Jump to content

User:Pudsly/test1

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A pair of red mules (side)

Mule (a French word) is a style of shoe that is backless and often closed-toed. They can be any heel height from flat to high. The style is predominantly worn by women, but not exclusively.

The term derives from the Ancient Roman mulleus calceus a red or purple shoe worn by the three highest magistrates[1], although there is little indication of any structural resemblance.

High-heeled mules were a popular indoor shoe style of the 18th century, influenced by the patten, a backless overshoe of the 16th century. By the early twentieth century, mules were often associated with prostitutes[2].

In the early 1950s, Marilyn Monroe popularized the shoe,[1] and helped to break its poor reputation.

Mules experienced some popularity in the 1950s and early '60s, and were seen in 1970s almost exclusively in the form of open-back Scandinavian clogs, but then re-emerged in the early 1990s, especially in its open-toed form (the "slide"), and began to dominate the shoe market for women.

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Games, Alex (2007), Balderdash & piffle : one sandwich short of a dog's dinner, London: BBC, ISBN 9781846072352
  2. ^ Richardson, Edited by Catherine (2004), Clothing culture, 1350-1650, Burlington: Ashgate, ISBN 9780754638421 {{citation}}: |first= has generic name (help)