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Shoe buckle
Unknown - Enlarge image
Shoe buckle
- Place of origin:
England, Great Britain (made)
- Date:
1770-1784 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Silver and steel
- Museum number:
T.319-1982
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 118e, case 1
Object Type
Shoe buckles first appeared in the 1660s, replacing elaborate shoe ribbons (known as 'roses') to fasten men's shoes. At first plain and utilitarian, shoe buckles became more elaborate as the 18th century progressed.
Materials & Making
Like most silver buckles, this one was cast and chased to produce its decoration. The rectangular shape and cusped design of this shoe buckle are typical of the Neo-classical influence at work on late-18th-century men's clothing.
Ownership & Use
Large shoe buckles and high heels were only part of the exaggerated styles of a certain group of fashionable young men in the 1770s. They also wore very high wigs, tightly cut coats and breeches in pastel shades and too much perfume (according to their critics). Such fashions were considered very effeminate. The term 'macaroni' was coined by young men on the Grand Tour for anything stylish and elegant. As many also adopted this new style of dressing, the expression was applied to them.
