The Middle Ages: Well Before Clarks Wallabees

Clarks Wallabees might very well be the height of style where shoes are concerned for the modern man and woman, but the history of footwear tells us that the history that lead to items like the Clarks Desert Trek Brown goes back to the Middle Ages. During these centuries the much loved story of Cinderella and her much loved slipper was born. It's also worthy to note that the characteristic shoe of this period was the soft pliable clinging moccasin type that extended just above the ankles.

It was easily adjusted to the foot and was often fastened with straps laces and ribbons and in many ways it resembled the Clarks Desert Trek BeesWax that can be recognized almost anywhere by its center stitched seam. These are the Clarks Wallabees that have been around in our modern world dating back to 1965. The roomy toe spread that's common on all of these shoes allows for a measure of comfort in the toes. It's that moccasin design that allows that material to stretch and there's a direct lineage back to this style that was first developed way back in the Middle Ages.

Well before what was to be called clarks originals, there were various lines that extended to the ankles back in the Middle Ages and some of these early shoes had V-shaped places cut out at the sides to afford greater ease in putting them on and taking them off. Bands of embroidery were frequently sewn around the top and down the front of the shoe for both the men and the women. It was during this high point of shoe manufacturing during the Middle Ages that the people who worked in this field started to organize. It was a path that the shoe industry would take that would eventually lead to the implementation of many of the standards that make the Clarks Wallabees line so well made and exclusive.

It was during the Middle Ages that men working in these crafts also banded together to form unions. Historians have been able to ascertain that one of the reasons for this was due to the fact the shoes and boots were coming more and more into general use during this time period. There were two common names during that time for the person who worked with shoes and there are many historical references to the cobeler or the cordwainer. The name cordwainer was thought to be given to the shoemaker more than likely because many of them at the time used a special kind of leather that was imported from Cordova in Spain.