Young people nowadays are becoming less and less fond of wearing sandals? But why is the Brazilian flip flop selling crazy all over the world? Clothes | Shoes | Brazil

Recently, a survey data released by China Newsweek showed that six adults choose not to wear sandals in summer, and entries such as "Why don't you wear sandals in summer" frequently make it to the hot search list. In the scorching summer, sandals, slippers, etc. are the magic weapons for people to cool off. As a symbol and memory, shoes have played an important role in the long history, and even some national treasures. The transformation of a pair of shoes reflects the civilization that emerges from under the soles of the feet.

Casual shoes exhibited at the Beta Footwear Museum in Toronto, Canada

Xie Lingyun transformed wooden clogs

Due to its simple production, the earliest foot products in human history were similar in structure to sandals, which evolved from primitive wrapping materials. During the ancient civilizations of each region, different forms of straw woven shoes appeared, requiring only straps or ropes to be tied to the soles of the shoes.

The earliest shoes unearthed in the world were discovered in Missouri, USA, approximately 8000 years ago. It is a sandal woven from plant fibers, worn by Native Americans. The plant weaving materials for straw shoes include various options such as straw, wheat straw, and corn straw. Grass shoes were also a necessity in ancient Chinese society. The Book of Songs states: "The tangled sandals can be used to walk on frost." Among them, the sandals made of sandals are called "sandals" by the people of pre Qin.

In the Zhou Dynasty, regardless of social status, everyone could wear straw shoes. Even the royal family of the Zhou Dynasty used grass shoes as a standard accessory for summer shoes. The combination of shoes and clothes is related to identity and status. For example, shoes need to match the color and style of the clothes. According to the Book of Rites, wearing Ge sandals in summer means wearing Ge grass woven shoes. If you wear black clothes, you need to wear black shoes. If you wear white silk woven clothes with pleats at the waist, you need to pair them with white shoes.

Ancient sandals exhibited at the Beta Footwear Museum in Toronto, Canada

The famous line from Su Shi's "Ding Feng Bo: Don't Listen to the Sound of Wearing the Forest and Beating the Leaves" goes: "Bamboo sticks and awn shoes are lighter than horses, who is afraid? A raincoat and mist can last a lifetime." The awn shoes in it are also grass shoes. In ancient social life, grass shoes were a symbolic cultural symbol that reflected the wisdom and diligence of the working people. The ancient heroes and hermits often took pride in wearing grass shoes. Because the raw materials for grass shoes come from nature, even in modern times, people who advocate for nature still love to wear grass woven sandals.

With the development of the times, a new type of "sandals" - clogs have emerged. Compared to grass shoes, it is more durable. In the Ningbo Museum, a pair of wooden clogs dating back to the Liangzhu period, with a history of over 4000 years, are preserved as relics of the Liangzhu culture.

Clogs were the earliest style of slippers, also known as "Gua Da Ban" during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. It is usually made of hard wooden boards, paired with cloth straps, leather straps, etc. Li Bai wrote in his poem "Farewell to the Heavenly Granny in a Dream": "Wearing Xie Gong's clogs, climbing the Qingyun Ladder." Among them, "Xie Gong's clogs" are a type of wooden clog, invented by Xie Lingyun, the founder of the "Landscape Poetry School" and the Northern and Southern Dynasties. ".

Xie Lingyun comes from a prestigious family and has a free spirited personality. He doesn't care much about the officialdom, but he is quite interested in traveling to the mountains and rivers. He found that removing the front teeth of the wooden clogs while climbing and the back teeth when going downhill can better maintain body balance during the climbing process. He improved the wooden slippers according to his ideas, making them a popular and trendy product, known as the "Xie Gong clog" in history. This improved pair of slippers is very popular and even spread to Japan, North Korea, and other places.

Brazilians have turned slippers into culture

With the development of the times, grass shoes, wooden clogs, and other items have gradually faded out of sight and become non mainstream. Sandals and slippers made from natural materials such as leather, wood, bamboo, and wheat straw, or lighter and softer materials such as rubber and plastic, are more common.

For young people, the flip flop, which represents freedom and happiness, is more beloved than sandals.

The flip flop, also known as the "flip flop", has a rhythmic feeling of kicking and tapping when listening to the pronunciation of its English words, conveying a sense of casualness and freedom. There has always been debate in the medical community about issues such as joint pain and ankle sprains caused by wearing flip flops, but in some tropical countries or cities, flip flops are still the preferred choice for summer shoes. Even in Brazil, flip flops have become a fashionable cultural symbol.

According to research, the Brazilian flip flop originated from Japanese clogs. In Brazil, flip flops, along with coffee beans, bread, and milk, are considered a necessity in people's lives. A national treasure level flip flop brand in Brazil, which can sell millions or even billions of units annually. Even the former president of Brazil once wore flip flops on camera, indicating that this shoe has an extraordinary popularity in the country.

Brazilian national treasure level slippers have also been featured in important occasions such as Oscars and World Cup football matches, becoming a souvenir for Oscar nominees and a peripheral item for World Cup football matches. This is inseparable from its high quality and design sense.

The flip flop was introduced to Europe in 1962 and initially only had two colors: black and dark blue. In the 1990s, Brazil launched colored flip flops, which, although priced twice as high as before, brought breakthrough development to the market. Subsequently, more colorful and bright styles were designed, and crystal and other accessories were added. Some shoe soles were made thicker, and the prints on the flip flops became more personalized, making them more youthful and energetic.

Brazilians love flip flops, which is also related to their local materials. Brazil's natural rubber is world-renowned for its high production, good quality, and long economic lifespan. Shoes made from this material are softer, more fitting, and more wear-resistant.

Why traditional sandals are neglected

From the perspective of historical evolution, shoes are a microcosm of human civilization, technology, and aesthetic development, while recording changes and developments in social values and lifestyle habits.

In a social survey conducted by China Newsweek on sandals, nearly six adults choose not to wear sandals in summer, with over 60% of them being born in the 2000s, surpassing other age groups. Among the reasons why people don't like to wear sandals, "feet are prone to tanning" ranks first. Many netizens jokingly commented, "I didn't expect sandals to defeat me not with other new products, but with the unstoppable 'sun protection'. From sun protection clothing to sun protection hats, sun masks, and even not wearing sandals, modern people, especially young people, are really 'armed to their toes' with sun protection.".

The reporter found that other reasons for not wearing sandals in summer are related to modern lifestyle and work methods. For example, turning on the air conditioner can cause cold feet, rushing to and from work can make it difficult to run quickly, being afraid of being stepped on while taking the subway or bus, and being inconvenient to drive. These reasons are not without reason, the changes in shoes are always based on the needs of generations.

Sandals exhibited at the Spanish Footwear Art Exhibition

So, compared to traditional sandals, more and more variant sandals stand out and are loved by people. For example, young people love perforated shoes, which have advantages over traditional sandals in terms of walking in summer and keeping warm in air-conditioned rooms. For example, breathable mesh sports sandals and sports slippers, which are related to recent sports trends and fashion, can better match clothing and daily life scenarios, and are suitable for modern life.

In Toronto, Canada, there is a museum dedicated to collecting shoes, built in 1995, called the Beta Footwear Museum. The museum has a collection of over 12000 pairs of shoes, spanning thousands of years, from ancient Egyptian grass shoes to exquisite and luxurious satin women's shoes and sports and leisure shoes loved by modern people.

The museum also houses many famous people's shoes. Such as Queen Victoria's ivory sleeping shoes, Churchill's leather boots, Elizabeth Taylor's silver slippers, etc. It is interesting that during the performance of the play "Love in a City" in Toronto, a pair of leather shoes worn by Leung Ka hui in the play was photographed by the museum and permanently collected for exhibition. This is also the first time that shoes of Chinese celebrities have been collected by the museum.

The various shoes exhibited at the Beta Footwear Museum

In addition, the museum also has shoes made of various materials, such as animal skin, porcelain, wood, flowers and plants, metal, silk, etc., with many shapes that are unimaginable. The origin of shoes ranges from mountain hunters to royal and noble families, from China's three inch golden lotus to hot sand sandals in the Sahara Desert, from Egyptian reed shoes in the 14th century to ice skates for world skating champions, covering a wide range.

Da Vinci once said that human feet are a masterpiece of engineering and a work full of artistic atmosphere. The same goes for shoes. From the evolutionary history of shoes, we can taste the civilization that has emerged. Its vitality always comes from the needs of the present, and its innovation is also worth looking forward to.