Brothel Creepers

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Brothel Creepers

Brothel Creepers are a type of shoe most associated with Rock 'n' Roll music. They were invented in 1949 by George Cox six years before Rock 'n' Roll became popular. But since then they have been adopted by the Rock 'n' Roll / Rockabilly market as their trademark shoe.

The most famous of the Brothel Creeper shoes are of course the blue suede ones made famous by Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley.

The Brothel Creeper has a two inch rubber sole and usually lace through D-Rings to tie them. Read on to see what Wikipedia has to say about Brothel Creepers.

Wikipedia's Brothel Creeper Article 

Creepers or brothel creepers are a type of shoe.

They found their beginnings in the years following the WWII: Soldiers based in the deserts in North Africa wore suede boots with hardwearing crepe soles because of the climate and environment. Having left the army, many of these ex-soldiers found their way to the disreputable nightspots of London (Kings Cross and Soho) wearing the same crepe soled shoes. Those became known as Brothel Creepers.

In the late 1950s, these shoes were taken up by the Teddy Boys along with drainpipe trousers, draped jackets, bolo ties, quiff and pompadour haircuts, and velvet or electric blue clothes. The brothel creeper was a hit throughout 50s and 60s.

They were invented in 1949 by George Cox and marketed under the Hamilton name, based on George Cox Jr.'s middle name. See the 50th anniversary Creeper marketed in 1999 to celebrate the first half-century of Cox's Creeper shoe.

The brothel creeper regained popularity in the early 70s when Malcolm McLaren sold them from his Let it Rock shop in London's Kings Road.

Teddy Boys were the obvious customer, but the brothel creeper still proved to be popular among regular customersSee also this site for a brief introduction to the history of Let it. when McLaren and his partner Vivienne Westwood changed the shop to more rocker-oriented fashion.

The shoe has since been adopted by subcultures such as ska, punk, new wavers, psychobilly, greasers and goth, Japanese Visual Kei, and was noted as the footwear of choice of Bananarama (their preference for the brothel creeper over prettier, girly footwear became emblematic of their tomboyish and rebellious nature).

The original George Cox creepers are hard to find, but British Boot Company has a large selection and is now the main agent in the United Kingdom for George Cox. See George Cox referring to British Boot Company on their website http://www.georgecox.co.uk.

Underground England shoes have been producing creepers since the 80s and continue to do so, creating new designs along the way.

In 2003 Osiris Shoes produced the Ali Boulala, a brothel creeper-influenced skateboarding shoe.

Carl Perkins - Blue Suede Shoes 

The most famous shoes of the rock and roll era were Carl Perkin's Blue Suede shoes. Although Elvis Presley had the big hit the credit was always given to Perkins. The idea for the song came from his early days when he and Johnny Cash were queuing for some tucker. Someone in front cried a warning to another in the queue not to tred on his foot. 'Hey don't step on my blue suede shoes". Cash was moved to say to his companion that would be a good title for a song. Later, when Perkins was playing in a dance hall he noticed one of the dancers gesticulating to his partner not to stand on his feet. The following morning, or so the story goes, he woke up with the song lyrics in his head. Unfortunately a road accident prevented him from performing the hit and Elvis, in need of a follow-up to Heartbreak Hotel took 'Shoes' the top of the charts and the rest, as they say is history.

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Brothel Creepers on eBay 

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Elvis Presley - Blue Suede Shoes 

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Albums by Creeper wearing artists on Amazon 

Showaddywaddy

Release Date: 10/09/2006

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Best of the 70's

Release Date: 04/17/2000

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Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session

Release Date: 06/06/2006

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Mud - Tiger Feet 

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Shoe Size Converter 

Be warned if purchase shoes from a different country their sizes may differ to your countries sizes. Here is a conversion table to help you out.

Showaddywaddy - I Wonder Why 

One of the greatest Rock 'n' Roll bands of the 1970's was Showaddywaddy. Showaddywaddy were know for the Teddy Boy style of dress, wearing the full Drape suit. They also titled one of their albums after the Teddy Boy apparrel, it was called "Crepes and Drapes".

For more on Showaddywaddy, visit my Showaddywaddy Video Showcase.

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My Version of How Brothel Creepers Got Their Name 

I have searched the net for how Brothel Creepers got their name (I always thought they were called Beatle Crushers) and I have come up with the following conclusion.

Teddy Boys date back to long before Rock 'n' Roll started. They were basically high profile rebel teenagers, who flaunted their clothes and attitude like a badge. When the Rock 'n' Roll era arrived the Teddy Boys adopted it as thier kind of music.

Now Brothel Creeper soles are known as crepe soles which does not take much mis-spelling to turn into creep. So along with their ability to be able to creep the floors at night without making the squeaks and creaks regular soled shoes made they were nicknamed 'Creepers'.

According to the urban dictionary Brothel Creepers are - Footwear, generally of a formal design, that is donned prior to a night of debauchery (often in Amsterdam) ending in the bludgeoning of a pro.

Now whether they were wearing crepe shoes or not the name stuck to crepe shoes because of a mix of the bad attitudes of the Teddy Boys and the story and because of the reputation of the Teddy Boys they were probably blamed for the attacks.

Of course, I could be way off track. But it sounds good to me so I'm sticking to it.

Matchbox - Midnight Dynamos 

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Don't Step On My Blue Suede Lens! 

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