Evening boots

Evening boots

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

While the slipper and the strapped shoe were the most common choice for evening wear in the last third of the 19th century, boots did occasionally continue to appear. As with shoes, the basic evening boot was satin, either plain or featuring an embroidered vamp, usually in floral or foliate designs. Surviving examples of evening boots of the late 19th and early 20th centuries suggest, however, that those daring to wear something already outside of the ordinary often opted as well for unconventionally bold and unusual materials and trimmings. This pair of boots typifies that phenomenon: anachronistic side-lacing, novel and atypically exuberant fret and scroll motifs, and embroidery covering the entire boot, including the heel.

The Costume Institute

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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.