Man's short boot

Ownership & Use

In the 19th century men usually wore boots rather than shoes. They regarded them as more formal for daywear. Half-boots were usually worn under the trousers.

Materials & Making

By the middle of the century boots were being mass produced. A machine for sewing cloth was in use by the early 1850s, and one for leather by 1856. Other machinery was developed for sewing on soles and for riveting. Leading shoemaking towns, such as Northampton, were quick to introduce new equipment to increase the mass production of footwear.

Design & Designing

The most popular styles were the button boot, front-laced boot and elastic-sided boot. Side-buttoned boots were fashionable from the 1830s and were gradually adopted by women. Boots were often named after famous places or personages. The front-laced boots called Balmorals, for example, were named after Queen Victoria's Scottish estate. The range of materials for uppers for men's boots and shoes increased. It included cloth-tops from the 1840s and crocodile or alligator skin in the 1870s.