“But I didn’t know this before!” - This line from the song known in our time by Garik Sukachev everyone knows. But many had a question about what kind of shoes they were made of, thanks to which they would recognize “cute by gait”? There are three versions of the origin of this name.
First, a little history
The first to sing this song was Russian baritone singer Yuri Morfessi. In his performance, such songs as “Chubchik” (later quailed by Leonid Utesov), “Dear Long”, “Public Women”, “Black Eyes” and many other gypsy romances became known. In the old record of the song about the shoes, the nariman of this artist is heard “on rips”, which is probably from the Ukrainian “rip”, that is, a creak. At the beginning of the twentieth century, shoes with wooden soles were very popular, which, when walking, produced a characteristic creak. At that time it was considered a special chic. Recall a line from another popular song - "with a terrible creak of shoes." Basically, such a sole was made from birch. It turns out that Garik Sukachev misinterpreted the famous song? This is not entirely true. In later versions, clearly pronounced "shoes nariman." It turns out that in the twenties of the last century, Morfessi himself corrected the epithet "on rips."
Fashion Victims
Russian performers in exile understood that the French public would not quite understand such a strange fashion for shoes with a creak. Although in the Soviet Union the trend for such shoes continued for a long time. Shoes with a creak up to the fifties of the twentieth century were considered a cult thing. Especially among workers. A characteristic creak made it clear that it was not some scum, but an important and fashionable man. It was considered especially valuable when only one of the shoes creaked. To do this, a tree was hemmed to the bottom of the boot or granulated sugar was poured into the heel. The outsole of dry birch bark quickly wore out, but this did not stop the desperate mods.
Such a strange feature of Russian preferences was hard to explain to practical Europeans. Therefore, Morfessi replaced with a more harmonious name, "Nariman boots." And this is not a random choice. At that time, there was a large corporation specializing in the production of haberdashery goods, as well as such popular shoes. It was called, you guessed it, Nariman (North Association Russian Imperial Merchandise Apparels Nationwide). Nariman boots (a photo of how they look in the classic version is attached) were developed over one hundred and fifty years ago, but remain popular in our time. Both in male and female versions.
Which celebrity wore Nariman shoes?
The model of this shoe is now called Chelsea Boots. Under the same name, they are known to the wider public. All dudes of the twentieth century always had cult shoes in their wardrobe . Ballerinas and girls working in the factory, bankers and fishermen, bandits and bohemians, aristocrats and commoners - all wore Nariman boots. At one time, Elvis Presley, the famous Liverpool four and Freddie Mercury performed in such shoes. In the post-Soviet space, in all adaptations of Ostap Bender's adventures from the immortal works of Ilf and Petrov, the protagonist flaunts precisely in the "Narimans."
The third version of the origin of the name
This option is less romantic and not so common in various sources of the history of the famous shoes. Nevertheless, he has a right to exist. We are talking about the Baku shoe factory, widely known in narrow circles, which bears the name of one of the party leaders of the Azerbaijani Council of People's Commissars Nariman Narimanov.
The iconic shoe model is now considered classic and is found in the collections of many famous brands.