Evening slippers

Francis O'Neill

ca. 1898 · silk · Costume Institute

While shoe fashions vary in the United States and Europe, French designs have always held a certain cachet that secures them a place in the market. The short, pointed upturned toe of this pair of slippers reflects French taste in the 1890s, and suggests that the shoes were either imported by the New York vendor or deliberately made in the French style for a special clientele. American-made shoes of this period tend to have a notably longer toe. The shoes are well made with attractive embroidery on the vamp in a motif typical for the period. The robust standing bow serves to compliments toe shape.

Artist

Francis O'Neill

Date

ca. 1898

Medium

silk

Culture

American

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Anonymous gift, 1937