In our series on the rarest and strangest fashions in history, we begin today with the practice of creating “lotus feet.”
Today, modern fashion trends are often considered original or rare, sometimes raising the eyebrows of more traditional members of society. However, these trends pale in comparison to some historical fashions that, despite being strange, bizarre, and sometimes even cruel, were once considered the epitome of elegance and distinction. Indeed, some of these historical trends would make even Lady Gaga seem conventional by comparison.
The first of these fashions we will explore is the practice of foot binding in China. Though it originated centuries ago, it continued until very recent times. Despite being officially banned in 1912, the custom was still widespread just two generations ago, and it is suspected that it may still be secretly practiced in some remote villages.
This practice, known as foot binding, created what were called “lotus feet.” The tradition was linked to an aesthetic ideology that considered women with extremely small feet to be far more beautiful, graceful, and desirable than those with normal-sized feet.
Consequently, women with small feet were much more likely to thrive in society and secure a good marriage. To prevent their daughters’ feet from growing, families among the Chinese elite adopted the custom of tightly binding the girls’ feet from a young age.
The lotus feet, a very painful process
This was an excruciatingly painful process for the girls. By stunting their growth, the bones of the feet were broken and permanently deformed.
This deformation gave the women’s feet a “lotus”-like appearance, which men of the era considered enormously erotic—as long as the deformities remained hidden by rich bandages and beautiful shoes that emphasized the shape. This practice caused serious physical problems for the women.
Furthermore, the deformity forced women to walk by supporting their entire body weight on the tips of their toes. This created a swaying gait that was considered very sensual and erotic by the men of their time, which increased their attractiveness.
The erotic lotus feet
The lotus foot was considered so aesthetically relevant and erotic that it spread throughout Chinese society. It reached a point where, especially during the 18th and 19th centuries, many impoverished families would bind their eldest daughters’ feet to offer them as concubines to richer men or to marry them into a higher social class. It was widely believed that a woman with normal feet could not improve her economic situation through marriage, so the feet of the other daughters were left unbound so they could work.
The practice of foot binding began to be met with opposition by some groups in the 19th century. Although it was banned by different edicts, the custom was so common that these laws were often ignored.
It was not until 1912, after the fall of the Empire, that it was definitively banned again, though it continued to be practiced in secret. In 1949, with the rise of the Communist Party, strict penalties were established for anyone who practiced foot binding, and the tradition was finally, and almost completely, eradicated.
