Pumps

Dal Co'|Fontana

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. The nude look in shoes was in important trend according to Osgood, and this pair of shoes illustrates that quality in the peek-a-boo front with toe cleavage and the naked look of the leather created both by surface and color. This pale grey was a revival of a 1912 color, and was seen as a possible replacement for beige.

Artist

Dal Co'|Fontana

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