|
|
|
 |
|
Germany - Man's leather "Cow
mouth" with red silk lining - 16th Century
Another sensuous male shoe that made its mark in erotic pedic history
was known as the Duckbill, Bear's paw or Cow mouth, with extremely
wide toe parts of sometimes twelve inches or more. Instead of being
used as a phallic symbol, it was translated into a female genital
symbol. A popular treatment was to decorate the upper with vagina-like
slashes. Sometimes the shoes were lined with protruding silk or
with also slashed fur to suggest a pubic effect. With each step
and bend of the foot the multiple slits opened and closed to reveal
pink flesh or hose beneath. The depiction of this openly erotic
suggestion left little to the imagination. Even today, the slashed
effects or teardrop cut-outs, often seen in women's modern shoe
design, are a carry-over of this concept.
|
Research and text by : W.A.H.M. Habraken-Oosterhout-Holland