Brothel creepers are a style of shoe which has thick crepe soles, often in combination with suede uppers. This style of footwear became fashionable in the years following World War II, seeing resurgences of popularity at various times ever since.
History and origins of the name
A version of this style of shoe became popular with World War II soldiers in North Africa, who adopted suede boots with hard-wearing crepe rubber. Writing in The Observer in 1991, John Ayto put the origin of the name 'brothel creeper' to the wartime years. The Smithsonian suggests the crepe in the thick sole may have given the shoes the title creeper. It may also be associated with a Ken Mackintoshdance tune popular in 1953 and called "The Creep". This style of thick soled shoe was first developed commercially in 1949 by George Cox Limited of Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, UK, and marketed under the "Hamilton" name, based on George Cox Jr.'s middle name. Initially they came in shades of blue, ranging from pastel shades to electric blue, and were made of suede or polished leather. Later, more extravagant patterned versions were created.
The shoes were taken up by the Teddy Boys– along with drainpipe trousers worn with exposed socks and drape jackets. The shoes were also widely worn by the Ton-Up boys of the 1950s and later on the rockers of the '60s, who wore them as an alternative shoe when not riding their motorbikes. wearing ботинки на манной каше while shooting the 2008 musical Stilyagi The stilyagiyouth subculture in the Soviet Union of the mid 1950s adopted home-made brothel creepers as footwear, dubbing them "shoes on semolina" alluding to the sponginess of the thick crepe sole.
Punk and later revivals
The brothel creeper regained popularity in the early 1970s when Malcolm McLaren sold them from his "Let it Rock" shop in London's King's Road, then later in the early 1980s when NaNa's of Los Angeles manufactured and sold them from their shop in Santa Monica. 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 worn by Bananarama, and Saffron, singer of Republica. A resurgence in popularity of grunge culture in 2011 saw popular artists such as Miley Cyrus and Carly Rae Jepsen wearing them. In November 2017, Jefferson Hack teamed up with British brand Underground to launch a limited edition collection of Apollo brothel creepers taken from its archives spanning the last thirty years. The collection comprised seven classic all gender styles.
In 2015, Puma and Rihanna launched a collaborative shoe line called the Puma Creeper. The shoes have been a major success for the brand, and won an award for Shoe of the Year in 2016. Since the initial launch, there have been new styles and colorways of the shoe released each year.
