All about Victorian shoes
Oct 19, 2016 | by Becky Oeltjenbruns
1900 shoe ad
The Victorian era ushered in grand and opulent fashion, but as any vintage fashionista will tell you – a good shoe can make or break an outfit. So let’s chat about the kicks that made this fashion tick and learn all about Victorian shoes! One of the most interesting tidbits about this moment in history is something we all take for granted today – unique shoes for left and right feet. Before this era shoes were basically shapeless and could be interchanged between the right and left foot. Can you imagine? I guess it would take a small step out of your morning preparations, but I wouldn’t want to go for a long stroll!
Another fun fact – although this was a time you wouldn’t automatically associate with women’s liberation – shoes actually started to give women some equality. (And who says fashion isn’t important?!) By the mid 1800s it became socially acceptable for a lady to be stepping out and about in boots that were the same style as their male counterparts. (Granted the ladies had some fun accents on their versions, such as lace, bows, jewels or embroidery, but the shape was the same.)
The foot is one of the chief points by which a woman’s social position is judged. If the feet are small, well-shod, and prettily used in walking, they add an additional charm to the appearance, and are an indication of high standing and … of gentle birth. – Quote from Recollections.biz
The material for these heeled boots ranged from leather to silk and could be dyed to match a lady’s favorite color or outfit. So even though we’re talking about boots, don’t see them through our modern lenses. These aren’t boots for rainy puddles and filthy sidewalks. Ladies may have boots like their male counterparts, but the material and detailing still restricted the “delicate” female race from being too adventurous (us females gotta wait a while for Coco Chanel and her pants revolution to get us out there in full force).
While I can’t find a definitive answer on how many pairs of shoes the average Victorian woman would own, we do have some records that indicate a wealthy woman would own about a dozen gowns so she may have had about four to six pairs of shoes. Although the invention of sewing machine technology helped bring costs down, when we reverse engineer that to the average woman, we find she may own a couple pairs (but factoring in that the cost of shoes could represent as much as 10% of an annual salary that quantity may be more like one). Considering how much of a financial impact shoes represent, that’s a lot of pressure to find your one perfect pair! To put this in perspective the average modern woman owns about fifteen to twenty pairs… what a difference a few generations make!
Image by Amy Jaworska
In terms of boots – not all were created equally. There were black satin boots which were only meant for indoors (they did have slippers, but those were just for the boudoir. If you were receiving guests you needed boots that would show off your fancy socks!) There were walking boots for casual strolls around the grounds, carriage boots to take you to and fro, and riding boots for your side saddle adventures. You’ll find some great images of popular styles here.
Now that we’ve chatted style and material, let’s discuss fit. We’ve all been there – you find the best pair of shoes and they’re on sale. You think the stars are aligning, but then you find out they don’t have your size, but they have the next size down. With the taste of victory spurring you on you try them anyway. Squeezing your toes in there like Cinderella’s step sisters you can feel the hint of pain. So you reach the question – do you soldier on? Well if you were shoe shopping in the Victorian era, you would snap those babies up. Because during this era, shoes were supposed to be a couple sizes too small. (Just remember our quote from above – the emphasis was on small, small feet – even if you weren’t naturally given a tiny shoe size!) Our modern feet are even bigger than our Victorian ancestors’, so if you go on a tour of Victorian fashion don’t be too alarmed by the itty bitty boots.
For our readers – if you could only keep one pair of shoes from your collection, what would you pick and why?