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Long, Pointy Shoes in Medieval Fashion

atlasobscura.com

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Re: Long, Pointy Shoes in Medieval Fashion

#11

Post by ForHackernews »

hirundo wrote: post #4

The pointy shoes are a shibboleth. They identify a group not despite their impracticality but because of it. Another example is the belief in miracles, the more unlikely the better, because it is the absurdity of the belief that distinguishes you from unbelievers. There are oodles of such shibboleths in modern times, particularly in politics. Just think of any political proposition that is absurd on its face and more…

> not despite their impracticality but because of it

This isn't part of the definition of a shibboleth, as I understand it. A shibboleth is simply a marker of group identity (the original case was the speaker's accent when pronouncing the word 'shibboleth').

You seem to be referring to something more analogous to peacock feathers, where hewing to some practice in spite of its impracticality signals the depth of one's commitment.

Re: Long, Pointy Shoes in Medieval Fashion

#12

Post by hirundo »

ForHackernews wrote: post #11
hirundo wrote: post #4

The pointy shoes are a shibboleth. They identify a group not despite their impracticality but because of it. Another example is the belief in miracles, the more unlikely the better, because it is the absurdity of the belief that distinguishes you from unbelievers. There are oodles of such shibboleths in modern times, particularly in politics. Just think of any political proposition that is absurd on its face and more…

> not despite their impracticality but because of it This isn't part of the definition of a shibboleth, as I understand it. A shibboleth is simply a marker of group identity (the original case was the speaker's accent when pronouncing the word 'shibboleth'). You seem to be referring to something more analogous to peacock feathers, where hewing to some practice in spite of its impracticality signals the depth of one's…

OK, but it's a better marker of group identity the more peculiar it is to that group. So absurdity or impracticality are common characteristics of effective shibboleths because they make the marker a better discriminator with fewer false positives.

Re: Long, Pointy Shoes in Medieval Fashion

#13

Post by [deleted] »

Boulth wrote: post #7
hirundo wrote: post #4

The pointy shoes are a shibboleth. They identify a group not despite their impracticality but because of it. Another example is the belief in miracles, the more unlikely the better, because it is the absurdity of the belief that distinguishes you from unbelievers. There are oodles of such shibboleths in modern times, particularly in politics. Just think of any political proposition that is absurd on its face and more…

Interesting point of view. That'd explain flat earth and other oddities.

[deleted]

Re: Long, Pointy Shoes in Medieval Fashion

#16

Post by kgwgk »

I did not bother reading the article, but the title made me think of signaling. "I can afford them, and I don't even need to work for that so I don't care how impractical they are".

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/feed/a41653-1999d...

"Elegant dress serves its purpose of elegance not only in that it is expensive, but also because it is the insignia of leisure," Thorsten Veblen wrote in his classic "The Theory of the Leisure Class" (1899). "It not only shows that the wearer is able to consume a relatively large value, but it argues at the same time that he consumes without producing."

Re: Long, Pointy Shoes in Medieval Fashion

#17

Post by garren »

kgwgk wrote: post #16

I did not bother reading the article, but the title made me think of signaling. "I can afford them, and I don't even need to work for that so I don't care how impractical they are". http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/feed/a41653-1999d... "Elegant dress serves its purpose of elegance not only in that it is expensive, but also because it is the insignia of leisure," Thorsten Veblen wrote in his classic "The The…

Medieval conspicuous consumption?

My first thought looking at the examples in the article was that the soles of the shoes don't look much thicker than the uppers.

I read an article not too long ago about how the medieval walking style was different than today. The author believed it was more "toe-centered" [0] primarily because of thin-soled shoes.

[0] http://mentalfloss.com/article/505105/why-people-walked-diff...

Re: Long, Pointy Shoes in Medieval Fashion

#18

Post by booleandilemma »

Boulth wrote: post #7
hirundo wrote: post #4

The pointy shoes are a shibboleth. They identify a group not despite their impracticality but because of it. Another example is the belief in miracles, the more unlikely the better, because it is the absurdity of the belief that distinguishes you from unbelievers. There are oodles of such shibboleths in modern times, particularly in politics. Just think of any political proposition that is absurd on its face and more…

Interesting point of view. That'd explain flat earth and other oddities.

Pretty sure flat earth is a parody right? No one actually believes that do they? It’s like the flying spaghetti monster or the church of the subgenius.

Re: Long, Pointy Shoes in Medieval Fashion

#19

Post by moltar »

kgwgk wrote: post #16

I did not bother reading the article, but the title made me think of signaling. "I can afford them, and I don't even need to work for that so I don't care how impractical they are". http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/feed/a41653-1999d... "Elegant dress serves its purpose of elegance not only in that it is expensive, but also because it is the insignia of leisure," Thorsten Veblen wrote in his classic "The The…

Asia still practices that with one long fingernail.
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