In the spare-room closet in my childhood home there was a treasure trove of shoes that had been worn by my mother and her niece in the 1940's. They were all dress shoes - high heels. They all had very rounded toes and chunky heels. My favorite was a pair of light gray suede heels in Size 4 1/2, worn by my mother's niece. They were too big for me, of course, but they were small enough to almost imagine wearing them one day. They had a sole that was about a half-inch thick. I was a little kid, but even with that, and the fact that the shoes were way too big, I thought they made my legs look kind of good.

My first day of school at the end of the 1950's was the day I got to wear the "coolest" shoes in the world - a tiny pair of Size 6 girls' Capezios. They were black suede and and had a couple of criss-crossed ties across the instep. They were "just like the big girls" wore. Big girls, however, and grown women wore different The teachers, all middle-aged and older women and mostly single, wore either very flat pumps with pointed toes or black, ankle-high, "old lady", tie shoes with a slight block heel. Women's dress shoes had developed a very pointed toe, and high heels were had "skinny" heels, although they were not as skinny as their predecessors would eventually be. The elegant, more delicate, high-heels made those old, gray suede, heels in our closet seem stodgy and unfeminine.

Penny loafers, of course, were a standard for teenage girls.

It was in the 60's when women' s dress shoes seemed to be searching for an identity. Sling-back heels were popular, and toes seemed to get yet more pointed. Low-cut insteps that revealed toe cleavage was common. Heels seemed to be seeking an identity because they came in "stacked" (an elevated but thick heel), "squashed" (an elevated heel that wasn't as thick as the stacked heel and that, as the name implies, had the appearance of having been squashed down so that they curved in mid-way down) and spike heels (with very high and very skinny heels).

Wedge sandals and loafers remained among the offerings for casual shoes, and pointed toe, tie, sneakers were common. Toward the late sixties women's sneakers transitioned into a rounded toe predecessor of what we now generally think of as running shoes, although these "new" rounded toe sneakers were made of canvas and were most often white. They had (in my opinion) an unattractive rubber toe reminiscent of the rubber toe on young children's sneakers (the kind I made sure my mother knew not to ever buy me, with my preference for the more feminine, pointed toe sneaker).

Around the end of the 60's and early 70's, platform shoes and clogs showed up on the scene. So did knee-high boots with or without laces. Then there were platform sandals with laces, brown leather sandals of all types, and - as always - spike heels in sling-backs or closed backs, and sometimes with a thin strap across the lower part of the instep. Platform shoes came in a range of heights, with some only lifting the foot a couple of inches, while others created an almost bizarre walk similar to walking on ice skates or stilts. Wedding and prom shoes were usually linen covered shoes, dyed to match the gown.

While loafers have never quite gone away, moccassins seemed to take their place when it came to casual, closed-toe, shoes. Espadrilles were in fashion in the 70's, and wedge sandals remained a casual, summer, shoe of older women. Hiking boots weren't just for hiking in the 70's. Women's tie shoes had become more common and were no longer "just for old ladies" (although I always somehow associated them with "old lady shoes").

By around the very late 70's and early 80's platform shoes had all but disappeared, although they had left their influence in small ways. Classic pumps in flat or slightly raised heels were still on store shelves, but bulkier, thicker-soles were very common for casual or office shoes. Wedge-type sandals seemed to expand in styles, so they were no longer "the same three kinds" that only older women wore. Dr. Scholl, wooden soul/leather strap, sandals were common among young women and seemed to replace the older, dark brown, leather, sandal for a lot women. Espadrilles, running shoes, moccassins, and all the classic dress shoes remained in fashion around this time. In leather, more casual, shoes, rounder toes had come back into fashion. Even high-heels had a slightly less pointed toe. Ankle-strap shoes dared to make a come-back, after being seen as "40's" shoes until then.

By the late 80's and 90's shoe variety seemed to expand to include not only all the classics, but to seem to "morph" classic and earlier styles and form new ones. Sandals weren't just for summer any longer. Strappy dress shoes had taken the place of those pastel, linen, shoes. Casual shoes often had modified version of the very thick sole, or many had modified versions of the wedge. Running shoes had become "The Shoe", with the average price of them rising to heights that seemed to imply they were orthopedic shoes, rather than successors to the old fashioned sneaker.

As the 90's moved along spike heels, often higher and spikier than ever, began to take center place again. Toes turned more pointed again Strappy sandals became "strappier" in terms of becoming exaggerations of their previous selves. Although ankle straps seemed to have disappeared again, strappy sandals often had straps high enough to be reminiscent of the ankle strap.

The 90's seemed to be an era of "anything goes" when it came to shoes. Dressy heels in every color imaginable, pastel moccassins, sparkles, ankle-high boots, knee-high boots, and thigh-high boots were all visible in the 90's. Running shoes remained popular but were then being called "sneakers" again. Pointed toe sneakers showed up more often again. Casual shoes often remained chunky with thick soles. The array of flat and high-heeled sandals seemed to continue to grow. More than ever, perhaps, the classic, flat, pump design had expanded to include a variety of slip-on shoes (usually to be worn with pants).

Over recent years, a wide variety of shoes has remained popular, although shoes again seem to be trying to find an identity when it comes to heels. While spike heels remain, perhaps, more popular than ever, casual shoes over recent years often have odd shaped, sloping-in or curved heels, apparently in an attempt on the part of designers, to add variety. While strappy sandals remain popular, many casual sandals have again seemed to grow bulkier. Ballerina flats in printed fabrics, with or without straps, have moved shoes that much closer to being "even more important" additions to outfits. Crocs and knock-offs of Crocs can be seen in their wide variety of colors. Plain old rubber flip-flops (the kind we used to only wear at the beach or pool) are sometimes now worn in cold weather, while fancier flip-flops with designer straps and decorations have brought the one humble, rubber, flip-flop into high fashion.