Woman’s ankle boots

Java, late 19th century
Silk velvet embroidered with lametta, metal purl, sequins; attached gold thread trim; brass clip fastenings; punched and gilded stucco heels
Peranakan Museum, Gift of Mr and Mrs Lee Kip Lee [2012-00208]

These boots are embroidered with traditional auspicious images, but their shape follows European women’s ankle boots fashionable in the 1880s.

Non-Europeans were not permitted by law to wear European clothing in late 19th-century Indonesia, and nyonyas generally wore Chinese shoes or slippers. When wealthy nyonyas wore boots like these, they made a fashion statement and declared their privileged status.