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Shoe Making Gallery
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Cultural Heritage: Shoe Embroidery in China
Aesthetic conceptions, cultural traditions, ethics and morals, as well as the fashion of different dynasties, have all been expressed through the art of embroidery.
Chinese embroidery has four major traditional styles: Su, Shu, Xiang, and Yue.
- Su is the short name for Suzhou, a typical southern water town. This embroidery type reflects tranquility, refinement, and elegance.
- Shu, the short name for Sichuan, is influenced by its geographic environment and local customs. It is characterized by a refined and brisk style.
- Xiang Embroidery has elements from calligraphy, painting, and inscription. It may be patterned after a draft has been painted, but it is not limited by it. It has been said that this style can make a flower seem to send off fragrance, a bird to sing, a tiger to run, and a person to breathe.
- Yue Embroidery uses rich colors for strong contrast and a magnificent and bustling effect. Portrait and flowers and birds are the most popular themes.
In shoe embroidery, colorful silky threads are used to embroider elaborate patterns on the shoe from heel to toe, and from the sole to the shoe padding. The themes for shoe embroidery originate from daily life, such as folk culture and folk customs, and nature, including flowers and grass, birds and beasts, and theatrical figures. Societal reforms rendered the craft of embroidery as an important standard for appraising a girl as "clever and deft".
Most of the local women of China began embroidering at an early age, spending over 10 years on what would be their embroidered matrimonial shoes. They do this to demonstrate their loyalty for love and their aspiration to happiness. Many times in their floral pattern, the Chinese word for "right" is sometimes embroidered. The purpose is to imply that the bride wants her lover to take a "right" road.
One past ritual that depended on the elegance of a women’s shoes is foot binding. Originating in the Southern Tang Dynasty (937-976), the "three-inch golden lotuses" refer to a woman's tiny bound feet, as well as to the shoes they wore. These shoes were in the shape of a rising bird head. Their treads were wooden, bent into shape like a bow. Therefore, they were called "bow shoes”. The exquisite bow shoes had various kinds of embroidered patterns at the toe, tread, inside and upper parts of the shoe. Considered part of a woman's intimate apparel, the color of the shoe and style of embroidery often held great significance, and they were often perfumed or clad with jingling bells, bright pearls, and ankle bracelets to attract attention.
