Modern day shoe fetishism has its
roots in 19th century England, born out of repressed
and prudish Victorian attitudes.
Between the 17th and 19th centuries,
attitudes towards women demanded that they cover up
as much as possible, showing little or no flesh and
disguising any aspect of the female form. But this
was only from the outside. Beneath these ballooning
gowns and layered petticoats, women were using shoes
and lingerie as a vessel for sexual expression. High
heeled shoes, lingerie and corsetry, were becoming
the tools of female seduction or the rewards for a
successful male seducer.
Fashion of this period had to be subtly
seductive. On the face of it conforming to required
standards for the attitudes of the times, yet creating
subtleties in design that could suggest sexuality without
offending. This was even truer of footwear, hidden
underneath these long garments they could be as sexually
alluring as possible, for they would only be seen when
the female wanted them to. Thus shoes could be used
as a tool of seduction.
Although in modern times, it is no
longer necessary for women to hide their sexuality
beneath such garments, thus the role of shoes as tools
of seduction is no less prominent.
In the age of consumerism where profit
is now paramount to quality, we at Burlesque Blue take
the opposing view, and are trying to concentrate on
achieving a quality product by using traditional skills
and experienced craftsmanship. It is also important
to us to bring back the popularity of “well made
UK footwear” to preserve the great reputation
and excellence in fashion which Britain used to be
renowned for.
What we are trying to achieve here
at Burlesque blue, is to extend the prominence of this
seductive tool by opening more and more peoples eyes
everyday to the world of sassy footwear, and also to
transform people into connoisseurs of fashion.
