My love for fashion :by Mando Matsane: Gladiator Sandal

Have you ever wondered where the gladiator sandal actually came from and why it is still so popular in fashion?

The sandal, which started as the most basic and utilitarian type of footwear—something solid strapped to the foot that offered protection—quickly became a marker of sex, status, rank, and fashion. When depicted in ancient (and modern) art, they are often worn by gods. And, in ancient Rome, the street of cordwainers was identified by a statue of Apollo, their patron deity.

Among plebeians, footwear became a marker of status. A lady of rank might be accompanied on an outing with a maid carrying a sandalthique, or carpet specially designed to carry a variety of shoes for different occasions. Just as today, sandals might be elaborate, brightly coloured, high or low. (Borrelli 2015)

Though a popular beach, resort shoe, the kind that you might pick up from a local handcrafter while on vacation in a seaside town and treasure as a memento of a sunny escape—the gladiator didn’t really get the full fashion treatment until the sixties. The glad drew attention to ever-rising hemlines and to newly exposed legs and was appropriated by Space Age and utopian hippie designers alike who were attracted to its classical roots for different reasons( Borrelli 2015)