Crakows or crackowes were a style of shoes with extremely long toes very popular in the 15th century. They were so named because the style was thought to have originated in Kraków, then the capital of Poland.
Other sumptuary laws attempted to define by class how long shoes could be – the nobility were to be allowed two-foot-lengths, merchants one, and peasants one-half.[4] Like other attempts to control fashion by legislation, these seem to have failed.
At the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396, French Crusaders were forced to cut off the tips of their poulaines in order to be able to run away.