Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2016 August 2

= August 2 =

gymnastic shoes
Back in the days of old, what types of shoes did women gymnasts wear while performing their routines?2604:2000:7113:9D00:71AF:A799:FB59:D393 (talk) 07:31, 2 August 2016 (UTC)


 * Back in "the days of old" women didn't do gymnastics. The earliest references are from the 1920s - at which point there was not the variety of specialist footwear now available. At that time the basic shoe for most sports had a canvas upper and rubber sole, called a plimsoll/gym shoe/sneaker - the name depending on which country you were from. Wymspen (talk) 09:19, 2 August 2016 (UTC)
 * I have to jump in here. Late Victorian illustrations show women performing decidedly gymnastic-looking exercises at the German Gymnasium, London. One drawing is here - I have seen others in the same series. Of course there have always been circus performers, but these girls and young women taking quite vigorous exercise are coded as respectable. Carbon Caryatid (talk) 11:04, 6 August 2016 (UTC)


 * If you meant "in the days of old" you are probably talking about acrobatics. You figure out what the footwear is - looks like bandages of some sort to me. 196.213.35.146 (talk) 12:49, 2 August 2016 (UTC)


 * I'm referring to the 1970s and 1980s, while I was growing up. I've seen women gymnasts wear gymnastic shoes.2604:2000:7113:9D00:6C52:F307:1139:D0DA (talk) 21:45, 2 August 2016 (UTC)
 * When my sister was active in gymnastics in those days, she wore shoes resembling ballet slippers; also, a number of exercises were performed barefoot. See for example this picture of Olga Korbut performing on the balance beam --Xuxl (talk) 07:11, 3 August 2016 (UTC)