made me cringe....and reach for my comfy slippers!  

Sunday 26 July 2009

And my mum used to moan about me wearing pointed shoes or stilettos!!!


These pictures are enough to put you off painful shoes for life, we all think we suffer painful feet for the sake of great shoes, but up until about 80 years ago, women in china suffered far more, they make us look like amateurs, there are believed to be some remote areas in China that practiced this tradition far more recently!!!



"For over a thousand years, tiny feet were symbols of feminine beauty, elegance, and sexuality in China. In order to achieve the goal of tiny three-inch "lotus feet" (the lotus was a kind of flower), most young Chinese girls had their feet bound tightly with strips of cloth to prevent growth. Once the process was completed, the deformed feet were placed into beautiful, embroidered lotus shoes, tiny pointed slippers that were made especially for bound feet. Though no one knows exactly when foot binding began, the practice dates back at least to 900 C.E. and continued in remote areas well into the twentieth century."

OUCH OUCH OUCH!!!!

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7 comments: to “ made me cringe....and reach for my comfy slippers!

  • Cammie
    26 July 2009 at 12:04  

    have you ever read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan? That is where I first heard about foot binding and had to go look it up....yikes. If you like to read it is an awesome book and you learn all about HOW that is done. scary

  • Linda
    26 July 2009 at 13:59  

    Ouch! Have you ever noticed it is always the women who 'suffer' for fashion? Corsets, girdles, panty hose, high heels, etc? Men complain when they have to put a tie on, and they even make clip on ties.

  • Maureen@IslandRoar
    26 July 2009 at 17:19  

    I have always read about this and wondered what these feet looked like. So, even tho it was painful to see, I'm glad I did.
    What an awful tradition. Beautiful shoes, but who gives a crap that they have to be tiny?
    Thanks.

  • Sally's World
    26 July 2009 at 19:45  

    thanks cammie, definitely something i'd like to read, i'll get onto amazon

    ah, how right you are Linda, can't imagine a man bothering lol!

    Maureen, how true, why on earth did it become a sign of beauty, i may know more after I've read the book.

  • Missy
    26 July 2009 at 23:46  

    And my mom says that Flip Flops are destroying my feet!

  • Anonymous
    27 July 2009 at 22:06  

    Ugh, that looks horriable and painful!!! I already have enough problems with my feet, couldn't imagine that.

  • Becca
    29 July 2009 at 16:41  

    Ew! That is sooo gross looking. I have no idea how in the world them women were able to do that. What were they thinking?!

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