Overshoes

Unknown

1790–1810 · leather · Costume Institute

This scarce example of a pair of toe protectors employs refined shaping and attention to detail that preserves the dainty feeling of the shoes over which they were worn. It is hard to see however, how much actual protection they would have provided. As elastic had not yet been invented, the heel strap is constructed of a small metal spring covered in white kid. This style of overshoe became obsolete when heelless shoes attained dominance in the late 1810s, but was revived in an all-rubber form at the end of the century.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1790–1810

Medium

leather

Culture

European

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Herman Delman, 1955