The Boot and Shoe Manufacturers' Assistant and Guide. / Containing a Brief History of the Trade. History of India-rubber and Gutta-percha, and Their Application to the Manufacture of Boots and Shoes. Full Instructions in the Art, With Diagrams and Scales, Etc., Etc. Vulcanization and Sulphurization, English and American Patents. With an Elaborate Treatise on Tanning.

by Unknown

The shoes in the following cut were such as were worn by the ladies during the reign of William III.

The clog beneath the shoe on the left side, was simply a piece of stout leather, evidently intended to protect the feet from excessive moisture. The distinguishing mark of gentility in the reign of George I. and II., was red heels. The ladies preferred silk or velvet to leather, and the favorite shoe worn by the ladies of the court were made of figured blue silk with bright red heels and silver buckles.

The above cut was the style worn in 1780. Ten years later a change occurred by which ladies’ shoes were made flat and low, like the slipper of the present day.

A picture by Fores was published in 1791, of a shoe worn by the duchess of York. The shoe was made of green silk, ornamented with gold stars, and bound with scarlet silk; the heel was scarlet and shaped exactly in the modern style.

Shoe buckles disappeared about the commencement of the present century, and were succeeded by the plain shoe string. In England the Prince of Wales endeavored to preserve the custom, by persisting in their use, in order to sustain the buckle-makers, but imperious fashion was too powerful for even the influence of the great.

The accompanying cut represents a variety of shoes worn by females.

No. 1 is the sandal of a Russian lady of 1768. The second that of a female of Finland, a low, slipper-like shoe, secured by a band across the instep, having an ornamental clasp, like a brooch, to secure it on each side of the foot; it was probably a coarsely made piece of jewelry, with glass or cheap stones set around it, as the people of this country at that time were fond of such showy decorations, particularly upon their shoes. No. 3 is a production of the same country, and is similar to those worn by the matrons of the upper classes. No. 4 is the shoe of a Tartarian lady of 1577. Nos. 5 and 6 are examples of the shoes of oriental ladies, which are sometimes highly ornamented; the covering part being wrought with gold, silver, and silk, and perhaps set with jewels, real or imitated. The shoes of noblemen are of similar construction. They were no doubt easy to wear.