Just How Big Were Earth Shoes In The '70s?

By | April 24, 2018

test article image
Hippie woman sleeping One woman, hippie sleeping on a blanket, enjoying alone in nature.

The Earth Shoe was developed and surfaced as a particularly peculiar style of shoe in the 1970’s. They were the creation of a Danish yoga instructor and shoe designer named, Anna Kalso. Their unique “negative heel technology” design featured a sole that was thinner at the heel than at the front of the foot, so that when wearing them, you walked heel-downward at -3.7º. The design actually simulated the act of walking in sand.

Both negative heels and high heels were big in this time period.

The 1970’s was well known for the changing times and the counterculture. Non-conformity was huge with the younger crowd and soon caught on with the general population. Fashion was one of the many things that went through an evolution during that era. Shoes used to be a functional wardrobe item but soon became so much more. Shoes had taken on a life of their own and were know for being expressive and tying the entire outfit together.

People were wearing Go Go Boots and Earth Shoes in the 70’s.

The Earth Shoe was introduced in the United States in New York City on April 1, 1970. This coincided with the first ever Earth Day, which happened to be just three weeks later. Earth Day is an annual event that is celebrated, worldwide, on April 22nd each year. Various events are sponsored to demonstrate support for environmental protection. Earth Day was celebrated for the first time in 1970. Earth Day events in more than 193 countries are now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network.

test article image

In 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco, peace activist, John McConnell, proposed the celebration as a day to honor the Earth and the concept of peace. It was to have first been celebrated on March 21, 1970, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. A month later a separate Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in, first held on April 22, 1970. Earth Day was a day devoted to the recurring theme of environmental protection and world peace which were two hot topics of the day.