A look at the new shoe on the scene, yoga sneakers.

One of the new buzzwords in athletic shoes is the yoga shoe or sneaker, which may seem a bit weird for an activity that is generally practiced barefoot.. However, the truth is that people wear a wide variety of footwear for yoga, including ballet slippers, jazz shoes and specialized "foot thongs." The yoga sneaker is the sturdiest of these choices and is essentially a stylish, flexible athletic shoe that molds to the foot while also being durable enough to be worn outdoors. Because the shoes are extremely comfortable and more streamlined than a traditional athletic shoe, they are an increasingly popular trend with both those who do and don't practice yoga, including celebrities.

Adidas, Reebok , and smartdogs all make stylish yoga shoes that are appropriate both in and out of the studio, but you should be sure not to wear the same pair for both! It's bad form to wear streets shoes in a yoga or dance studio because while you might not be practicing barefoot, many other people often are.

Because traditionally yoga has been practiced barefoot the yoga shoe is a recent invention designed to cater to Western preferences while also capitalizing on the ever increasingly specialized world of athletic shoes. The yoga shoe itself has evolved form the dance sneaker, itself only a few decades old. The dance sneaker has the traction and support of a regular athletic shoe, but also includes a highly flexible sole that is often split to accentuate the shape of a pointed foot, breathable material, and a sturdy toe box to allow for pointe work.

The yoga shoe eliminates the toe box and has slimmed the sole down while also reunifying it. This creates a profile more similar to that of a slipper, but with extreme flexibility and strong support just like the dance sneaker. Made of breathable materials, yoga shoes let your feet breathe, wick sweat, and most importantly, can be tossed in the washing machine without much hassle -- not something that can be said for most other high fashion trend items.

Because of their light weight, Yoga shoes make great walking shoes and are also ideal as shoes for the commuter that doesn't want to wear high heels on the bus or subway. While new to the shoe scene, the yoga shoe will surely continue to evolve, possibly splitting off into in-studio and outdoor versions built around the same principles of flexibility, support and style.

Learn how running shoes evolved throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.

Having a shoe designed specifically for running seems like a no brainer, however, running shoes really didn't get their start until the end of the 19th century. They then slowly evolved over the 20th century, leading to the huge explosion of running shoe technology and design options that are currently available. It is hard to believe that if running shoes had not been developed, we would be running in the flat soled tennis shoes.

The Birth of the Running Shoe

Running footwear had been almost non-existent prior to the late 19th century. In fact, many people ran in whatever footwear they had, including boots and sandals. However, in the 1890s the shoe manufacturer JW Foster and Sons, which eventually became the shoe company Reebok, developed the first official modern running shoe. This shoe had a tennis shoe outer with a lacing system and metal spikes attached to the sole of the shoe. The spikes were designed to give the runner traction and to help improve their overall running speed.

The Running Shoe Evolves in the 20th Century

By the early part of the 20th century, vulcanization revolutionized shoe manufacturing. Vulcanization was simply the process of melting rubber and fabric together. This molten mixture was then molded to create a sole for shoes that had a tread design. This design revolution made shoes lightweight, quiet, and flexible. It also provided the wearer with traction. Keds was the first American company to mass distribute the new "sneakers" starting in 1917.

In 1925 a German inventor named Adi Dassler, who founded Adidas, evolved the spiked running shoe design further by creating a series of running shoes. Each shoe design had a special hand forged set of running spikes and each design was made especially for a certain running distance. This was the first time designs were focused on whether the runner was a sprinter or a long-distance runner.

During the 1970s running shoes were designed based not only on the type of running the person did, but the running style the runner had. The three running styles that shoes were designed for included neutral runners, supernation runners and pronation runners. The final advancement that running shoes received during the 1970s was the use of ethylene vinyl acetate, also referred to as EVA. This material added an air cushion to the design of a running shoe providing runners with extra cushion and shock absorption when they ran.

For a young shoe, the sneaker has a rich history. While the first rubber-soled shoes appeared in the mid-1800s, it was not until nearly the end of the 19th century that sneakers as we understand them today began to appear. These, made by the Goodyear rubber company, were canvas and rubber creations that were soon branded as Keds.

Keds became the first athletic shoes to be mass-marketed in the early 1900s and earned the shoe style the name "sneakers" thanks to the imagination of an advertising executive who noticed how little sound the shoes made. During this time period, many other sneaker brands we know today emerged including Converse and Adidas.

Sneakers don't become an actual fashion statement until the 1950s, when they became the emblem of rebellious teens, cute cheerleaders and James Dean. Because the shoes made from canvas and rubber were relatively cheap at this time, sneakers were a fairly easy status symbol for teens to obtain.

While sneakers were becoming a part of fashion, they were also doing a great deal of their development thanks to science, and efforts to produce better athletes by building better shoes. The emergence of the Nike brand and its marketing campaigns featuring the successful athletes who chose the shoe were a major part of this.

By the 80s, new shoe technologies were constantly being promoted including air soles and high tech support systems and materials that made the shoes lighter, more comfortable and provided both greater bounce and traction to athletes. The diversification of sneaker styles also accelerated at this time, with a wide variety of shoes designed for specific sports as well as a broader variety of shoes specifically for the fashion conscious. Many of the classic sneakers from the 1980s are valuable collectors items today.

Today, sneaker technology continues to improve as style continues to vary. Retro-styles harking back both to the 1950s and 1980s are popular, as are new, sleek high-tech basketball shoes, and more flexible sneakers intended for yoga but highly comfortable for walking. Limited edition sneaker releases are also common and has helped grow the collector's market. Additionally, shoe endorsements from both athletes and pop stars continue to keep athletic shoes from of mind for a wide range of costumers.

Finally, while sneakers remain a distinctly casual fashion choice, today they can often be seen worn with suits or even tuxedos. Leather and patent leather sneakers even exist for suchoccasions , combining casual style with elegant materials for an edgy look.

Since high-heel, wedge sneakers have never really caught on, despite being produced periodically, sneakers at formal occasions have remained largely, but not entirely, the province of men. As flat shoes for formal events become increasingly acceptable and common for women, we can probably expect to see the sneaker increasingly paired with dresses.