To celebrate the Astoria coming out on Monday, I want to post some of my favorite images of Edwardian shoes.
It was such a wonderful time for footwear. Ladies’ shoes were styled to give the foot an elegant look – narrow, pointed, and beautifully decorated.
The hallmarks of Edwardian shoes are:
- narrow, elongated, and pointed toe
- various strap styles and cutwork
- French heels
- button closures
There are variations in some of the styling, for instance, the “military” heel was becoming popular for women, and button closures started to be replaced by buckles, as we near the 1920s.
Let’s take a look:
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| I call this the “wishbone” shoe, from Shoe Icons Museum. It has a very pointed toe and a heel that is more typical of the 1860s-70s, but the interesting straps and button closures put this shoe at year 1900 |
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| 1900, from Shoe Icons. Cutwork, beading, and leather for evening wear became all the rage in the Edwardian period. |
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| You will all recognize these as the inspiration shoe for “Astoria.” These date 1900-1910, and are a satin evening shoe with extensive beading. Notice the long toe and French heel. |
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| Year 1900, from Vintage Textile. The cutwork/strap combo is impressive on these, as well as the beading. These are very common attribute of Edwardian shoes. |
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| These are 1911, from The Met. The Edwardians were inspired by the Georgians, and many styles from this period feature false buckles and large tongues. They could be considered “retro.” These are satin with lace applique. |
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| 1912, from MFA, these were a very popular style of shoe, so much so that there are two almost identical pairs held in museums. The heel is quite high for this period. It is constructed of wood. |
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| These are an excellent example of Edwardian shoes that were extensively worn, and show the military style heel. They still retain the fancy strapping and button closures. I can just imagine a Suffragette marching miles in these. |
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| Edwardian two-tones from my home state. They are leather wishbone-strapped, and suede for the heel and back of the shoe. Very dapper. You see all the hallmarks of Edwardian shoes here. |
I truly love Edwardian shoes. I just find them to be so elegant and interesting, and they look splendid on the foot. These antique styles have me salivating and wanting to make additional Edwardian styles. Let’s see how Astoria does, and decide from there. 🙂
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6 Comments
Charleybrown
January 14, 2012 at 9:03 PMAhh the sage green ones are so lovely!! I've not seen that style before. Your Astorias look great!
Lizzy H
January 14, 2012 at 10:04 PMAll of them are gorgeous, it's just the greatest era! I hope you will do some more Edwardian styles because they are lovely, and quite hard to get hold of!
I'd just LOVEEEEEE to see the sage green ones available from you one day! I agree with ^^^ CharleyBrown, they are stunning!!
Lauren R
January 16, 2012 at 3:24 AMThose really caught my fancy too, Lizzy. I think something with cutwork must be made for the future. It is SO Edwardian, but also appropriate for wearing today
Caroline
January 14, 2012 at 10:34 PMYour new shoes are beautiful! I love this era, shoes included! The bead work on the black shoes is lovely!
Katie R
January 15, 2012 at 11:42 PMI'm buying then as soon as I get up tomorrow. SO EXCITED!
brb posting this on my blog so others can buy them too…
Lauren R
January 16, 2012 at 3:24 AMThank you!