Figure 1.-- Here a French chorister is putting the final touches on his shoes before a concert. Loafers was popular pick for many choirs. |
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Most French choirs had black leather shoes as part of the uniform, usually worn with white knee socks. Many of the choirs had the boys wear loafers rather than lace up shoes. We are not sure why liafers were preferred. The boys were expcted to have their shoes well polished for their concerts. Thre were rules about feet, much as there were rules bout hands. The boys were instructed as to how to place their feet. This was to both cut down on distractive movements as ell as t give the choir a uniform look. A chorister tells us, "We are told to make sure our shoes touch each other, so we are able to keep our feet together when we are nervous. As we wear short pants on stage, we are shy sometimes, especially during a solo. As we may be nervous and shy, sometimes our knees will bend or we will fidgit a little. If the audience is below, they can see our leg movements very clearly, so we put our feet together to prevent from moving too much. Sometimes older boys still fidgit a little because they feel shy wearing shorts or younger boys bend their knees because they are tired from standingfor such along time. But I think another reason we are taught to keep our feet together is because we are supposed to look the same when we stand, so it is a standard position we must follow."
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