Fig. 1 in this plate displays a beautiful design. It is supposed to be worn by one of the royal family.
The English shoe of the middle ages is “beyond all Greek, beyond all Roman fame.” The second specimen in the engraving is simpler in design, but not less striking in effect, being colored jet black, and worn with red hose. Another curious fashion of those times was—see Fig. 3. The left shoe was black and the stocking blue, the other leg of the wearer being clothed in a black stocking and a white shoe. This shoe was cut very low over the instep, the heel being entirely covered, and a band fastened by a small buckle or button passing round the ankle secured it to the foot.
Coming down to the reign of Richard II., boots and shoes were made of great length, so that they were chained to the knee of the wearer, that he might walk with some degree of freedom. Of course, only the nobility could afford so expensive a method of locomotion. Extremes were introduced from time to time, as in our own day. During the reign of Edward III., it was enacted that any shoemaker working for the “unprivileged classes,” should not make any shoes, the toes which should exceed two inches in length, under a penalty of twenty shillings. This edict had the effect to widen the toes to a most absurd extent; this fashion was followed by a proclamation from Queen Mary, that the width of the toes should not exceed six inches.
The mania for wearing expensive shoes, in 1588, was only exceeded in folly by the Tulip excitement at a later date in Holland. Large sums were expended in shoe decorations. The poet Taylor alluding to this extravagance thus writes of those who,
“Wear a farm in shoe strings edged with gold,
And spangled garters worth a copy hold.”
In the reign of Charles I., boots, which were made of elegant Spanish leather, of a buff color, were cut so large and wide at the top, that the wearer was obliged to stride so ridiculously, that it afforded much sport for the satirists of that age. In the time of Cromwell, large boot tops were worn by the Puritans, but were not adorned with lace. Upon the restoration of Charles II. came the enormous French boot, in which the courtiers of “Louis le grand” delighted to show their legs.
The accompanying cut will furnish an idea of the amplitude of the tops. The boot is adorned with lace around the upper part, and that portion of the boot into which the leg is inserted was fitted with pliant leather; over the instep is a broad band of leather, beneath which the spur was fastened.