Pair of shoes

A 'neat' foot was the ideal in the first half of the 19th century and this pair of women's shoes - simple, narrow and elegant - would help to create the favoured image. They are made of grey kid leather with a low heel and a latchet fastening across the narrow instep.

By this period there were several ways to purchase fashionable footwear, through shops and warehouses in the big cities, or fairs and local shoemakers in the provinces and countryside. With the ever-widening market, shoemakers began to use labels, such as those on the insoles of this pair, to advertise their wares.