Nariman boots: the history of the name

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

"I didn't know that before!" - everyone knows this line from Garik Sukachev's well-known song in our time. But many people had a question about what kind of Nariman boots, thanks to which they recognize “cute by their gait”? There are three versions of the origin of this name.

First, a little history

The Russian baritone singer Yuri Morfessi was the first to sing this song. In his performance, such songs as "Chubchik" (later covered by Leonid Utyosov), "Dear Long", "Bublicki", "Black Eyes" and many other gypsy romances became known. In the old recording of the song about boots, this artist's nariman is heard "on rips", which is probably from the Ukrainian "rip", that is, a creak. At the beginning of the twentieth century, wooden-soled boots were very popular, which emitted a characteristic creak when walking. At that time it was considered a special chic. Recall a line from another popular song - "with a terrible creakshoes." 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 performances, “nariman shoes” are clearly audible. It turns out that in the twenties of the last century, Morfessi himself corrected the epithet “on the 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 boots continued for a long time. Squeaky shoes were considered a cult item until the fifties of the twentieth century. Especially the workers. A characteristic creak made it clear that it was not some rabble coming, but an important and fashionable man. It was considered especially valuable when only one of the boots creaked. To do this, a tree was sewn to the bottom of the boot or granulated sugar was poured into the heel. The sole made of dry birch bark wore out quickly, but this did not stop desperate fashionistas.

Such a strange feature of Russian preferences was hard to explain to practical Europeans. Therefore, Morfessi replaced the more euphonious name “nariman boots”. And this is not a random choice. At that time, there was a large corporation specializing in the production of haberdashery, as well as such popular shoes. It was called, you guessed it, Nariman (North Association Russian Imperial Merchandise Apparels Nationwide). The Nariman boots (a photo of how they look in the classic version is attached) were designed moreone hundred and fifty years ago, but remain popular in our time. Both male and female.

Which celebrity wore Nariman boots?

The model of this shoe is now called Chelsea Boots. Under the same name they are known to the wider public. All the dudes of the twentieth century always had cult shoes in their wardrobe. Ballerinas and girls working in a factory, bankers and fishermen, bandits and bohemians, aristocrats and commoners - all wore Nariman shoes. At one time, Elvis Presley, the famous Liverpool Four and Freddie Mercury performed in such boots. In the post-Soviet space, in all adaptations of the adventures of Ostap Bender from the immortal works of Ilf and Petrov, the main character flaunts precisely in “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. But nevertheless, it has the right to exist. We are talking about a 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 is now considered a classic and is found in the collections of many famous brands.