Pair of shoes

This pair of women's mules or backless slippers is very stylish. They are made of rich velvet embroidered with silver-gilt thread. From about 1550 to 1700, domestic embroidery became very fashionable and mules were often decorated in this way. This pair have a medium heel and a square, slightly overhanging toe. This makes them typical of luxury indoor wear for women in about the middle of the 17th century. A similar pair of mules was made for Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I.