Kabkab

Footwear

Stilt walking
In the Ottoman Empire women wore stilt sandals to stay elevated above the dust on the street and the hot floors of the public bathhouses. An additional advantage was that they looked taller and radiated power. Only wealthy women with servants could afford kabkabs. Although apparently they were also worn sometimes by harem ladies with house arrest. Without support it was difficult or even impossible to walk on these stilt shoes. The height could go up to half a meter. The finest wooden examples, inlayed with mother-of-pearl and ivory, were kept for holidays and special occasions. The name is derived from the sound that the stilts make on marble.

 

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