Shoe fetishism
Shoe fetishism, also known as
retifism (after
Nicolas-Edme Rétif), involves being fixated on
shoes or other
footwear to the extent it may interfere with sexual expression. Although shoes carry sexual connotations in mainstream culture (for example, women's shoes are commonly sold as being "sexy") this is not generally considered to be shoe fetishism, although it may qualify as a form of
partialism.
Shoe fetishists often fixate on extreme shoes which are designed as
fetishwear, although fixation on typical high-street shoes, or other types of shoes, is also common.
High-heeled shoes are often triggers for foot fetishists. High-heeled shoes or boots help to elongate the calf, protruding the buttocks and creating a longer-legged appearance which is generally considered to be more sexually attractive. They also reveal the
sole of the shoe, which becomes an eroticised "
second skin" taking on the erotic role of the sole of the foot. Shoe fetishists often fixate on
stiletto heeled shoes and boots, where the stiletto heel is eroticised in itself. Other specialist fetish footwear includes
ballet boots and
pony boots.
This can be seen in a
super-stimulus form within the adult entertainment industry, and particularly
pornography, where women wear very high heeled shoes. It is not uncommon for actresses in modern
pornographic movies to wear stiletto-heeled
platform shoes with a platform of 3-4 inches and a heel height of 6-9 inches. Similar sized heels are often worn by
exotic dancers and
strippers. These exaggerated heels are not practical and are worn for the sexual gratification of the viewer.
The most common image of a
dominatrix is of a woman in thigh-length high-heeled leather boots or
riding boots. Thigh-length high-heeled leather boots are generally only worn as
fetish wear; though they have experienced some popularity amongst fashionable young women for
clubbing over the past two years, particularly in the UK and were also briefly popular there in the late 1960's.
There are also entire sexual subcultures revolving around other types of shoe fetishism—sandals, sand suede Clarks
Wallabees (for the delicious, supple suede), combat/work
boots,
kinky boots,
skate shoes and
sneakers are particularly common fetish-objects. The
boot fetish can be seen among all genders and orientations. Some shoe fetishists fixate on the
smell of shoes, either the smell of
leather or
rubber or the smell of worn shoes, which combine these smells with
foot odor. Where the foot odor is very strong, this can be regarded as a form of
mysophilia.
One theory of shoe fetishism, as well as of foot fetishism, is that an infant's experience of their mother in many cultures may involve crawling around their feet. If sexual
behavioral imprinting occurs during this time, it may lead to the feet or shoes becoming the primary object of arousal.
A particular interest of many shoe fetishists is
shoe dangling, the act where a woman slips her heel from her shoe and lets the shoe dangle from her toes. Often she will swing her foot so that the shoe also swings. Many male foot fetishists find the sight of this to be erotic and sexually arousing, and this activity is mentioned on many pornographic websites.
Many male shoe fetishists experience great sexual satisfaction from masturbating while holding the shoes of a woman. The act of secretly opening a woman's closet and (unknown to her) taking down her shoes from their resting place and then masturbating with them can be extremely arousing to some men. Added excitement comes from the risk of being discovered.
Since the term shoe fetishism can be used to denote a fetishist interest in any kind of footwear of both sexes, some authorities suggest that a fetishist interest in
high heels alone (which accounts for perhaps the largest sub-division of shoe fetishists) should be more correctly termed
Altocalciphilia.
The British
TV series
The Avengers often featured fetishistic clothing, and
Patrick Macnee and
Honor Blackman released a single, "Kinky Boots".
*
Sexual fetishism*
List of famous shoe designers*
Foot fetishism*
Trampling fetishism*
Shoeplay
