Obukalabanda: A Tale of Wooden Sandals

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Obukalabanda - Wooden Sandals

Years ago, a time when the world was still simple and beautiful, wooden sandals were en vogue. This was a pre-era of today’s Gucci,

Miu Miu and Jimmy Choo’s of this world. An era where shoes were a myth and walking barefoot was a common thing – normal.

People figured that they had to find a way of insulating their feet from the rough ground. Hence, the birth of wooden sandals.

These were sandals made out of wood. They would cut it into a foot-shaped base and design a little ‘anchor’ on which the big toe and index toe would hold. It sounds hectic and uncomfortable, but it was on in-thing. These sandals were fashionable and durable.

They could stand all kinds of weather and all kinds of surface; rough or smooth. They mirrored class and style. If you owned a pair, you belonged to society’s creme. Purists loathed them for their ugly shape, but who minded the shape, anyway? People loved them anyhow. But when civilization knocked on the door, they were wiped off the face of the earth.