#espardilles

Espardenyes are the national Catalan shoes. They are flat and made of jute rope (in Catalan called espart, origin of the shoe’s name). They and are worn by all genders, and historically by peasants but nowadays by everyone. In English they are ususally called espardrilles (the French word for them, which comes from the Occitan version of the Catalan word).

They are documented since at least the year 1322, where they appear for the first time with its current name in Catalan, but the oldest, most primitive form of espardenyes dates as far back as 4000 years ago. They originate from the Catalan Pyrinees, and later expanded to the surrounding areas, and reached from Occitania to Murcia, and the Basque Country. Shoes derived from espardenyes also became popular in other regions of Europe, such as the Alps.

There are more than 20 tyoes of espardenyes, and they are typical in different parts of the Catalan Countries, and some more in Occitania and the Basque Country. The ones in the pictures are the most widely used nowadays.

Historically, espardenyes were wore by peasants, and later by the popular classes in cities as well, but nowadays the traditional form of espardenya is mostly worn when performing folkloric dances or participating in a traditional celebration, but there is also an amount of people who wear them daily.

The footwear grew in popularity in the Catalan Countries to spread through all of Europe and eventually to the US when Lauren Bacall wore a lace up version in the 1948 movie Key Largo.

They further gained their fashion cred when Yves Saint Laurent visited a trade show in Paris and met the Catalan manufacturer Castañer, and transformed the the typical flat soles on a wedge in the early 1970’s. Nowadays, this kind of shoes are very popular in most of the Mediterranean coast during summer and spring, especially for women.

Two in one. Espadrilles + inspirational post!

Hola chicas!

Bueno al fin es viernes! Hoy toca relajarse y después ponernos bien guapas y salir a desconectar de nuestras rutinas de toda la semana!! El post de hoy va a ser un 2×1, por un lado voy a contaros mi experiencia y opinión sobre las alpargatas que tan de actualidad llevan ya dos veranos y un post que me encanta hacer que son los inspiracionales! Así que COMENZAMOS! =)

Hi girls! Well…