Shoes

Due to their scarcity, early men's everyday shoes are interesting to the costume historian, even when altered from their original state. The combination of features on this pair of shoes had confused previous collectors over the past two centuries, who had attributed various dates: "Cromwellian" (1649-1653), "Stuart” (1603-1714), or “18th Century". Advances in scholarship and careful examination can shed some light on the mystery. The outstanding feature on these shoes is the long latchet which would have held a buckle in the late 17th or 18th century, however close examination reveals that the shoes are constructed as tie shoes, with the long latchet added. This laced closure is not generally seen before the end of the 18th century and furthermore, the latchets on these shoes do not show the same degree of wear as the rest of the shoes, both aspects which suggest the shoes may have been altered for historical fancy dress. The flat heel is also not a feature one would expect in the earlier period. The general style with rounded toe, covered tongue, no rand, flat heel, and tie closure suggests date of between 1790 and 1825.