Bootees

Unknown

1870–90 · wool, silk · Costume Institute

While clothing for babies commonly falls outside the aegis of fashion, it is common to see the reflection of current modes in the better examples. This pair of high style booties illustrates the contemporary taste for pastel coloration and restrained embroidery. The placement of the embroidery around the opening and the choice of a stylized symmetrical curling vine motif is one which can be seen repeated in numerous garments of the period. The low cut, not the most practical for a baby shoe, is a fashionable feature as well.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1870–90

Medium

wool, silk

Culture

American

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of The Jason and Peggy Westerfield Collection, 1969