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The following article was sourced from a Wikipedia page at the following address: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brothel_creeper BROTHEL CREEPERS
Creepers or brothel creepers are a type of shoe which often has suede uppers and characteristically thick crepe soles. The shoes were first developed as a fashion item following World War II. They have been popular on and off with various subcultures ever since. HISTORY These shoes found their beginnings in the years following World War II, as soldiers based in the deserts in North Africa wore suede boots with hard-wearing crepe rubber soles because of the climate and environment. Having left the army, many of these ex-soldiers found their way to the nightspots of London wearing the same crepe-soled shoes and these became known as "brothel creepers". A soft crepe rubber sole makes almost no sound on a hard floor, unlike leather-soled shoes. However, the British Boot Company have suggested that the name creeper derives from and is an adaption of the word crepe. In the late 1950s, these shoes were taken up by the Teddy Boys along with drainpipe trousers, draped jackets, bolo ties, quiff and pompadour haircuts, and velvet or electric blue clothes. This style of shoe was developed in 1949 by George Cox and marketed under the "Hamilton" name, based on George Cox Jr.'s middle name. Self-made brothel creepers were picked up by the Soviet subculture stilyagi in the mid 1950s. They were called literally men's "shoes on semolina", because they used to call the thick crepe sole "semolina".
The brothel creeper regained popularity in the early 1970s when Malcolm McLaren sold them from his "Let it Rock" shop in London's Kings Road. Teddy Boys were the obvious customers, but the brothel creeper still proved to be popular among regular customers when McLaren and his partner Vivienne Westwood changed the shop to more rocker-oriented fashion. The shoe has since been adopted by subcultures such as indie, ska, punk, new wavers, psychobilly, greasers and goth, Japanese Visual Kei, and was the footwear of choice for Bananarama and Saffron (of Republica fame). The original George Cox creepers are still made, but have only 18 registered stockists worldwide. Due to the resurgence in popularity of grunge culture, creepers became much more mainstream in 2011 with popular artists such as R&B singers Rita Ora and Rihanna wearing pairs by Underground England. Pop music was not long in following creepers' rise, with Carly Rae Jepsen and Miley Cyrus wearing creeper shoes. For more information about brothel creepers shoes, please click on the following link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brothel_creeper |
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 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brothel_creeper
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