Boots

Unknown

ca. 1917 · leather · Costume Institute

In typifying the fashionable women's boot of 1915-1919, one would likely include several features: Balmoral cut, featuring a buttoned closure with straight fly; boldly contrasting materials, particularly black patent for the vamp paired with a lighter, matte leather for the top; rounded toe with straight toe cap; and mid-calf height leg. Each of these features is present in this pair of classic late 1910s boots. Fuller, shorter skirts had come into fashion in 1915, necessitating a corresponding change in boot height. The patent vamp and light-colored suede top give the appearance of a spat, an effect which seems to have been made more desirable by the contemporary military influence on fashion. The celluloid-covered heel is also indicative of the late 1910s and 1920s period.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1917

Medium

leather

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 Louise M. Coleman, 1949