Slippers

Unknown

1885 · silk, leather · Costume Institute

High quality products are often distinguished by the creativity of their design. With Paris as the capital of fashion in the 19th century, some of the best quality and most novel products came out of its myriad workshops. This pair of slippers features very finely worked embroidery. While embroidered floral motifs are fairly common on shoes, the French knot technique is unusual, being both labor-intensive and not reproducible by machine. The black heel provides a pleasant contrast, and exhibits the topstitched edges only seen on the best women’s shoes.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1885

Medium

silk, 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 Cooper Union Museum, 1951