This style of heeled shoe, made of pastel coloured kid leather with painted or stencilled patterns, with an exaggerated pointed toe, was popular in the latter years of the 18th century. It was much simpler than previous women's styles which had tended to be made of leather, have a pronounced heel. They had often been made of fabric. In 1801 the Lady's Magazine which illustrated just such spotted kid shoes.
Physical description
Pair of pink women's shoes with pointed toe and stencilled decoration.
Place of Origin
Great Britain, United Kingdom (made)
Date
ca. 1800 (made)
Artist/maker
unknown (production)
Materials and Techniques
Leather, with stencilled decoration
Dimensions
Height: 7.5 cm, Width: 7 cm, Length: 26 cm
Historical context note
Shoes of this type can be dated to the 1790s because of their low heels and pointed toes. Previously, the majority of women's shoes had much higher heels, fastened with buckles, and were often made of fabric.
Both shoes are the cut in exactly the same shape, a practice that had been constant since the introduction of heels in about 1600. With a return to flat shoes from the 1790s, the most important technical innovation was the re-introduction of rights and lefts which were a mirror image of each other. Women were slower to adopt them than men.(Swann)
Bibliography
Giorgio Riello, A Foot in the Past. Consumers, Producers and Footwear in the Long Eighteenth Century, CUP/Pasold, 2006 - social, economic and material culture history, which offers the best overview of the nature of the trade and analyses the implications of changing demand.
Peter McNeil and Giorgio Riello, 'The Art and Science of Walking: Gender, Space and the Fashionable Body in the Long Eighteenth Century', Fashion Theory, Vol. 9:2, 2005, pp. 175-204.
Descriptive line
Pair of pink kid women's shoes with stencilled spot motif
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
ed. Natalie Rothstein, Four Hundred Years of Fashion, V&A, 1984, p. 112-13.
Illustrated on p. 112 and mentioned at the top of p. 113 as part of a group of pink and yellow patterned kid shoes in the collection, dating to 1790s with low heels and pointed toes.
Exhibition History
Princely Treasures: European Masterpieces 1600-1800 from the V&A (National Museum of Korea (Seoul) 02/05/2011-28/08/2011)
These shoes were on display in the V&A Costume Court from 1962-1979. (Victoria and Albert Museum)
Materials
Leather
Categories
Footwear; Fashion; Accessories
Collection code
T&F
