Jump to content

Alternate footwear


Guest PistolProof

Recommended Posts

Guest PistolProof

So, what do you wear on your feet if you don't want to wear shoes, don't want to wear a (improbable anyway) pair of floppy boots, and don't want to go the plastic flip flop route? Is there a period equivalent of sandals?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the tip Kass! I think I will start with the rope sandals at <$30/pair before I blow $350 on a pair of boots! ;)

Sea Captain: Yar, that be handsome pete, he dances on the pier for nickels!

Sea Captain: Arrr... you gave him a quarter, he'll be dancin all day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have one notation mentioning rope sandals that were provided to Spanish sailors in a 17th century shipwreck, however no pictures of said artifacts nor period description...

Here are some that date from the Bronze Age-

http://users.stlcc.edu/mfuller/spain/RopeS...nzAgeNatMus.jpg

Yours, Mike

Try these for starters- "A General History of the Pyrates" edited by Manuel Schonhorn, "Captured by Pirates" by John Richard Stephens, and "The Buccaneers of America" by Alexander Exquemelin.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I bought a pair of these, and they get more comfortable each time I wear them. :)

I'm curious... do you find they get really stinky? No, seriously... I wore mine once in the rain, walked through a parking lot, and now they seem permeated with this nasty motor oil smell that I can't seem to get rid of...

My Home on the Web

The Pirate Brethren Gallery

Dreams are the glue that holds reality together.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have one notation mentioning rope sandals that were provided to Spanish sailors in a 17th century shipwreck, however no pictures of said artifacts nor period description...

Care to share that source with us... I think I had it once, but if I did I can't find it...

My Home on the Web

The Pirate Brethren Gallery

Dreams are the glue that holds reality together.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Center seam moccasins aren't out of order either, especially if your character hails from the east coast of the American colonies.

;)

Monterey Jack

"yes I am a pirate 200 years too late,

the cannons don't thunder, there's nothin to plunder,

I'm an over-40 victim of fate,

arrivin too late.........."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

;) I just placed an order for those exact brand sandals Mad Jack! Hell, I'll probably wear them even out of costume!

I had a pair of birkenstocks that got nasty after being in water too Black John. The important thing, like Mad Jack mentioned is to wash them. Wet is fine, but mud is bad...I used some bleach and soap and sun dried them for like two days and they turned out fine.

If rope sandals weren't period, then what did they wear? If not $350 flapped boots or shoes with buckles? ;)

Sea Captain: Yar, that be handsome pete, he dances on the pier for nickels!

Sea Captain: Arrr... you gave him a quarter, he'll be dancin all day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Shoe-pacs" were very common for all French "habitants" in the new world. I don't have a handy link for the info, but they have turned up in many period drawings from the Acadia/ New France,(Canada) area. The similarities between the "courier du bois" and the "boucaniers" dress are amazing. They aren't easy to make at all though, and even more expensive than shoes. I wear these almost exclusively in my colonial impressions.

CaptBo.jpg

They are a comfortable and correct alternative, at least while on land.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks good, Bo!

Mark Baker has direction for making a couple different kinds of shoe-packs in his "Pilgrim's Journey" ($35.00 on Amazon). I got the book for Christmas but can't seem to find the time to start on em!

:ph34r:

Monterey Jack

"yes I am a pirate 200 years too late,

the cannons don't thunder, there's nothin to plunder,

I'm an over-40 victim of fate,

arrivin too late.........."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Blackjohn,

Here's the notation, too bad they couldn't be more specific-

"It was taboo to wear leather shoes on deck so everyone aboard ship were issued two pairs of rope sandals to wear during their voyage. This probably more of a safety issue than a superstition. A hold, filled with rope sandals on their way to Spain, was discovered in a shipwreck off the coast of Florida."

http://floridafrontier.com/16th%20Century%...Page%205.5.html

Yours, Mike

Try these for starters- "A General History of the Pyrates" edited by Manuel Schonhorn, "Captured by Pirates" by John Richard Stephens, and "The Buccaneers of America" by Alexander Exquemelin.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay, coming from a total different point of view here.

I was shoving off in my boat wearing sandels and the damn things caught on the dock. Nearly took me leg off while almost dunking me in the water. [note "nearly" and "almost"]

I have worn my boots on board boats...er ships on many occassions. The folded cuff is cushion when I have to be on my knees [no, not for that reason] and the boots fit like a glove compared to the sandels. I am much more nimble in my boots than sandels.

Yes, I know if I fell in that this wouldn't be the best foot gear to have on. But the idea is NOT to fall in the water in the first place. There are really only two ways I would prefer to have on my feet when sailing: Nothing or my boots.

My two dubloons worth.

~Black Hearted Pearl

The optimist expects the wind. The pessimist complains about the wind. The realist adjusts the sails.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I bought a pair of these, and they get more comfortable each time I wear them.  :)

I'm curious... do you find they get really stinky? No, seriously... I wore mine once in the rain, walked through a parking lot, and now they seem permeated with this nasty motor oil smell that I can't seem to get rid of...

Aye John,

While on a work trip to Hawaii, I wore my rope sandals on the beach, in the surf... they got really stinky... But, I did as Mad Jack did a littl mild detergent and in the washer they went.... I suggest using 'Simple Green' to clean the motor oil smell...

Truly,

D. Lasseter

Captain, The Lucy

Propria Virtute Audax --- In Hoc Signo Vinces

LasseterSignatureNew.gif

Ni Feidir An Dubh A Chur Ina Bhan Air

"If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me." Deuteronomy 32:41

Envy and its evil twin - It crept in bed with slander - Idiots they gave advice - But Sloth it gave no answer - Anger kills the human soul - With butter tales of Lust - While Pavlov's Dogs keep chewin' - On the legs they never trust... The Seven Deadly Sins

http://www.colonialnavy.org

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If rope sandals weren't period, then what did they wear? If not $350 flapped boots or shoes with buckles? B)

Go with sandals or buckled shoes... bucket top boots were about 70 years OUT of style....


"I being shot through the left cheek, the bullet striking away great part of my upper jaw, and several teeth which dropt down the deck where I fell... I was forced to write what I would say to prevent the loss of blood, and because of the pain I suffered by speaking."~ Woodes Rogers

Crewe of the Archangel

http://jcsterlingcptarchang.wix.com/creweofthearchangel#

http://creweofthearchangel.wordpress.com/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I bought Gurkees in the Bahamas, and used them almost exclusively on shipboard. Once they got saltwater in them, they got horrendously stinky, but I threw them in the machine, and the smell washed out completely. Comfy until the heel wears away.

Capt. William Bones

Then he rapped on the door with a bit of stick like a handspike that he carried, and when my father appeared, called roughly for a glass of rum. This, when it was brought to him, he drank slowly, like a connoisseur, lingering on the taste, and still looking about him at the cliffs and up at our signboard.

"This is a handy cove," says he, at length; " and a pleasant sittyated grog-shop. Much company, mate?"

My father told him no, very little company, the more was the pity.

"Well, then," said he, "this is the berth for me."

Proprietor of Flags of Fortune.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...
&ev=PageView&cd%5Bitem_id%5D=7725&cd%5Bitem_name%5D=Alternate+footwear&cd%5Bitem_type%5D=topic&cd%5Bcategory_name%5D=Thieves Market"/>