Sandals

Unknown

1956 · leather · Costume Institute

The Osgood collection comprises 179 objects, chiefly fashionable Italian-made women's shoes dating from the years 1954 to 1958. The shoes were collected by Charline Osgood, Director of the Kid Leather Guild, a trade organization of American kid leather manufacturers. Highlighting the use of kid leather in footwear, the collection provides a fascinating and enticing view of high-style European shoe design from the period, representing many of the finest and most inventive Italian makers. Not all the shoes Osgood collected were high-style, and the T-strap wedge sandal was presented as a basic style (a "Ford"), which had been very successful for American manufactures in the past few seasons. This Italian variation includes a garter like shirred strap, which Osgood suggested could easily extend the lifespan of style's marketability in the U.S.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1956

Medium

leather

Culture

Italian

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Charline Osgood, 1960