shoes&pattens1

111

Sizes and wear pałterns: social inferences

A feature of many shoes in the present collec-tion is a slit in the vamp throat (Figs. 26, 50). In most cases this was probably madę by wearers whose feet were abnormally arched and whose insteps would have rubbed uncomfortably, especi-ally if the shoe was too smali or too tightly cut. Other deliberate slits in the vamp and abnormal patches of wear on the upper or soles may signify deformities of the toes. One of the most common is the bunion (hallux valguś). This condition of the great toe (hallux) occurs when the metatarsal is displaced medially, causing the metatarso-phal-angeal joint to bulge outwards and the great toe itself to turn inwards towards the other toes, sometimes even overlapping them (Fig. 146). The joint becomes enlarged and inflamed, so that a swelling, the ‘bunion’, develops on the side of the foot and rubs unpleasantly against the inside of the shoe. It is often thought that certain individuals have a natural propensity to the condition, perhaps only because their feet are disproportionately long, but it can be exacerbated by narrow, pointed or badly-fitting footwear. In medieval times there would have been no obvious remedy except to apply pads or to cut holes in the side of the shoe to relieve pressure, and it may be that slits Iow down on the inner side of uppers such as that illustrated (cf. Fig. 149) were madę precisely for this purpose.

A rather different malformation of the great toe occurs when the metatarso-phalangeal joint becomes immobilised, usually through a form of osteoarthritis (hallux ńgidus). This may either

149 Hallux valgus, combined with ‘hammer toe’ Slits on the inner, outer and upper surfaces of the shoe indicate that a particularly severe bunion not only forced the lesser toes to retract and flex, but also displaced them sideways. Mid 14th-century.

occur naturally with age or be the result of trauma - repeated stubbing of the toe, for example. As the joint stiffens it prevents the toe from flexing fully, so that in walking much of the load is trans-ferred from the metatarsal head at the ‘bali’ of the foot to the tip of the toe, flexing the interphalan-geal joint in compensation (Fig. 147). The arthritic joint itself may become enlarged and a swelling may develop above it. Several shoes in the collec-tion may have been wom by persons who suffered from this condition, because they have a smali patch of excessive wear on the inner side of the sole in a position to correspond with the tip of the great toe (Fig. 147). On the illustrated examples there is also a cut-out in the vamp, which may have been madę to relieve pressure on the swollen joint above.

The finał condition to be described here, ‘hammer toe’, affects the lesser toes, especially the second, and occurs when the joints become rigid in such a way that the phalanges are perma-nently flexed in a clawed position (Fig. 148). This is often caused by narrow or pointed footwear which provides insufficient room for the toes and forces them to bend and turn inwards, but it may also accompany the common bunion: as the great toe becomes angled inwards it can drive its way in front of the second toe, making it flex and retract. One of the most obvious results of the disorder is a painful corn over the raised interphalangeal joint, which, without surgery, can be alleviated only by padding or by cutting out a section of the shoe upper. Several vamps in the collection have slits that may have been madę for this reason, but the illustrated example seems to represent a particularly severe case, where a bunion has not only bent the toes upwards but has pushed them outwards: as a result, large cruciform slashes have been madę in the top surface of the vamp and on both sides (Fig. 149).