One of the earliest descriptions of boots as a fetishistic object can be found in
Émile Zola's 1868 novel . Actual boot fetishism is described in the diaries of 19th-century British woman
Hannah Cullwick, of which parts have been published.
Hermine Hug-Hellmuth described boot fetishism scientifically in 1915. This article has also been published in English with comments by Arlene K. Richards in 1990, as ''Female fetishes and female perversions: Hermine Hug-Hellmuth's "A case of female foot or more properly boot fetishism" reconsidered''. Boots were used by
Stanley Rachman as a subject for research on
conditioning as a cause for fetishism in the 1960s, making men sexually aroused by seeing pictures of boots, but the results have been put into question later, as boots already were very much en vogue for sexually attractive women at the time. Unlike shoes, boot styles have often appeared as
street wear before they inspire
fashion designers. Boots are usually seen as a sign of empowerment for the wearer, especially when worn by women. This may be a reason for the connection to
BDSM, where boots usually are seen as a statement of
dominance. So-called
boot worship became a common
subcultural practice among
sadomasochists and related fetishists in the early 20th century. There is also a very prominent subsection of mostly gay men who fetishize men's boots, with "
boot worship" being a common practice in this group, to the point where there is a yearly contest to see who is the best
bootblack. == Causes ==