1780s shoes

I have always loved the pink and black high heeled shoes in The Bata Shoe Museum's collection. I didn't aim to do a reproduction pair but I wanted to keep the main features, the color, the pointed toe and the high heels. As for the most obvious differences, I wanted to make mine without embroidery and with randed construction. It's a little old fashioned technique for 1780's but I have seen surviving examples of fashionable randed late 18th century shoes. 

My husband carved me the quirky tilted heels from wood and I made the uppers with silk satin and linen, bound with silk paduasoy ribbon. Toe boxes are reinforced with leather. Soles and rands are of leather. The shoes are hand stitched with linen and silk thread.

The shoes worn with my silk stockings and garters.

Construction:

Heels ready.

Stitching the uppers.

Stitching the insoles with uppers and rand.

The rand ready to be stitched to the outsole and heel cover in place.

The heel in place.

After this stage the outsoles were stitched on through the rand and the edge of the heel cover. The stitches run in a groove cut along the edge of the outsoles.