Shoes

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

At the end of the 18th century, fashionable Europeans turned to ancient Greece and Rome for inspiration. Women's dress was radically simplified in emulation of historical styles, and numerous fashions developed which made reference to those of the past while maintaining at least some regard for the contemporary standards of decorum and functionality. These "sandals” were inspired by Classical footwear and would have complimented the neoclassical fashions of the period. While what we now think of as a sandal (a sole secured to the foot with straps) is documented in a few illustrations from the Neoclassical period, the wearing of such flesh-baring footwear was considered by most to be beyond the limits of decency.

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