Footwear Definitions — shoes, boots and footwear terms from Apparel Search
A moccasin is a shoe made of deerskin or other soft leather, made in one piece with a soft, flexible sole, the upper often adorned with embroidery, beading or other ornament. Moccasin is a Native American word whose spelling and pronunciation vary in different dialects, and the moccasin is the footwear of the North American Indian tribes.
In New Zealand and Australia sheep shearers make for themselves footware consisting of part of a cured sheepskin with the wool inside to use while working; these moccasins protect the feet, provide good grip on wooden floors and soak up the sweat of the wearer while not hurting the animal.
In botany, the lady's slipper is known in the United States of America, as the moccasin flower, from its resemblance to a shoe or moccasin.
The name moccasin is also given to a venomous snake found as far north as North Carolina and westward to the Rocky Mountains, and popularly called cottonmouth from the white rim around the mouth. It belongs to the family Crotalidae, species Ancistrodon (or Cenchris) piscivorus, is about two feet long and is often found in marshy land. It is sometimes called the water moccasin to distinguish it from the upland moccasin (Ancistrodon contortrix or atrofuscus), which is commonly called copperhead and is found further north in dry and mountainous regions. The name is possibly a distinct word of which the origin has not been traced.
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One Piece of Leather, Shaped by the FootThe moccasin reverses the logic of European shoemaking. Instead of building a shoe from an upper, a separate sole and a heel, the maker takes one piece of deerskin or other soft leather, places the foot on it, and draws the edges up around the foot, gathering and stitching them over the toes. The result has no hard sole at all: the leather under the foot is the same piece as the leather over it, soft and flexible, so the wearer feels the ground and moves quietly, the qualities hunters valued and the reason the style was adopted by traders and settlers who worked the same ground. Softness has a price in durability, since different types of leather have different wear characteristics and a one-piece sole wears through where a joined shoe would be resoled, but the construction allows the decoration the style is known for: the gathered upper is a natural field for embroidery, beading and other ornament, worked directly into the leather. One Name, Several LivesThe word moccasin travelled further than the shoe. In botany, the lady's slipper is known in the United States as the moccasin flower, from its resemblance to a shoe. The name is also given to a venomous snake, the water moccasin or cottonmouth, found as far north as North Carolina and westward to the Rocky Mountains in marshy land, popularly called cottonmouth from the white rim around the mouth, while the upland moccasin is the copperhead of dry and mountainous regions further north; the snake name is possibly a distinct word whose origin has not been traced. The shoe itself keeps a working life far from its first home: the shearers of New Zealand and Australia cut their footwear from cured sheepskin with the wool turned inside, a moccasin in everything but material. Modern moccasin-style shoes keep the gathered toe and soft construction as a comfort and house shoe, and the loafer's moccasin-like top is a direct borrowing, which makes this one-piece Native American design an ancestor of half the casual shoes in a modern wardrobe. Common QuestionsHow is a moccasin constructed?A moccasin is made in one piece: the soft leather wraps under the foot so the sole is soft and flexible, and the upper is drawn up and gathered around the foot rather than attached to a separate hard sole. Who traditionally wore moccasins?The moccasin is the footwear of the North American Indian tribes and is also worn by hunters, traders and settlers. In New Zealand and Australia, sheep shearers make their own version from part of a cured sheepskin with the wool inside. Why do shearers wear sheepskin moccasins?Shearers' moccasins protect the feet, provide good grip on wooden floors and soak up the sweat of the wearer while not hurting the animal being shorn. The soft wool-in construction suits hours of work holding sheep on a board floor. More to Explore
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