Many Egyptians went barefoot
Kids, especially, didn’t usually have any shoes, or they had their parents’ old worn-out shoes. Each family had a lot more kids back then – five or six! – and it was too hard to get them all shoes. And kids grew out of their shoes so quickly!
But we know some children in ancient Egypt did have shoes, because we find straw sandals in baby sizes, as you can see in this picture. Usually we find shoes like this in tombs, where Egyptian people put them so you would be able to use them when you got to the next world.
What kind of shoes did Egyptians wear?
Most people who did have shoes wore shoes made out of straw or reeds. Shoemakers took the straw or reeds and wove it into flip-flops that you could buy at the shoe store. (The ones in the pictures are missing the top cords, which have broken or gotten lost).
Egyptian people wore flip-flops even when it was cold. Then they wore them with socks. They made their socks with the big toe separate, so they could still wear flip-flops even when they were wearing socks!
Weaving these straw sandals was kind of like making a basket. People made a lot of things out of straw and reeds in ancient Egypt – baskets, hand fans, papyrus, floor mats – and shoes. The video shows someone making straw shoes.
A Japanese man weaving straw sandals
How did they make baskets?
The history of hand fans
Other ways Egyptians used straw
What was papyrus for?
Cinderella and her shoe
Richer people had sandals made out of leather, which were stronger and lasted longer.
Learn by doing: Dress like an Egyptian
Find out about socks in ancient Egypt
More about Egyptian clothing
Eyewitness: Ancient Egypt, by George Hart. Easy reading.
Ancient Egyptian Fashions, by Tom Tierney (1999). Easy reading.
Ancient Egyptian Costumes Paper Dolls, by Tom Tierney (1997).
Women’s Work: The First 20,000 Years : Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times, by Elizabeth Wayland Barber (1995). Harder going, but an interested high schooler could read it. Fascinating ideas about the way people made cloth in ancient times, and why it was that way.