Slippers

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

High quality products are often distinguished by the creativity of their design. With Paris as the capital of fashion in the 19th century, some of the best quality and most novel products came out of its myriad workshops. This pair of slippers features very finely worked embroidery. While embroidered floral motifs are fairly common on shoes, the French knot technique is unusual, being both labor-intensive and not reproducible by machine. The black heel provides a pleasant contrast, and exhibits the topstitched edges only seen on the best women’s shoes.

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