The complete history of Blue Suede ShoesCAMERON KIPPEN TOESLAYER2000@YAHOO.COM.AU

Blue Suede Shoes The most famous shoes of the rock and roll era were Carl Perkins's Blue Suede shoes. Although, Elvis Presley had the big hit, credit was always given to Perkins for writing the song. The idea came from his early days (1955) when he and Johnny Cash were standing in a food queue and someone in front cried a warning to another not to trod on his foot. 'Hey don't step on my blue suede shoes". Cash was moved to say to his companion that would be a good title for a song.

Perkins to PresleyLater, when Perkins was playing in a dance hall he noticed one of the dancers gesticulating to their partner not to stand on his feet. The following morning, or so the story goes, he woke up with the song lyrics in his head and cleverly wrote them down.

He recorded the song before Elvis Presley but a road accident prevented him from performing the hit on national television. Presley was in desperate need of a follow-up to Heartbreak Hotel and took 'Shoes' to the top of the US charts in 1956.

What are Blue Suede Shoes?In American, the shoes were suede oxford brogues worn by middle class university students (preppies); elsewhere, youths in the UK (Teddy boys); Halbstarke in Germany; the Stilyagi in Russia, and Blousons Noir in France wore cheap, crude crepe soled platform shoes.

The shoes united the world’s youth in rebellion but the shoe styles were quite different in the US from the UK and elsewhere.

Brothel Creepers The nature of a sub culture is the desire to be different and will often flaunt the conventions of the time.

Teenagers of the 50s were no different, and choose suede (the skin side of leather), because it previously had been regarded as an effeminate medium worn only by lounge lizards types, and homosexuals.

The name, Brothel Creeper, spells out the sexuality of the shoe. They were a celebration of unsubtle masculinity and were the working-class equivalent of the desert boot. The appeal of brothel creepers lay in

their deliberate crudeness.

Desert Boots

Desert boots were originally worn by army officers during the Desert Campaign in North Africa, (World War II). The suede bottees were ideal for crossing sand and comfortable enough to wear off duty. Egyptian cobblers made the shoes for the soldiers to kept as souvenirs. Clarke's of England picked up on the idea and suede Oxfords became popular with older single men, after the war. Many could be seen in cruising the red light districts of Soho and Kings Cross and quickly became known as ‘lounge lizards’ and their ‘brothel creepers.’

Teddy BoysA cheaper, more crude version became commercially available in England in 1949, when a Northampton based shoemaker, marketed the "Hamilton." Teddy boys snapped them up.

Brothel creepers were as aggressive as desert boots were urbane. Worn originally with drapes and drainpipe trousers they were a variation of the sartorial style of Prince Edward, and hence the delinquents were called Teddy boys.

Dress codesAn interesting innovation was the unconventional use of a boot lace, worn as a tie.

Symbolically these acknowledged the importance of 'Hillbilly Music' in the emerging music scene as well as flying in the convention of shirt and tie brigade.

Dress codes became very important in public places like dance halls and pubs.

All in all, the style was the right image for angry young men and made up the post war generation, which burst into life with the onset of Rock' n Roll.

Roll over BeethovenChuck Berry invented the 'duck walk’ routine to distract the audience’s attention from his wrinkled suit.

Australian BodgiesAustralian Bodgies in the 50s adopted both US & UK fashions with a hint of Italian and wore Spiv suits often worn with pointy, white shoes.

Later this was combined with crossover rockabilly crocodile skin shoes, especially worn with black satin shirts.

The Larrikins

The original Australian Sharpies, ironically wore almost exactly the same gear and footwear as their forebears , the rough urban hooligans or larrikins.

The Return of the Brother Creeper

Brothel creepers made a brief return in the mid 70’s with the retro R’n’R Revival and bands like Mud, Sha-na-na, Showaddywaddy and Daddy Cool.

In reprise they were neutered and no longer the sign of youthful rebellion rather a shade of their former glory and like the imitation crocodile and leopard skins, they became contrived bad taste.

FootnoteCarl Perkins never wore blue suede shoes although Presley did own a pair, which he ordered after the song shot up the charts. The King wore lifts in his shoes to make him look taller.

In 2013, they were auctioned at Julien's Auctions in Los Angeles and sold for around £48,000 ($78, 241).

Buddy Holly only ever wore brown suede shoes.

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