Bootees

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Skillful execution of domestic needlework was an important measure of a lady's social standing and virtue in the Victorian period. Berlin work, in which brightly colored wool yarns were embroidered on a canvas ground in shaded, naturalistic designs, was the prevalent type of embroidery for about twenty years, beginning in the 1850s. This pair of crocheted baby boots employs colors and patterns which refer to that style. The boots are finely worked and exhibit the skill of the lady who made them. The buttons closure, somewhat complicated and elaborate for a baby shoe, makes reference to button boots, which were the most common contemporary style for both adults and children.

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