Slippers

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ladies and gentlemen at the French court in the time of Louise XIV were required to wear red leather heels – les talons rouges. The fashion soon spread to the major courts of Europe, where it was followed until the end of the eighteenth century. It is rare to find a surviving pair of shoes of this quality. Most such footwear must have been worn out and discarded; court life consisted of endless standing, since the right to sit down was rigidly governed by etiquette.

The Costume Institute

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Costume Institute's collection of more than thirty-three thousand objects represents seven centuries of fashionable dress and accessories for men, women, and children, from the fifteenth century to the present.

Metropolitan Museum of Art