Boys' Sandals: Types


Figure 1.--This is one of the more common closed-toe sandals worn by boys. Here we see a German boy wearing British-style school sandals. The snapshot is undated, but we would guess was taken after World War II, probably about 1950.

The two basic types of sandals are closed and open-toe styles. The classic sandal is an open toe sandal. This is the style of sandal worn by ancient peoples--Greeks, Romans, and others. Biblical peoples, of course, also wore sandals--hence the modern term "Jesus boots". Monks often wore sandals in the middle ages and some orders still do. In recent times, open toe sandals were not commonly worn in America and Western Europe. They were worn in Mexico and other Latin American countries, but generally viewed as symbolizing poverty or low income. Open toe sandals have experienced a revival in recent years. Open toe sandals began to appear in California, Closed toe sandals appear to have appeared in England, America, and other countries during the 1910s. I am not sure in which country they first appeared or just who was responsible. They appear to have been a refinement of strap shoes. The sandals were different than earlier strap shoes in that that had a center strap. I am not sure who developed this style, but it may have been the Clark Shoe Company as the style is often referred to as school sandals. They were commonly worn by boys and girls for school and play.

Open-toe Sandals

The classic sandal is an open toe sandal. This is the style of sandal worn by ancient peoples--Greeks, Romans, and others. Biblical peoples, of course, also wore sandals--hence the modern term "Jesus boots". Monks often wore sandals in the middle ages and some orders still do. In recent times, open toe sandals were not commonly worn in America and Western Europe. They were worn in Mexico and other Latin American countries, but generally viewed as symbolizing poverty or low income. Open toe sandals have experienced a revival in recent years. Open toe sandals began to appear in California, I believe during the 1950s. They were seized upon by the Hippies in 1960s. American East coast boys resisted them, but beginning in the 1990s with the appearance of the sport sandal, open toe sandals began to makeinroads even with sneakers, that classic symbol of American boyhood. By the end of the decade, American boys for the first time, outside of California, were commonly wearing sandals. At first they commonly wore them with socks, but by the end of the decade this was becoming less common. In England boys mostly wore closed toe sandals, especially for school or play. A few schools adopted open-toe sandals for summer wear. The open-tow style begame more common at New Zealand schools for wear during the summer term without knee socks. I'm not sure when schools began to use open-toed sandals which they referred to as "Roman" sandals.

Closed-toe Sandals

Closed toe sandals appeaer to have appeared in England, America, and other countries during the 1910s. I am not sure in which country they first appeared or just who was responsible. They appear to have been a refinement of strap shoes. The sandals were different than earlier strap shoes in that that had a center strap. I am not sure who developed this style, but it may have been the Clark Shoe Company as the style is often referred to as school sandals. They were commonly worn by boys and girls for school and play. Even older boys of 12 or 13 would commonly wear them. They were regarded at the time as informal play shoes, much as modern children regarded sneakers ("trainers" to our British friends). English boys also commonly wore them to school. For formal occasions, however, boys would put on proper shoes. Another style of closed-toe sandal besides the single horitonal strap appeared, but I can not at this time date it. I know it existed in the 1920s, but I'm not sure how much earlier. This style had double horizontal straps. British boys generally did not wear this style and in America in was mostly worn by girls by the 1930s.

Flip-Flops

We are not sure that they are precisely a sandal, but for want of a better place we will archive them here. A reader writes, "I think HBC should have a section on flip-flops. The Italian term is "infradito" i.e. between the toes). The Spanish term is "havaianas". Looking at the whole world, this sort of footwear is a very widespread type of children footwear. Perhaps the most common after bare feet. In Italy flip-flops were always popular as summer casual footwear. After a period of decreasing popularity (except for the beach wear), the popularity in mid-2000s has been increasing with more children wearing flip-flops. This is associated with the general increase of children wearing sandals that in many places exceed sneaker wear. Usually boys associated flip-flops with casual clothing, but girls often wear flip-flops as dress footwear (there are not only plastic and ruberized flip-flops). Flip-flops are especially common in Asia (where live an half of the world people), Africa and South America. This presumably mkes them the most commonly worn type of children's footwear."







HBC





Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to Main sandal page]
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [Essay] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Links] [Registration]
[Boys' Clothing Home]



Created: 1:43 PM 7/27/2005
Last updated: 4:41 PM 9/4/2009