Tall and sexy was the thing to be in the 70s.  Disco divas loved their dance floors, but what were they to do with their aching feet?  Luckily for them, Joe Famolare Jr. decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a shoemaker.  After Joe Jr. gave up his Broadway, he went to work for Capezio, designing shoes for Broadway shows and the Bolshoi Ballet.  Within a few years, he’d started up his own company using the family name and introduced his famed 4-wave design.

There was a time when fashion magazines could hardly be opened without getting a Famolare ad staring back at the reader.  The most famous Famolare shoe of the era was the ‘Get There’ shoe, a simultaneously glamorous and orthopedic shoe.  The sole was made up of a thick, thermoplastic material that absorbed the shock of daily walking with its wavy design.  It was safer than the average wedge or platform, since it was able to give the height without the pain that was often associated with the super-high heels that were popular at the time.  The ‘Get There’ shoe even came with its own theme song, created specifically for its launch.  (Heck, there was even a dance, just so people could truly be a part of the ‘Get There’ craze!)  Other similarly designed shoes, such as the FastTrack-to-Flirty shoes with their T-straps were popular as well.

Famolare himself was not shy in front of the spotlight, and tirelessly promoted his shoes throughout their heyday.  Whether he was skating around on a parade float, or modeling for his shoe ads, Famolare was there, becoming a superstar of the shoe world.  His contribution to fashion have landed his shoes in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC where it is on permanent display, and his shoes are also parts of permanent collections found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the Cincinnati Museum of Art.  For those with a sci-fi fascination, his shoes have even been seen on Star Trek: The Next Generation!  Even space travelers prefer wavy comfort.

One look at the Famolare line today and it’s easy to see that their disco days are over.  In their place are now shoes that are more designed for walking than fashion.  Whether the day’s tasks take you through cold or heat, indoor or outdoor, Famolare still has a shoe to help you be “Footloose and Famolare,” even if they’re not stacked over four inches tall.