Glossary

Babouche (bă-boosh) – Worn throughout North Africa, these shoes with the heel flattened at the back accommodates the need to remove one’s shoes for prayer five times a day in accordance with Islam.

Buckle – A popular closing device on Western footwear of the 16th and 17th centuries which joined the two side latchets of the shoe, and later served a purely decorative function.

Clog – A type of shoe or sandal with a rigid, often wooden, sole, widely worn by outdoor workers as protective clothing in factories, mines and farms.

Flats – Shoes with little or no heel.

Henna (hĕn'ă) – A reddish-orange dyestuff prepared from the dried and ground leaves of this plant, used as a cosmetic dye and for coloring leather and fabrics.

Khussa (koo’să) – A shoe from the Indian sub-continent with elaborate gold embroidery and a pointed, upturned toe.

Mehndi (mĕn’dē) – The art or practice of painting elaborate patterns on the skin with henna.

Mok-hwa (mŏk-hĕwă) – Men’s black velvet ceremonial boots from Korea.

Nalin (nă’lĭn) – Stilted sandals of wood or metal from Turkey or Syria.

Opintsi (ō’pĭnt’sĭ) – One-piece leather shoe from Macedonia with multiple straps over the instep.

Pumps – A low-cut shoe that surrounds the foot, without fastenings. May have heel of any height.

Paduka (bă’dū’kă) – Toe-knob sandals that are one of the oldest forms of footwear in India.

Tabi (tă’bē) – A Japanese sock with bifurcated toe to accommodate the thong of a zori or other thronged sandal.

Woon-hye (wōōn-hī) – Upper class woman’s silk covered shoes from Korea with a distinctive canoe-like shape.

Zori (zōr'ē) – A flat Japanese sandal with thongs, usually made of rice straw or leather.