Boots
In typifying the fashionable women's boot of 1915-1919, one would likely include several features: Balmoral cut, featuring a buttoned closure with straight fly; boldly contrasting materials, particularly black patent for the vamp paired with a lighter, matte leather for the top; rounded toe with straight toe cap; and mid-calf height leg. Each of these features is present in this pair of classic late 1910s boots. Fuller, shorter skirts had come into fashion in 1915, necessitating a corresponding change in boot height. The patent vamp and light-colored suede top give the appearance of a spat, an effect which seems to have been made more desirable by the contemporary military influence on fashion. The celluloid-covered heel is also indicative of the late 1910s and 1920s period.
Artwork Details
- Title: Boots
- Date: ca. 1917
- Culture: American
- Medium: leather
- Credit Line: Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Louise M. Coleman, 1949
- Object Number: 2009.300.3490a, b
- Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute
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