Crakows or poulaines (Pointy toed shoes)

Throughout the Middle Ages, footwear was generally simple; at the beginning, moccasin types made or untanned leather were worn, later becoming buckled or tied around the ankle. The French were not the only ones to corner the market in fashion, towards the end of the thirteenth century Polish cobblers began creating pointy toed shoes and exported extensively across Europe, these new shoes were called poulaines (after Poland) in Paris and crakows by the London dandies (after Cracow, then capital of Poland). The toes of shoes increased in length and pointed outward; the points were also referred to as "pikes" and later became filled with moss to retain its shape. They were decorated in elaborate designs including leather cut-outs, leather embossing or scoring and showed rich contrast of color.



Below are some examples of popular foot wear that is available through many online venders:

















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