Evening shoes

Georgette of Paris

ca. 1937 · leather · Costume Institute

The bare sandal-style evening shoes of the 1930s opened the door for designers to experiment with new ideas, freeing them from the pump and other closed shoe styles that had dominated fashion since ancient times. The aesthetics of the period called for designs that were clean and modern. In this example, the folded treatment of the uppers is a simple but innovative and elegant treatment, as is the design of the detached strap. Georgette was a high quality French shoemaker, established in the mid 1930s by a brother and sister who had worked previously for André Perugia. These shoes were made for a prominent American client, Standard Oil heiress Millicent Rogers (1902-1953).

Artist

Georgette of Paris

Date

ca. 1937

Medium

leather

Culture

French

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Arturo and Paul Peralta-Ramos, 1955