Gogo boots have gotten a bit of a dirty reputation in recent years, due to their association with strippers and the sex industry, but this reputation is totally undeserved. They are an important part of any woman’s wardrobe, and it is important to try to save their place in fashion history. An item that can be worn with almost any outfit and enhance it. They are fantastic for enhancing the shape of the leg, and are a surprisingly revolutionary piece of footwear, far from the exclusive domain of strippers and sex workers; they are a liberating and eternally fashionable item to put on your feet.
The term actually derives from a French expression. À gogo, meaning ‘in abundance’, is derived from the old French term for happiness, la gogue. This entered the English lexicon in 1962 as a term meaning “all the rage”, thus giving Gogo boots their name. But why are they so revolutionary? Well, the whole concept of a conventional women’s boot as a fashion accessory was totally unheard of, since they were only worn to keep feet warm during winter and rain, and not as street wear. They were specifically designed to complement the fashions of the time, with short skirts such as the miniskirt in fashion. They accentuated the shape of the leg on display and also helped to cover up some of the leg, perfect for women who were unsure about showing off the meat.
Designer André Courrèges is widely credited with creating the first Gogo boots. It was a low-heeled, calf-length boot created for his fall 1964 collection as part of the ‘Moon Girl’ look. These boots quickly became popular, and were soon mass-produced, becoming a huge hit with girls dressed in the ‘Dolly Bird’ style in 1960s London. They were usually designed with a zipper down the back or side, and were adopted by teenagers, who saw them worn by dancers on TV shows, helping to further popularize them.
This popularity soon made them iconic. For example, the boots in the Nancy Sinatra song ‘These Boots are Made for Walking’ are widely recognized as Gogo boots. The boots became a part of pop culture when Jane Fonda wore them in the cult sci-fi film Barbarella. Such success caused other designers to attempt to make their own version of the boot, with the height of the boot increasing as the hems got higher and higher, culminating in Yves Saint Laurent’s thigh-high garter boots. These, in turn, gave rise to ‘kinky boots’, calf-high or thigh-high boots with a pointed heel, and were worn by Diana Rigg and Honor Blackman in the classic TV series The Avengers.
Today, the Gogo boot has become a big part of fashion all over the world, so it’s important to stop stereotyping it as a slutty shoe. It is one of the most revolutionary fashion items of the sixties and a key piece of any woman’s wardrobe.