Evening shoes
Beth Levine's ingenious and witty designs, experimentation with novel materials, and ability to invent practical solutions have earned her the place of top female shoe designer of the 20th century. Levine was particularly adept at predicting future trends and devising structural innovations. Chief among her achievements were the popularization of the fashion boot in the 1960s, the use of vinyl and spandex, and the inventions of the Spring-o-lator mule, the stocking shoe, and the topless shoe. These boundary-breaking innovations earned Levine a Coty award 1967.
Inventive designers often take the heel as outlet for creative interpretation, and Levine is no exception to this. This shoe features a heel which has the appearance of an ordinary covered heel, but is ingeniously constructed of a single piece of leather formed into a C-shape. Levine also donated a Spanish regional shoe to the Brooklyn collection which seems to have been the inspiration for this construction.
Inventive designers often take the heel as outlet for creative interpretation, and Levine is no exception to this. This shoe features a heel which has the appearance of an ordinary covered heel, but is ingeniously constructed of a single piece of leather formed into a C-shape. Levine also donated a Spanish regional shoe to the Brooklyn collection which seems to have been the inspiration for this construction.
Artwork Details
- Title: Evening shoes
- Designer: Beth Levine (American, Patchogue, New York 1914–2006 New York)
- Manufacturer: Herbert Levine Inc. (American, founded 1949)
- Date: ca. 1970
- Culture: American
- Medium: leather, silk
- Credit Line: Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Beth Levine in memory of her husband, Herbert, 1994
- Object Number: 2009.300.3909a, b
- Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute
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