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Shoes are an integral part of Uzbek national costume. An integral element of the costume and its important functional part is footwear, which allows a person to better adapt to the peculiarities of the climate and landscape, various types of business activities. The production of footwear, as a basic necessity, was developed almost everywhere, with the expectation, mainly, to be sold in local markets. In the Central Asian bazaars, shoes were sold in special “leather” and “shoe” rows.
The green color was the so-called shagreen or saur, which the semi-nomadic population of Central Asia bought from settled residents. Shoe leather could also be dyed black, brown, red, yellow, blue and their numerous shades. Often, in addition to leather, textiles were used in the manufacture of shoes, often decorated with embroidery. It should be noted that the material from which the shoes were made and the nature of the decor played an important role in determining the social status of the wearer. Materials such as yuft (Russian leather), saffian (morocco), velvet, gold thread, and silver were used only for making shoes worn by the privileged strata of the society.3 Gold-embroidered boots and shoes were worn exclusively by members of the Emir family. According to the ornamentation of shoes, one can trace the reflection of the economic activity of the wearer. So, the settled population, the townspeople preferred to decorate boots and shoes with various types of plant patterns, whereas the favorite ornament of nomadic cattle breeders was the motif of “ram’s horns”.
The cut of men’s and women’s shoes was almost identical. Women’s shoes differed from men’s in size, in the width of the tops (if any) and predominantly in abundant ornamentation, which sometimes occupied the entire surface.
Children under three years of age hardly ever wore shoes. In general, children’s shoes were often made from the materials of sandals and boots which had been worn by adults, but were no longer in use.
Winter footwear of the population of Central Asia, as a rule, did not have a heel. The tops were made higher and wider so that trousers, felt stockings or footcloths could be tucked into them. Summer shoes were characterized by narrow and low tops, heels of various heights and no lining or insole.
In general, the footwear reflected the ethno cultural affiliation, gender and age of the owner, as well as their social status. Decor and materials allowed it to play the role of a talisman against the evil eye, diseases and evil spirits, to be related to the rites of life cycle. At the same time, due to their direct contact with the ground, shoes were perceived as an unclean object in the traditional worldview of the peoples of Central Asia. They didn’t wear shoes inside the house – when they came to visit or home, they took them off. Uzbek shoes, the style of which evolved for a long time, are undoubtedly easily recognizable and carry all the information about the material and spiritual culture of the people.
The photographs depict women's shoes, men's boots, women's and children's boots, which are kept in the Ethnographic Museum of Kazan University.
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