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Pumps

Manufacturer V. Valentino Italian
1956
Not on view
The Osgood collection comprises 179 objects, chiefly fashionable Italian-made women's shoes dating from the years 1954 to 1958. The shoes were collected by Charline Osgood, Director of the Kid Leather Guild, a trade organization of American kid leather manufacturers. Highlighting the use of kid leather in footwear, the collection provides a fascinating and enticing view of high-style European shoe design from the period, representing many of the finest and most inventive Italian makers.
Osgood called this type of shoe a "sweater pump", ostensibly due to its tight, sexy style echoing the "sweater girl" look of the 1940s and '50s. Strongly interested in improving the fit of American-made shoes, Osgood urged manufacturers in the U.S. to emulate the elasticized throat and general snugness of this model.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Pumps
  • Designer: Mario Valentino
  • Manufacturer: V. Valentino (Italian)
  • Date: 1956
  • Culture: Italian
  • Medium: leather
  • Credit Line: Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Charline Osgood, 1960
  • Object Number: 2009.300.3212a, b
  • Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute

More Artwork

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Pumps, Mario Valentino, leather, Italian
Pumps
Designer Mario Valentino
Manufacturer V. Valentino
1955
Armor, Steel, copper alloy, textile, leather, Italian
Armor
Italian
ca. 1400–1450 and later
Pumps, Madame Suzy French, leather, American
Pumps
Designer Madame Suzy
Designer Susan Bennis/Warren Edwards
Susan Bennis/Warren Edwards
1982
Shoes, Mario Valentino, leather, Italian
Shoes
Designer Mario Valentino
1954–58
Helmet and Breastplate for the Gioco del Ponte, Steel, polychromy, lead, Italian
Helmet and Breastplate for the Gioco del Ponte
Italian
17th century, with later alterations

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