Winklepicker

Winklepicker boots, 2009

Winklepickers, or winkle pickers, are a style of shoe or boot worn from the 1950s onward by male and female British rock and roll fans. The feature that gives both the boot and shoe their name is the very sharp and long pointed toe, reminiscent of medieval footwear and approximately the same as the long pointed toes on some women's high-fashion shoes and boots in the late 2000s.

The extremely pointed toe was called the winkle picker because in England periwinkle snails, or winkles, are a popular seaside snack which is eaten using a pin or other pointed object to extract the soft parts out of the coiled shell carefully, hence the phrase: "to winkle something out", and based on that, winklepickers became a humorous name for shoes with a very pointed tip. Other countries had other humorous names, e.g. in Norway and Sweden they were called myggjagere/myggjagare, literally "Mosquito Chasers". They are still popular in the raggare and rockabilly subcultures. In some parts of the U.S. they are called "roach stompers."

History

Origins

Winklepicker shoes, inspired by the Poulaines worn by the medieval French nobility,^[1] were a conspicuous contrast to the brothel creepers worn by Teddy Boys. The male shoes were lace-up Oxford style with a low heel and an exaggerated pointed toe. A Chelsea Boot style (elastic-sided with a two-inch, and later as much as two-and-one-half-inch, Cuban heel) was notably worn by the Beatles but although it had a pointed toe, was not considered to be a winklepicker. Winklepicker shoes from Stan's of Battersea were also worn by the Teddy Girls as well as being a fleeting fashion for young women generally.

1960s

In the early 1960s, the winklepicker toe was popular with modernists, the forerunners of the mods. In the early 1960s, the point was effectively chopped off (they hung on for longer than that in the UK) and gave rise to the "chisel toe" on the footwear of both genders. However, winklepickers with traditional sharp-point styles made a comeback of sorts in the late 1970s and early 1980s (either as previously unworn old-stock, second-hand originals, or contemporary-production attempted copies) and worn by several subculture groups including mods, rockabillies, punks, rock'n'roll revivalists, and in the goth scene, where they are known as "pikes".^[2]

Winklepickers with stiletto heels for women swept the UK in the late fifties, and at one stage, the High Street versions were commonly worn by a large part of the adult female populace of the UK. They were often manufactured in Italy, but the handmade versions, notably those from Stan's Shoes of Battersea, were the most extreme, if somewhat bulky-looking at the toe compared with the Italian styles.^[3]

The original 1960s winklepicker stilettos were similar to the long, pointed toe that has been fashionable on women's shoes and boots in Europe of late. The long, sharp toe was always teamed with a stiletto heel (or spike heel), which, as today, could be as low as one-and-a-half inches or as high as five inches, though most were in the three- to four-inch range. The stiletto heels on the original 1960s styles were, however, much more curved in at the rear (also sometimes sharply waisted and slightly flared out at the top piece) than most of the recent pointy-toed fashion shoes, which often have straighter, thicker, more set-back heels, rather at odds with the look of the pointed toe. In most cases, too, the modern shoe toes lack the length of the true 1960s winklepicker and bear more resemblance to the less pointed mass-produced versions of the era.^[4]

They attained some notoriety, when they first appeared, as a result of being worn in gang fights (sometimes by both sexes), although there is some question as to the accuracy of contemporary newspaper accounts. In fact, although the winklepicker looks lethal, it would be far more likely for damage to be caused to the delicately pointed shoe than to the opponent in any serious kicking incident.^[5]

Modern day

By the mid-2000s, winklepickers were worn with 1960s mod blazers, Western shirts, vintage T shirts, and skinny jeans by many indie pop bands and musicians, such as of Kings of Leon, Kaiser Chiefs, The Kills, The Horrors, Jack White, Mod Fun, Neils Children, Klaxons, and Daniel Johns. The shoes are closely related to British Garage Rock band The Horrors,^[6] who even went as far as to have a winklepicker boot with three buckles on their official merchandise t-shirt along with the words "I am a horror." Faris Badwan has personally endorsed Paolo Vandini Veers. They are also worn by English comedians Russell Brand^[7] and Noel Fielding and English DJ and TV presenter Alex Zane.

Currently, winklepicker boots are very popular in Germany among the modern Vogue Goth and Punk subcultures, who refer to the boots as "pikes".

Although slightly pointed toes are often a feature of women's fashion shoes, they are usually nowadays "tamed down" or shortened (often with a sacrifice of comfortable toe space) for mass market appeal.

References

↑ Grew, F. and de Neergaard, M. 1988. Shoes and Pattens. Medieval Finds from Excavations in London: 2. London: HMSO, pp. 88–9.
↑ Lejtenyi, Patrick (2000–06). "Back from the Grave" Exclaim!. Retrieved 2007-12-29. "...and the Beatle boots..." Archived 22 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
↑ Kippen, Cameron. "Beatle Boots" The History of Boots. Department of Podiatry. Retrieved 2007-10-11. "The Beatle Boot saw the reintroduction of heels for men." Archived 13 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
↑ Bassett McCleary, John (2004). Hippie Dictionary: A Cultural Encyclopedia of the 1960s and 1970s. Ten Speed Press. pp. 44. ISBN 1-58008-547-4.
↑ "^ Li-Chou Han, S, "Suited and Booted". Style. Your Fridge Door. Retrieved 2007-10-11. "...Brands favourite style, the Zip Boot..."". Yourfridgedoor.com. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
↑ "The Horrors wearing beatle boots". Tcs.cam.ac.uk. 2009-06-19. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
↑ "Russel Brand wearing winklepickers". Buzzworthy.mtv.com. 2010-06-04. Retrieved 2011-09-13.

External links

Video: Behind The Seams – Mexican Pointy Boots, VBS.tv, 1 April 2011

High-heeled footwear

Shoes	Court shoe Mule Peep-toe shoe Platform shoe Slingback

Boots	Ballet boot Beatle boot Cowboy boot Fashion boot Kinky boots Knee-high boot Platform boot Thigh-high boots Winklepickers

Types of heel	Clear heels Kitten heel Spool heel Stiletto heel Wedge heel

People Brands Companies	ALDO Group Manolo Blahnik Jimmy Choo Kenneth Cole Patrick Cox Salvatore Ferragamo Maud Frizon Cole Haan Hush Puppies Charles Jourdan Beth Levine Pura Lopez Christian Louboutin Steve Madden Bruno Magli Nine West Beatrix Ong Prada Sergio Rossi Yves Saint Laurent Yotam Solomon United Nude Roger Vivier Stuart Weitzman Giuseppe Zanotti Rachel Zoe

Footwear

Men's dress shoes	Blucher Brogues Brothel creepers Derby Monks Oxfords Slip-ons (Loafers) Spectator shoes (Co-respondent shoes) Venetian-style shoes Winklepickers Wholecuts

Women's dress shoes	Ballet flats Court shoes High-heeled footwear Mary Janes Mojari Mules Peep-toe shoes Saddle shoes Slingbacks Slip-ons (Loafers) Venetian-style shoes Winklepickers

Other shoes	Driving moccasins Flip-flops Galoshes Platform shoes Sandals Slides Slippers Veldskoens

Wooden footwear	Bakya British clogs Cantabrian albarcas Clogs Getas Klompen Namaksin Padukas Pattens Sabot Träskor

Military footwear	Ammunition boots Bunny boots Combat boots Jackboots Jump boots Jungle boots Ranger boots Tanker boots Trench boots

Sport-related footwear	Athletic shoes Ballet shoes Boat shoes Climbing shoes Cross country running shoes Cycling shoes Football boots Hiking boots Ice skates Inline skates Jika-tabi Kung fu shoe Minimalist shoes Motorcycle boots Mountaineering boots Racing flats Riding boots Roller shoes Roller skates Safari boots Skate shoes Ski boots Swimfins Water shoes Wrestling shoes

Fashion boots	Chelsea boots (Beatle boots) Chukka boots Go-go boots Knee-high boots Over-the-knee boots Platform boots Thigh-high boots Ugg boots

Work boots	Australian work boots Cowboy boots Engineer boots Hip boots Rigger boots Steel-toe boots Waders

Other boots	Jodhpur boots Wellington boots

Traditional footwear	Abacas Abarkas Avarcas Balghas Bast shoes Clogs Espadrilles Galesh Giveh Haferlschuh Hnyat-phanats Huarache (shoe) Hwas Jorabs Moccasins Mojaris Mukluks Opanaks Peshawari chappals Snowshoes Valenkis Warajis Kolhapuri chappals

Historical footwear	Areni-1 shoes Buskins Caligae Chopines Crakow (Poulaine) Hessians Pampooties Sabatons

Shoe construction	Bespoke shoes Blake construction Goodyear welt

Lists	List of shoe styles

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