Follies of the Madmen #385

Our shoes are comparable to hideous sea monsters.

Original ad here.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Sep 22, 2018 - Comments (0)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Business, Advertising, Shoes, 1940s, Fictional Monsters

Fungi sneakers

I recently posted about sneakers made from chewing gum. Here are some made from fungi. I wonder what other materials sneakers could possibly be crafted from?

The fungi sneakers are made by nat-2, which describes itself as "german engineered high-end footwear." From their website:


They seem to be currently sold out. But when they were available, they cost €899, or around $1043.

Posted By: Alex - Thu Aug 23, 2018 - Comments (6)
Category: Shoes

Follies of the Madmen #379

From Playboy for April 1972.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Aug 13, 2018 - Comments (1)
Category: Business, Advertising, Sex Symbols, Shoes, 1970s

Shoes made from chewing gum

They can be yours for €199.95 (about $228). As the gumshoe website explains:


But what happens if people stop dropping their gum on the streets? Will the gumshoe company just go out of business?

Posted By: Alex - Sun Aug 12, 2018 - Comments (5)
Category: Fashion, Shoes, Junk Food

Follies of the Madmen #377

That is one hard-ass kids' shoes mascot!



Original ad here.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Jul 30, 2018 - Comments (1)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Business, Advertising, Corporate Mascots, Icons and Spokesbeings, Children, Shoes, 1940s, Feet

Dog-Fur Boots

Tecnica is still around, and still selling boots. But none lined with dog fur any more, as far as I can tell.

Greenville News - Dec 11, 1991

Posted By: Alex - Sun Apr 22, 2018 - Comments (5)
Category: Fashion, Shoes, Dogs, 1990s

“Captured” Vietcong Slipper Sandals

Back in 1967, the Haband mail-order company of New Jersey wasn’t selling many of its sandals, until it came up with the idea of advertising them as “captured” Vietcong slipper sandals, claiming they were the “First big style find of the war!”

You had to read the fine print to realize that it was simply the design of the sandals that had been captured. And even so, not really, because they had been selling the same sandals for years.

The company later reported that it was the most successful ad they had ever run, and that the 'captured' sandals sold "like mad."

As far as I can tell, they ran this ad for at least a year.

Palm Beach Post - Feb 11, 1968

Sydney Morning Herald - Mar 19, 1967

Posted By: Alex - Mon Feb 26, 2018 - Comments (0)
Category: Advertising, Shoes, 1960s

Flexiclogs

Hinged, segmented shoe soles. There must be a good reason why this innovation never caught on.

Pairs seem to come up for sale on eBay and Etsy if you want to give them a try.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Oct 06, 2017 - Comments (4)
Category: Fashion, Shoes, Technology, 1950s, Feet

Electroshoe

18-year-old Siddharth Mandala of Hyderabad has developed an "electroshoe" that will allow women to fend off attackers. One kick with the shoe and it'll deliver a powerful electric shock to an assailant. The shoe also automatically recharges itself through energy harvested from the wearer's footsteps.

So far Mandala has only developed a prototype. And unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any footage of the electroshoe in action.

The idea reminds me of the spiked defense shoes from 1955.

More info: Deccan Chronicle

Posted By: Alex - Mon Sep 25, 2017 - Comments (2)
Category: Fashion, Shoes, Weapons

Shoes for Walking on Water

Inventor K.O.F. Jacobsen of Seattle, Washington debuted his water-walking shoes in 1934 at a Cincinnati inventors' congress. He later displayed them at several other meet-ups of inventors. But although I've found several photos of models wearing the shoes, I haven't been able to find any photos of someone actually walking on water with them.

The Decatur Daily Review - Mar 30, 1937

The Cincinnati Enquirer - July 17, 1934

Posted By: Alex - Mon Jan 16, 2017 - Comments (5)
Category: Inventions, Shoes, 1930s