Evening slippers

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Simple but elegant slippers typify the styles around 1810, as this pair in cream silk demonstrates. The extremely short vamp and rounded toe are particularly notable characteristics of this date. The heel was becoming vestigial in the first quarter of the century, and although low by modern standards, the variety seen here was one of the higher types produced at the time. With the simplicity of the design, one can especially appreciate the thoughtful use of three widths of matching ribbon - used as binding, edge ruffle, and bow - to trim the 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