Pattens

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Women's shoes of the early 19th century were notoriously thin and flimsy, so some sort of overshoe was necessary to keep the shoes clean and dry when walking outdoors. One option was the patten, which consisted of a wooden sole with straps, raised on an iron ring. Pattens were not considered particularly genteel or refined, and this reputation is confirmed by the coarse construction of many surviving examples. These pattens from the collection, in a scarcely found child's size, are typical of the type worn in the 1830s and 1840s. Pattens fell out of use in the 1850s, when vulcanized rubber galoshes became widely available.

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