Slippers

French

Not on view

Ladies and gentlemen at the French court in the time of Louise XIV were required to wear red leather heels – les talons rouges. The fashion soon spread to the major courts of Europe, where it was followed until the end of the eighteenth century. It is rare to find a surviving pair of shoes of this quality. Most such footwear must have been worn out and discarded; court life consisted of endless standing, since the right to sit down was rigidly governed by etiquette.

Slippers, leather, silk, French

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