its increased hydrothermal stability of the skin, and its resistance to shrinkage in heated water. Vegetable tanning uses tannins (a class of polyphenol astringent chemicals), which occur naturally in the bark and leaves of many plants. Tannins bind to

1064-403: Is consistent with cross-linking by polychromium species, of the sort arising from olation and oxolation. Before the introduction of the basic chromium species in tanning, several steps are required to produce a tannable hide. The pH must be very acidic when the chromium is introduced to ensure that the chromium complexes are small enough to fit between the fibers and residues of the collagen. Once

1140-416: Is excellent for use in handbags and garments. After application of the chromium agent, the bath is treated with sodium bicarbonate in the basification process to increase the pH to 3.8–4.0, inducing cross-linking between the chromium and the collagen. The pH increase is normally accompanied by a gradual temperature increase up to 40 °C. Chromium's ability to form such stable bridged bonds explains why it

1216-419: Is not very flexible. It is used for luggage, furniture, footwear, belts, and other clothing accessories. Wet white is a term used for leathers produced using alternative tanning methods that produce an off-white colored leather. Like wet blue, wet white is also a semifinished stage. Wet white can be produced using aldehydes , aluminum, zirconium, titanium, or iron salts, or a combination thereof. Concerns with

1292-428: Is preferred. Once bating is complete, the hides and skins are treated by first soaking them in a bath containing common salt (sodium chloride), usually 1 quart of salt to 1 gallon of hot water. When the water cools, one fluid ounce of sulfuric acid is added. Small skins are left in this liquor for 2 days, while larger skins between 1 week and as much as 2 months. In vegetable tanning, the hides are made to soak in

1368-421: Is tawed by soaking in a warm potash alum and salts solution, between 20 and 30 °C (68 and 86 °F). The process increases the hide's pliability, stretchability, softness, and quality. Then, the hide is air dried (crusted) for several weeks, which allows it to stabilize. The use of alum alone for tanning rawhides is not recommended, as it shrinks the surface area of the skin, making it thicker and hard to

1444-420: Is the characteristic of the keratin class of proteins that gives strength to hair and wools (keratin typically makes up 90% of the dry weight of hair). The hydrogen atoms supplied by the sharpening agent weaken the cystine molecular link whereby the covalent disulfide bond links are ultimately ruptured, weakening the keratin. To some extent, sharpening also contributes to unhairing, as it tends to break down

1520-570: Is the restraint of a person's liberty . The 17th century book Termes de la Ley contains the following definition: Imprisonment is no other thing than the restraint of a man's liberty, whether it be in the open field, or in the stocks, or in the cage in the streets or in a man's own house, as well as in the common gaols; and in all the places the party so restrained is said to be a prisoner so long as he hath not his liberty freely to go at all times to all places whither he will without bail or mainprise or otherwise. Imprisonment without lawful cause

1596-409: Is understood to imply actual confinement against one's will in a prison employed for the purpose according to the provisions of the law. Generally gender imbalances occur in imprisonment rates , with incarceration of males proportionately more likely than incarceration of females. Before colonisation, imprisonment was used in sub-Saharan Africa for pre-trial detention, to secure compensation and as

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1672-439: Is used as a leather tanning agent, can cause problems in the kidneys and liver and is also considered a carcinogen . Formaldehyde and arsenic, which are used for leather finishing, cause health problems in the eyes, lungs, liver, kidneys, skin, and lymphatic system and are also considered carcinogens. The waste from leather tanneries is detrimental to the environment and the people who live in it. The use of old technologies plays

1748-461: Is used in leather crafting and in making small leather items, such as wallets, handbags and clothes. Chromium(III) sulfate ( [Cr(H 2 O) 6 ] 2 (SO 4 ) 3 ) has long been regarded as the most efficient and effective tanning agent. Chromium(III) compounds of the sort used in tanning are significantly less toxic than hexavalent chromium , although the latter arises in inadequate waste treatment. Chromium(III) sulfate dissolves to give

1824-497: Is usually made of leather or plastic , and rubber . In fact, leather was one of the original materials used for the first versions of a shoe. The soles can be made of rubber or plastic, sometimes with the addition of a sheet of metal on the inside. Roman sandals had sheets of metal on their soles so that they would not bend out of shape. In more recent times, footwear suppliers such as Nike have begun to source environmentally friendly materials. In Europe, recent decades have seen

1900-668: The American South was an exception. Its demand for masses of low-quality shoes for its slaves was met by workshops around Boston , Philadelphia , and New York , a dependence that later hobbled the Confederate Army during the Civil War and was responsible in legend for the decisive Battle of Gettysburg . Amid the Industrial Revolution , John Adam Dagyr's introduction of assembly line production and tight quality control to

1976-595: The British Army amid the Napoleonic Wars —failed commercially as soon as the wars were over because the demobilized soldiers reduced the price of manual labor. John Brooks Nichols 's 1850 adaptation of Howe and Singer 's sewing machines to handle binding uppers to soles and the Surinamese immigrant Jan Ernst Matzeliger 's 1880 invention of an automatic lasting machine finally allowed true industrialization, taking

2052-537: The High Middle Ages , fashion trends periodically prompted sumptuary taxes or regulations and church condemnation for vanity . The 12th-century pigache and 14th- and 15th-century poulaine had elongated toes, often stuffed to maintain their shape. Around the same time, several mendicant orders began practicing discalceation as an aspect of their vows of humility and poverty , going entirely barefoot at all times or only wearing sandals in any weather. From

2128-739: The Last Glacial Period . Osteologists have found evidence of the effect of footwear on human remains by around 40,000   years ago. The oldest shoes so far recovered were found by a team under Luther Cressman in Fort Rock Cave , Oregon, US, in 1938. They had been preserved under the Mazama Ash deposited c.  5025 BC during the volcanic eruption that formed Crater Lake . In 1999, they were dated to around 10,500– 9,300 BP . Egyptian butchers sometimes wore platform sandals with thicker soles than usual to raise their feet out of

2204-552: The Marshall Plan after World War II , Italy became the major shoe exporting country in the 1950s. It was joined in the 1960s by Japan , which offshored its production to Taiwan , South Korea , and Hong Kong as its own labor became too expensive. In their turn, the Hong Kong manufacturers began moving production to Guangdong in mainland China almost immediately after the establishment of Deng Xiaoping 's Opening Up Policy in

2280-653: The following civil war , contributing to disease and desertion , particularly among the Nationalists . Following the world wars, the increasing importance of professional sports greatly popularized a variety of athletic shoes , particularly sneakers . Major brands such as Converse , Adidas , and Nike used celebrity endorsements from Chuck Taylor , Michael Jordan , Lionel Messi , and others to promote their products. Fashion houses periodically prompted new trends in women's and high-end fashion. In particular, while working for Christian Dior , Roger Vivier popularized

2356-650: The imperial period , however, as the emperors appropriated more and more symbols of high status for themselves. The Romans were the earliest people currently known to have shaped their right and left shoes distinctly during creation, rather than pulling them tight and allowing them to wear into shape. The Catholic patron saints of shoemaking— Crispin and Crispinian —were martyred during the Diocletianic Persecution . In medieval Europe , leather shoes and boots became more common. At first most were simply pieces of leather sewn together and then held tight around

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2432-503: The stiletto heel in 1954. (Men's dress shoes have tended to retain 19th-century British looks such as the Oxford shoe and loafers .) Various subcultures have employed distinctive footwear as part of their identity, including winklepickers , Doc Martens , and skate shoes . The international trade in footwear was at first chiefly restricted to American exports to Europe and Europe's exports to its various colonial empires . Assisted by

2508-457: The "ten-footer" workshops in Lynn, Massachusetts , US, around 1760 is sometimes credited as the first shoe factory . However, although mechanized textile mills greatly reduced the price of proper socks , each step of the shoemaking process still needed to be done by hand in a slowly optimized putting-out system . The first mechanized systems—developed by Marc Isambard Brunel in 1810 to supply boots to

2584-505: The 1480s, the poulaine was replaced by the duckbill , which had a flat front but soon became impractically wide. The stiff hose of the era usually required fairly soft footwear, which in turn was easier to damage in the dirt and muck of the street and outdoors. This led many people to use wooden-soled calopedes , pattens , or galoshes , overshoes that served as a platform while walking. Particularly in Venice , these platforms were combined with

2660-566: The 18th-century Hessian and 19th-century Wellington boot . In Ming and Qing China , foot binding led to the development of lotus shoes for Han women and then flowerpot shoes for the Manchu women who wanted to emulate the characteristic walk of women with bound feet without undergoing the process themselves. In Africa , North America , and Spanish and Portuguese South America , slave codes often mandated slaves should be barefoot at all times without exception. Following its independence ,

2736-581: The Australian settler colonial state has engaged in carceral tactics of containment and segregation against Aboriginal Australians since colonizers first arrived, "whether that be for Christian , civilizing , protectionist, welfare, or penal purposes." When settlers arrived, they invented courts and passed laws without consent of Indigenous peoples that stated that they had jurisdiction over them and their lands. When Indigenous peoples challenged these laws, they were imprisoned. In English law, imprisonment

2812-411: The adoption in medicine of soaking gut sutures in a chromium (III) solution after 1840, it was discovered that this method could also be used with leather and thus was adopted by tanners. The tanning process begins with obtaining an animal skin. When an animal skin is to be tanned, the animal is killed and skinned before the body heat leaves the tissues. This can be done by the tanner, or by obtaining

2888-494: The authorities. Various factors have been investigated as to their influence on post-release recidivism , such as family and other relationships, employment, housing and ability to quit drug use. Leather tanning Tanning , or hide tanning , is the process of treating skins and hides of animals to produce leather . A tannery is the place where the skins are processed. Historically, vegetable based tanning used tannin , an acidic chemical compound derived from

2964-408: The bark of certain trees, in the production of leather. An alternative method, developed in the 1800s, is chrome tanning, where chromium salts are used instead of natural tannins. Tanning hide into leather involves a process which permanently alters the protein structure of skin, making it more durable and less susceptible to decomposition and coloring. The place where hides are processed is known as

3040-485: The case of Bangladesh, chickens (the nation's most common source of protein). Up to 25% of the chickens in Bangladesh contained harmful levels of hexavalent chromium, adding to the national health problem load. Chromium is not solely responsible for these diseases. Methylisothiazolinone , which is used for microbiological protection (fungal or bacterial growth), causes problems with the eyes and skin. Anthracene , which

3116-436: The collagen from bacterial growth during the time lag from procuring the hide to when it is processed. Curing removes water from the hides and skins using a difference in osmotic pressure. The moisture content of hides and skins is greatly reduced, and osmotic pressure increased, to the point that bacteria are unable to grow. In wet-salting, the hides are heavily salted, then pressed into packs for about 30 days. In brine -curing,

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3192-459: The collagen proteins in the hide and coat them, causing them to become less water-soluble and more resistant to bacterial attack. The process also causes the hide to become more flexible. The primary barks processed in bark mills and used in modern times are chestnut , oak , redoul , tanoak , hemlock , quebracho , mangrove , wattle (acacia; see catechol ), and myrobalans from Terminalia spp., such as Terminalia chebula . In Ethiopia ,

3268-416: The collagen's carboxyl groups, amine groups from the side chains of the amino acids , and masking agents. Masking agents are carboxylic acids , such as acetic acid , used to suppress formation of polychromium(III) chains. Masking agents allow the tanner to further increase the pH to increase collagen's reactivity without inhibiting the penetration of the chromium(III) complexes. Collagen is characterized by

3344-540: The combined vegetable oils of Niger seed ( Guizotia abyssinica ) and flaxseeds were used in treating the flesh side of the leather, as a means of tawing, rather than of tanning. In Yemen and Egypt , hides were tanned by soaking them in a bath containing the crushed leaves and bark of the Salam acacia (Acacia etbaica; A. nilotica kraussiana). Hides that have been stretched on frames are immersed for several weeks in vats of increasing concentrations of tannin. Vegetable-tanned hide

3420-409: The desired level of penetration of chrome into the substance is achieved, the pH of the material is raised again to facilitate the process. This step is known as basification. In the raw state, chrome-tanned skins are greyish-blue, so are referred to as wet blue . Chrome tanning is faster than vegetable tanning (taking less than a day for this part of the process) and produces a stretchable leather which

3496-538: The development of plimsolls , deck shoes , rubber boots , galoshes , and waders . The prevalence of trench foot in World War I focused attention on the importance of providing of adequate footwear in following conflicts, although this was not always possible. Millions of Chinese soldiers in both the NRA and PLA were obliged to use straw and rope shoes to allow easy replacement on long marches during both World War II and

3572-506: The early 1980s. Competitors were soon forced to follow suit, including removal of Taiwanese and Korean production to Fujian and to Wenzhou in southern Zhejiang . Similarly, amid Perestroika and the Fall of Communism , Italy dismantled its domestic industry, outsourcing its work to Eastern Europe , which proved less dependable than the Chinese and further eroded their market share. Beginning around

3648-425: The end use of the leather, hides may be treated with enzymes to soften them, a process called bating . In modern tanning, these enzymes are purified agents, and the process no longer requires bacterial fermentation (as from dung-water soaking) to produce them. Pickling is another term for tanning, or what is the modern equivalent of turning rawhide into leather by the use of modern chemical agents, if mineral tanning

3724-562: The fibers with a hide stretcher, and fatting. However the hide will revert to rawhide if not periodically replenished with fat or oil, especially if it gets wet. Many Native Americans of the arid western regions wore clothing made by this process. Smoke tanning is listed among the conventional methods like chrome tanning and vegetable tanning. Impregnation of the hide's cells with formaldehyde (from smoke) offers some microbial and water resistance. Leftover leather would historically be turned into glue . Tanners would place scraps of hides in

3800-429: The foot with a toggle or drawstring. This developed into the turnshoe , where the sole and upper were sewn together and then turned inside-out to hide and protect the seam and improve water resistance. From the reign of Charlemagne , Byzantine fashions began to influence the west and the pontificalia of the popes and other bishops began to feature greater luxury, including embroidered silk and velvet slippers . By

3876-442: The gore. Wealthier Egyptians also sometimes wore platforms. The Greeks distinguished a great variety of footwear, particularly different styles of sandals . The heeled cothurnus was part of the standard costume for tragedians , and the effeminate soccus for comedians . Going barefoot , however, was frequently lauded: Spartan boys undergoing military training, Socrates , and Olympic athletes all went without shoes most of

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3952-459: The groups are among other things distinctly divided by whether or not footwear is being worn. In some cultures, people remove their shoes before entering a home. Bare feet are also seen as a sign of humility and respect, and adherents of many religions worship or mourn while barefoot. Some religious communities explicitly require people to remove shoes before they enter holy buildings, such as temples. In several cultures people remove their shoes as

4028-418: The hair proteins. The isoelectric point of the collagen (a tissue-strengthening protein unrelated to keratin) in the hide is also shifted to around pH 4.7 due to liming. Any hairs remaining after liming are removed mechanically by scraping the skin with a dull knife, a process known as scudding. The pH of the collagen is then reduced so the enzymes may act on it in a process known as deliming. Depending on

4104-406: The hexaaquachromium(III) cation, [Cr(H 2 O) 6 ] , which at higher pH undergoes processes called olation to give polychromium(III) compounds that are active in tanning, being the cross-linking of the collagen subunits. The chemistry of [Cr(H 2 O) 6 ] is more complex in the tanning bath rather than in water due to the presence of a variety of ligands. Some ligands include the sulfate anion,

4180-459: The hides are agitated in a saltwater bath for about 16 hours. Curing can also be accomplished by preserving the hides and skins at very low temperatures. The steps in the production of leather between curing and tanning are collectively referred to as beamhouse operations. They include, in order, soaking, liming , removal of extraneous tissues (unhairing, scudding and fleshing), deliming , bating or puering, drenching, and pickling. In soaking,

4256-406: The hides are soaked in clean water to remove the salt left over from curing and increase the moisture so that the hide or skin can be further treated. To prevent damage of the skin by bacterial growth during the soaking period, biocides , typically dithiocarbamates , may be used. Fungicides such as TCMTB may also be added later in the process, to protect wet leathers from mold growth. After 1980,

4332-510: The industry: "edgesetter", "heel trimmer", " McKay machine operator". Many were replaced by cheaper immigrants ; the Czech Tomáš Baťa joined these workers at Lynn in 1904 and then returned to his own factory in Zlín , Moravia, mechanizing and rationalizing its production while guiding the factory town that developed into a garden city . By the early 20th century, vulcanization had led to

4408-454: The latter case it is considered " false imprisonment ". Imprisonment does not necessarily imply a place of confinement with bolts and bars, but may be exercised by any use or display of force (such as placing one in handcuffs ), lawfully or unlawfully, wherever displayed, even in the open street. People become prisoners, wherever they may be, by the mere word or touch of a duly authorized officer directed to that end. Usually, however, imprisonment

4484-404: The latter demonstrate length, width, and depth whereas two-dimensional impressions only demonstrate the first two aspects. [REDACTED] Media related to Footwear at Wikimedia Commons Imprisonment Imprisonment or incarceration is the restraint of a person's liberty for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In

4560-427: The outskirts of town, among the poor. Tanning by ancient methods is so foul-smelling that tanneries are still isolated from those towns today where the old methods are used. Skins typically arrived at the tannery dried stiff and dirty with soil and gore. First, the ancient tanners would soak the skins in water to clean and soften them. Then they would pound and scour the skin to remove any remaining flesh and fat . Hair

4636-508: The process. Chemicals used in tanned leather production increase the levels of chemical oxygen demand and total dissolved solids in water when not disposed of responsibly. These processes also use large quantities of water and produce large amounts of pollutants. Boiling and sun drying can oxidize and convert the various chromium(III) compounds used in tanning into carcinogenic hexavalent chromium , or chromium(VI). This hexavalent chromium runoff and scraps are then consumed by animals, in

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4712-420: The productivity of individual workers from 20 or 50 pairs a day to as many as 700, halving prices, and briefly making Lynn the center of world shoe production. As late as 1865, most men in the industry identified in the census and city directory as general purpose "cordwainers" or "shoemakers"; by 1890, they were almost universally described as "shoe workers" or—more often—by the specific name of their work within

4788-444: The prominently pointed shoe or boot now known as the calceus repandus . The Romans saw clothing and footwear as unmistakable signs of power and status in society . Patricians typically wore dyed and ornamented shoes of tanned leather with their togas or armor , while plebeians wore rawhide or hobnail boots and slaves were usually required to be barefoot . These class distinctions in footwear seem to have lessened during

4864-590: The shoe market is to establish a presence in niche markets. To ensure high quality and safety of footwear , manufacturers have to make sure all products comply to existing and relevant standards. By producing footwear in accordance with national and international regulations, potential risks can be minimized and the interest of both textile manufacturers and consumers can be protected. The following standards/regulations apply to footwear products: Footwear can create two types of impressions: two-dimensional and three-dimensional impressions. When footwear places material onto

4940-477: The shoe to make chopines , sometimes so awkwardly high that the wearer required servants to help support them. ( Turkish sources, meanwhile, credit the chopines directly to the nalins worn in Ottoman baths and whose height was considered to be a marker of status.) By the early modern period , the development of better socks and less stiff hose allowed European footwear to become firmer and more durable. Welting

5016-403: The tanning agent (chromium salts). Later during pickling, collagen carboxyl groups are temporarily protonated for ready transport of chromium ions. During basification step of tanning, the carboxyl groups are ionized and coordinate as ligands to the chromium(III) centers of the oxo-hydroxide clusters. Tanning increases the spacing between protein chains in collagen from 10 to 17 Å. The difference

5092-650: The time. Similarly, ancient China considered footwear an important aspect of civilization—particularly embroidered slippers —but often depicted Taoist immortals and gods like Xuanwu barefoot. The Book of Exodus records Moses reverentially removing his shoes at Mount Sinai and the priests likewise went barefoot at the Temple of Solomon before Babylonian customs prevailed and entering houses of worship in footwear became common in Judaism and Christianity . The Etruscans experienced several footwear trends, including

5168-407: The touch. If alum is applied to the fur, it makes the fur dull and harsh. Depending on the finish desired, the leather may be waxed, rolled, lubricated, injected with oil, split, shaved, or dyed. The tanning process involves chemical and organic compounds that can have a detrimental effect on the environment. Agents such as chromium, vegetable tannins, and aldehydes are used in the tanning step of

5244-492: The toxicity and environmental impact of any chromium (VI) that may form during the tanning process have led to increased research into more efficient wet white methods. The conditions present in bogs, including highly acidic water, low temperature, and a lack of oxygen, combine to preserve but severely tan the skin of bog bodies . Tawing is a method that uses alum and other aluminium salts , generally in conjunction with binders such as egg yolk, flour, or other salts. The hide

5320-418: The use of pentachlorophenol and mercury -based biocides and their derivatives was forbidden. After soaking, the hides are treated with milk of lime (a basic agent) typically supplemented by "sharpening agents" (disulfide reducing agents) such as sodium sulfide , cyanides , amines , etc. This: The weakening of hair is dependent on the breakdown of the disulfide link of the amino acid cystine , which

5396-471: The year 2000, China has constantly produced more than half of the world's shoes. As of 2021, footwear is the 30th most traded category internationally; but, while China produces well over 60% of exported footwear, it currently earns less than 36% of the value of the total trade owing to the continuing importance of American, German, and other brands in the North American and European markets. Modern footwear

5472-419: Was a fermentative process that relied on enzymes produced by bacteria found in the dung. Among the kinds of dung commonly used were those of dogs or pigeons. Historically the actual tanning process used vegetable tanning. In some variations of the process, cedar oil , alum , or tannin was applied to the skin as a tanning agent. As the skin was stretched, it would lose moisture and absorb the agent. Following

5548-523: Was being carried out by the inhabitants of Mehrgarh in Pakistan between 7000 and 3300 BCE. Around 2500 BCE , the Sumerians began using leather, affixed by copper studs , on chariot wheels . The process of tanning was also used for boats and fishing vessels: ropes, nets, and sails were tanned using tree bark. Formerly, tanning was considered a noxious or "odoriferous trade" and relegated to

5624-424: Was developed, using a narrow band of leather between the uppers and sole to improve appearance and comfort, increase water resistance, and simplify repair, particularly resoling worn shoes. Beginning with the 1533 marriage of the 14-year-old Florentine Catherine de Medici to Prince Henry of France , both male and female royalty and nobles began wearing high heels , giving rise to the expression "well heeled". This

5700-501: Was done sometimes for display or appearance and sometimes as an aid to riding in stirrups . For the most part, male footwear was more ornate and expensive because women's feet were usually covered by the large dresses of the era . Shoe fetishism was first publicized in the work of Nicolas-Edme Rétif in prerevolutionary France . 17th-century Cavalier boots developed into upper-class fashion and into sailing boots prized by fishermen and pirates before being replaced as military gear by

5776-424: Was removed by soaking the skin in urine , painting it with an alkaline lime mixture, or simply allowing the skin to putrefy for several months then dipping it in a salt solution. After the hair was loosened, the tanners scraped it off with a knife. Once the hair was removed, the tanners would " bate " (soften) the material by pounding dung into the skin, or soaking the skin in a solution of animal brains. Bating

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