The Guinness Guide to 20th Century Fashion, which showed that each decade had its share of drastic changes in fashion, the earlier decades' changes being a little more extreme than the latter ones.
The items of wear which have undergone changes and additions in some decades, but at the end of the century managed to have lines still quite similar in style to those pictured at the start of the century, are shoes, the main one being the patent leather court shoe with the Louis XV heel
In the 1900's, maybe because women's legs were never shown and feet were only partly seen when sitting down, stockings and shoes were not given much attention. The well-off wore silk stockings in dark colours and handmade shoes and boots with fairly pointed toes and only moderately high heels, curved and known as Louis' heels. Silk or fine kid was used for the more dressy styles and sometimes had small buckles or silk bows decorating the front. Shoes were neat and elegant and complemented the outfit in matching or quietly toning colours. Everyday shoes were quite practical. Many were laced up styles with almond shaped toes and Cuban or Louis heels.
In the 20's for a woman to have well-shaped legs became more of an asset than ever before. Stockings and shoes were now very important, hemlines had risen. Black stockings which had been generally worn were replaced by flesh coloured ones in silk or cotton lisle. Silk stockings were expensive but considered worthwhile for town and evening wear. For the country and sportswear, ribbed and patterned woollen and cotton stockings were usually worn. Diamond patterns were very fashionable. In the summer, light coloured cotton ankle socks were popular.
Town shoes were neat looking and fairly simple in design. Lizard and crocodile skins were expensive so that suede and polished leather were more generally worn. Basic styles were lace-ups or court shoes with slightly pointed toes and medium and high heels either Louis shaped or straight cut.
Shoes with a single or T-strap fastening across the foot were also very popular, and these are considered characteristic of the 1920's. Long boots like a slightly squahsed down riding boot, called "Russian' boots were a fashion craze in the mid-twenties but only for a few years and were never as widely or continuously worn as the boots of the sixties and seventies. Informal shoes had round toes and lower heels which were either cuban shaped or flat and square. Top stitching was used on toe and heel caps. Most shoes fastened with laces or straps, some which were open over the arch of the foot and laced across before being tied, were called "gillie' shoes, based on traditional Scottish styles.
Evening shapes and designs were similar to everyday town shoes but made in dressier fabrics, such as, satin or brocade and often dyed to match evening dresses. Silver and gold kid were very versatile in matching with a wide variety of dresses in different fabrics and colours. Fancy bows were sometimes used on the front of shoes. Buckles in silver or diamante were also used as decoration or as part of the strap fastening.
The thirties was a time of many new shoe styles. Shapes varied. For some town shoes became dressier and more sophisticated looking. Different heights of heel and shapes of toes were introduced. The strappy open toed sandal which became a basic style during the decade, was back in style this past 1999 holiday season.
Although leading fashion magazines of the 30's declared fussy open- toed shoes to be in bad taste when worn with tailored clothes. open- toed and sling back shoes became even more popular and the styles more frivolous, some with platform soles and wedge heels. Some designs were ultra practical and clumpy, with broad toes which were wide and round or squared off and snub fronted. Heels were flat and heavy looking or shallow wedge heels were joined with thick platform soles. A dainty foot was called "dowdy" in the thirties.
With the effects of World War II in the 1940's, leather shoes were difficult to come by, and shoes had to be made with heavy wooden soles and wedge heels. Resourceful women refused to accept the ugly appearance of these shoes and made a feature of them, painting them in bright colours like Dutch clogs, sometimes in contrasting layers of stripes or decorating the sides of the soles and heels with studs or small shells.
By 1947 the New Look brought smoky biege colour stockings and plain high-heeled court shoes, or shoes finely strapped round the ankles. Shoes were more delicate. Plain high heeled court shoes in black leather or suede became the predominant shoe style. The shape was unexaggerated, heels were not noticeably thin or thick, toes were generally rounded. The classic cut-out curve at the front of the court shoe was now cut in a V-shape. Open toed, sling back shoes with high heels, platform soles and ankle straps were still popular, especially with cocktail and short evening dresses. Sports and casual shoes were also less clumsy looking. Wedge heels were still worn but they were shallower wedged, often joined to flat rather than platform soles.
Classic court shoes were the predominant styles of the 1950's, and with strappy sandals and flat ballet pumps were the main base styles.
Italian shoes had an extra elegance and refinement in shape and design. The stiletto heel, and pointed toe which caused many a bunion, came in from the middle of the decade onwards, when toes were elongated into 'winkle-picker' points and very high heels tapered into knife sharp stilettos. Chiropodists usually lamented a fashion which was so bad for the feet, to no avail as toe-crippling winkle- pickers and hazardously thin stilettos became more popular, leaving permanent dents in floors, while heel repair bars enjoyed a booming business from cracking heels.
The 1960's, and boot wearing become an established part of fashion for the next twenty years. Widish, squashy, knee-length boots with varying heel heights and pointed or squared off toes were known as 'kinky boots.'
Shoes became chunkier with thicker, lower heels and rounded or squared toes. Small platform soles were beginning to appear on some styles. Buckle shoes in patent became very fashionable and some styles were made with silver or gold coloured heels to match the buckles.
The forties influence was at its strongest in the shoe designs of the seventies. Platform soles were added to every kind of shoe and boot. Women's shoes with peep toes, sling backs and ankle straps had thick high heels or deep wedges. Dyed reptile skins, shiny patent leather and kid in dark or bright colours and sometimes combinations of two or three contrasting shades were all popular. Fashionable footwear was more prominent and extreme than at any other time in this century. Some platform soles were so high they rivalled traditional Chinese and Japanese styles and the built-up soles of the Chopines worn in Europe during the 16th century.
By the middle of the decade, finer shaped footwear was adopted, and in 1979 shoes and boots were more delicately shaped.
Not much has been written about the 1980's, except that it was the Age of Excess. The court shoe, as usual, held sway, and sneakers or keds as the more expensive ones are called became fashionable, outside of the sporting arena.
The 1990's has ended with every type of strappy sandal carrying low chunky heels, wedges or very high heels. But while the older women in previous decades tottered around in most uncomfortable high heels, I have noticed that lots of older women now wear flatter shoes. Some of them prefer the closed-up type shoe, but every shoe in the shops seems geared to expose well-manicured toes.
And to quote a friend of mind: "there is not a shoe that jumps up and hits you (the older woman), to make you say I must have this shoe."
The items of wear which have undergone changes and additions in some decades, but at the end of the century managed to have lines still quite similar in style to those pictured at the start of the century, are shoes, the main one being the patent leather court shoe with the Louis XV heel
In the 1900's, maybe because women's legs were never shown and feet were only partly seen when sitting down, stockings and shoes were not given much attention. The well-off wore silk stockings in dark colours and handmade shoes and boots with fairly pointed toes and only moderately high heels, curved and known as Louis' heels. Silk or fine kid was used for the more dressy styles and sometimes had small buckles or silk bows decorating the front. Shoes were neat and elegant and complemented the outfit in matching or quietly toning colours. Everyday shoes were quite practical. Many were laced up styles with almond shaped toes and Cuban or Louis heels.
In the 20's for a woman to have well-shaped legs became more of an asset than ever before. Stockings and shoes were now very important, hemlines had risen. Black stockings which had been generally worn were replaced by flesh coloured ones in silk or cotton lisle. Silk stockings were expensive but considered worthwhile for town and evening wear. For the country and sportswear, ribbed and patterned woollen and cotton stockings were usually worn. Diamond patterns were very fashionable. In the summer, light coloured cotton ankle socks were popular.
Town shoes were neat looking and fairly simple in design. Lizard and crocodile skins were expensive so that suede and polished leather were more generally worn. Basic styles were lace-ups or court shoes with slightly pointed toes and medium and high heels either Louis shaped or straight cut.
Shoes with a single or T-strap fastening across the foot were also very popular, and these are considered characteristic of the 1920's. Long boots like a slightly squahsed down riding boot, called "Russian' boots were a fashion craze in the mid-twenties but only for a few years and were never as widely or continuously worn as the boots of the sixties and seventies. Informal shoes had round toes and lower heels which were either cuban shaped or flat and square. Top stitching was used on toe and heel caps. Most shoes fastened with laces or straps, some which were open over the arch of the foot and laced across before being tied, were called "gillie' shoes, based on traditional Scottish styles.
Evening shapes and designs were similar to everyday town shoes but made in dressier fabrics, such as, satin or brocade and often dyed to match evening dresses. Silver and gold kid were very versatile in matching with a wide variety of dresses in different fabrics and colours. Fancy bows were sometimes used on the front of shoes. Buckles in silver or diamante were also used as decoration or as part of the strap fastening.
The thirties was a time of many new shoe styles. Shapes varied. For some town shoes became dressier and more sophisticated looking. Different heights of heel and shapes of toes were introduced. The strappy open toed sandal which became a basic style during the decade, was back in style this past 1999 holiday season.
Although leading fashion magazines of the 30's declared fussy open- toed shoes to be in bad taste when worn with tailored clothes. open- toed and sling back shoes became even more popular and the styles more frivolous, some with platform soles and wedge heels. Some designs were ultra practical and clumpy, with broad toes which were wide and round or squared off and snub fronted. Heels were flat and heavy looking or shallow wedge heels were joined with thick platform soles. A dainty foot was called "dowdy" in the thirties.
With the effects of World War II in the 1940's, leather shoes were difficult to come by, and shoes had to be made with heavy wooden soles and wedge heels. Resourceful women refused to accept the ugly appearance of these shoes and made a feature of them, painting them in bright colours like Dutch clogs, sometimes in contrasting layers of stripes or decorating the sides of the soles and heels with studs or small shells.
By 1947 the New Look brought smoky biege colour stockings and plain high-heeled court shoes, or shoes finely strapped round the ankles. Shoes were more delicate. Plain high heeled court shoes in black leather or suede became the predominant shoe style. The shape was unexaggerated, heels were not noticeably thin or thick, toes were generally rounded. The classic cut-out curve at the front of the court shoe was now cut in a V-shape. Open toed, sling back shoes with high heels, platform soles and ankle straps were still popular, especially with cocktail and short evening dresses. Sports and casual shoes were also less clumsy looking. Wedge heels were still worn but they were shallower wedged, often joined to flat rather than platform soles.
Classic court shoes were the predominant styles of the 1950's, and with strappy sandals and flat ballet pumps were the main base styles.
Italian shoes had an extra elegance and refinement in shape and design. The stiletto heel, and pointed toe which caused many a bunion, came in from the middle of the decade onwards, when toes were elongated into 'winkle-picker' points and very high heels tapered into knife sharp stilettos. Chiropodists usually lamented a fashion which was so bad for the feet, to no avail as toe-crippling winkle- pickers and hazardously thin stilettos became more popular, leaving permanent dents in floors, while heel repair bars enjoyed a booming business from cracking heels.
The 1960's, and boot wearing become an established part of fashion for the next twenty years. Widish, squashy, knee-length boots with varying heel heights and pointed or squared off toes were known as 'kinky boots.'
Shoes became chunkier with thicker, lower heels and rounded or squared toes. Small platform soles were beginning to appear on some styles. Buckle shoes in patent became very fashionable and some styles were made with silver or gold coloured heels to match the buckles.
The forties influence was at its strongest in the shoe designs of the seventies. Platform soles were added to every kind of shoe and boot. Women's shoes with peep toes, sling backs and ankle straps had thick high heels or deep wedges. Dyed reptile skins, shiny patent leather and kid in dark or bright colours and sometimes combinations of two or three contrasting shades were all popular. Fashionable footwear was more prominent and extreme than at any other time in this century. Some platform soles were so high they rivalled traditional Chinese and Japanese styles and the built-up soles of the Chopines worn in Europe during the 16th century.
By the middle of the decade, finer shaped footwear was adopted, and in 1979 shoes and boots were more delicately shaped.
Not much has been written about the 1980's, except that it was the Age of Excess. The court shoe, as usual, held sway, and sneakers or keds as the more expensive ones are called became fashionable, outside of the sporting arena.
The 1990's has ended with every type of strappy sandal carrying low chunky heels, wedges or very high heels. But while the older women in previous decades tottered around in most uncomfortable high heels, I have noticed that lots of older women now wear flatter shoes. Some of them prefer the closed-up type shoe, but every shoe in the shops seems geared to expose well-manicured toes.
And to quote a friend of mind: "there is not a shoe that jumps up and hits you (the older woman), to make you say I must have this shoe."
