Figure 1.--This photo was taken in Bellizzi, a big village about 70 km south-east of Naples, during the 1950s. The older boy is wearing a striped long-sleeved jersey and short pants. His younger brother is wearing very short pants with suspenders and sleeveless shirt. Both wear open-toe sandals, very common at the time.

Italian boys have worn both closed and open-toed sandals. Open-toe sandals seem very commonn in Italy. We see large numbers of children wearing them in the first half of the 20th century. The photographic record shows this. Closed-toe sandals were particularly common in southern Italy. There were different types of open-toe sandals. Italian boys usually woire open-toe sabdals without socks. Regional and social class factors affected the type of sandals worn. We see various styles, both single and double-bar sasndals. We see the same basic styles as worn in other countries. We see clsed-toe sandals being worn in northern Italy which seem more like the pattern in northern Europe. Closed-toe sadals were more likely to ber worn with socvks. The sandals worn in Italy now are more like the ones worn in the rest of Europe. Closed-toe sandals are now worn mostly by younger children; strap shoes now only by very youngest girls. Open-toe sandals are worn also by older boy and girls.

Created: 7:33 AM 7/7/2009
Last updated: 7:33 AM 7/7/2009