Wedding slippers

Unknown

1857 · silk · Costume Institute

Even as heels began to come back into fashion in the 1850s, the prevalent choice of brides was the flat, heelless slippers that had been worn for nearly half a century. Changes in toe shape, throat depth and shape, and trimming distinguish the slippers of one date from another. This pair wedding shoes are adorned with a large and elaborate combination bow/rosette accentuated with web-like lace, a form of trimming which was stylish in the late 1850s and early 1860s.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1857

Medium

silk

Culture

probably French

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Margaret King Eddy, 1968