Designing our Belle Époque Collection: Edith and Esme

When we design historical reproduction shoes, we think of it as bringing fashions of the past back to life. In re-mapping the styles of history into shoes made for present-day feet, we’re not just remaking styles of the past, but incorporating in various artistic inspirations, historical trends, and specific silhouettes. Our creative vision for our Belle Époque collection styles was to successfully capture the fine details that make turn-of-the-century footwear distinctive, both in decorative features and in overall shape and aesthetic. This included getting the last and heel just right, and tinkering with the broguing, the cutouts, etc., until they are just right. It was a very involved design process, and we are so happy with how Edith and Elsie turned out!

Edith and Elsie both feature our brand-new, 3″/ 7.62 cm French spool heel. Spool heels, which are particularly iconic of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras, have curvy tops and bottoms like an hourglass, and a slim ‘waist’ (read more about historical heels here). The bottom of a spool heel will flare outwards, creating a satisfying balance in shape. Famed shoe designer François Pinet even had his own patented spool heel in the 19th century. For these two styles, we wanted to really nail the specific shapes and curves of a turn-of-the-century spool heel. We went through a few different iterations, adjusting and fine-tuning, before we finally created a perfectly balanced spool heel. It turned out so elegant and beautiful, and it’s also quite comfortable to stand and walk in!

When designing the Edith Boots, we wanted to accomplish two goals at the same time: 1. to create a classic, go-to Edwardian spool heel boot, and 2. getting the historical details as period-accurate as possible. We examined several extant pairs, both from our collection and in other collections, during our design process. A curvy shaped top, soft, supple fit, and smart broguing are all features that we decided to include. We were also very intentional about getting that iconic, sexy, Edwardian curve along the back of the boot shaft just right, so that the fit is snug along the natural curve of the leg. It is getting these details just right that really takes a historic reproduction shoe to the next level! We have also designed Edith in both a B width (standard) and D width (wide) fit. Both width options are fitted with a wider tongue, and since Edith is a lace-up boot, they fit a wide variety of calf measurements. The shaft on Edith in B width measures 10-13.5 inches / 25.4 – 35.6 cm, and the shaft on D width measures 12.5-17.5 inches / 31.75-44.5 cm.

Check out those curves! The curve on the back of this antique boot is what we replicated with Edith.

Turn-of-the-century tall button boots with spool heels and shaped tops, from the collection at the V&A Museum.

Some interesting two-tone boots c. 1915, from the collection at the V&A Museum. These have spool heels and shaped tops. Most two-tone boots from the period had feet that were a darker color all the way around, as well as a darker heel; these have just the toe section of the uppers. These also have a rounder, more mid-19-teens toe.

Va-va-voom! These babies show off the curved shaft, shaped tops, and spool heels that we wanted to emulate with Edith. From the collection at the Shoe Icons museum.

When choosing colors, we went with options that would provide you with the most adaptability possible when pairing Edith with both costumes and contemporary wardrobes alike. Classic black, cordovan, and walnut shades are rich in color and super versatile. Edith in cream is perfect for those floaty, lighter-toned Belle Époque fashions. Plus, we made Edith in a combination black/ivory colorway, with black feet and ivory shafts. This color combination is really distinctively 19-teens, and it looks just incredible!

With Edith, we wanted to create a pump that would be suitable for daywear and eveningwear, that was both versatile in styling and captured the artistic influence of the inspired Belle Époque Era. We reviewed lots of antique examples, and closely studied decorative aspects, shapes and materials, and silhouettes of pumps and slippers from this time period.

Evening pumps by J&J Slater, c. 1910, from the collection at the Metropolitan Museum.

Two-tone pumps from Strawbridge & Clothier, c. 1910-1915, from the Shoe Icons museum.

We decided on a motif with inset suede along the upper and shaped tongue, with delicate cutouts on the tongue. The end result is truly enchanting.

The tongue with inset suede and cutouts inspired the motif on Elsie!

More of one of our antique pumps that helped inspire Elsie.

The color palette for Elsie is inspired by the popular color palettes in Belle Époque art and fashion. In addition to the classic black, we’re offering Elsie in rich cordovan, floaty seafoam, a gorgeous Art-Nouveau-esque dark olive/light olive combination, and ivory/cream.