For a bookproject I made wartime shoes with wooden soles and also bought a original pair. The ones I made arent crappy, there were just cheaper version around back then and those are the ones I reproduced. The brown shoes are just a more expensive version. We wont use the brown shoes at real events but you can imagine the inpact the black ones will have on the mops!
I've read about such shoes but have never seen pictures before..... ( I wonder if Marloes drives a wood-burning car as well ? )