Mains thick piece of wood. Clogs were traditionally worn in heavy labor. They remain in use as protective clothing in some factories, mines and farms. Wooden soled clogs may have steel toecaps and/or steel reinforcing inserts in the undersides of the soles. Several different styles of dance use clogs. When worn for dancing an important feature is the sound of the clog against the floor. This is one of the fundamental roots of tap, but with the tap shoes the taps are free to click against each other and produce different sound to clogs.
Wooden footwear often ended up as firewood and, because of its nature, wood will rot away in the long run. The oldest surviving wooden footwear in Europe is found in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, The Netherlands and dates from 1230 and 1280. These finds look very similar to the wooden shoes as they are still worn in The Netherlands.
Since wooden footwear was a hand-made product, the shape of the footwear, as well as its production process showed great local and regional diversity in style. At the beginning of the 20th Centrury machine-made wooden footwear was introduced. After WW2, in particular wooden shoes disappeared from sight. They were replaced by more fashionable, all-leather and synthetic footwear. At present, only the so-called Swedish clogs (Wooden bottom and Leather Top) is still seen as a trendy fashion item. Often as ladies’ high heel boots. Nevertheless, traditional wooden footwear is still popular in several regions in Europe and with some occupations. This is for its practical use. Some historic local variations have been replaced by national models.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Swedish clogs became popular fashion accessories for both sexed. They were usually worn without socks and were considered suitable attire for the avant-grade man.
In the 1980s and 1990s clogs based on Swedish clogs returned in fashion for women Platform clogs or sandals, often raised as high as 6 or even 8 inches right through between sole and insole, were worn in many western countries. The large mid layers was often made of solid cork, although some were merely of plastic with a cork covering. The sole, more often than not, was made of light sandy-colored rubber. Some of the platforms of these clogs were encompassed about with a string-laced effect.
In 2007 Dutch designers Viktor & Rolf introduced high heeled Dutch clogs on the catwalk with their winter collection if 2007/08. In 2010, Swedich clogs for women returned again in Chanel’s and Louis Vuitton’s Spring / Summer 2010 Collection.
