A timeline history of Shoes and Fashion

THE 19TH CENTURY:
WAR, WAR, WAR. THIS WAR TALK IS SPOILING ALL THE FUN AT EVERY PARTY. I GET SO BORED I COULD SCREAM.

WHAT'S GOING ON? 
So many things happened in this century it is impossible to detail them all, so I’m going to give the abridged version and hope I don’t leave anything important out.  The first thing to mention is The French Revolution.  (even though technically it happened in the 18th century in the year 1792 it's ramifications were justly felt in the early 19th century which is why I mention it here)




<Left: Detail. Bonaparte, Calm on a Fiery Steed, Crossing the Alps. 1801. Jacques-Louis David. Oil on canvas, Musée National du Château de Malmaison, Rueil




The extravagance in architecture, furniture and costume came to a screeching halt and snapped back to sensible, practical, sober stuff.  George III went bonkers (poor George) and had to be put away in 1811. His son (who was a bit of a rebel rouser) became regent for 9 years until he became king himself in 1820. 

So along with one mad king and a rebel rouser regent toss in Napoleon Bonaparte crowning himself Emperor of France. War, war, war.  Napoleon got banished and everything was topsy turvy again or shall I say still?  And in America the gold rush was in full swing and then there’s The Civil War which coincides with the first romantic then prudy Victorian Era. And despite all of this, the economy rose.  More people could afford more things. Textiles were easier and cheaper to produce and sewing machines and factories were used for the first time in history to produce mass quantities of clothes. 

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WOMEN’S FASHION:
At the beginning of the century the Empire Style was in full swing.  Sense & Sensibility big time. The high waisted gowns, the low décolleté square necklines, the short narrow bodice with the small barely capped puffed sleeve. 

What was happening here? No boned corsets? No hoops? Suddenly one could breathe? You could actually see women's limbs under those skirts! For shame! 




Right: Detail. Portrait of a Woman
1810. János Donat. Oil on canvas,
Private collection>





But apparently the whole breathing thing was tossed aside as temporary insanity and the stay came back with a vengeance. If you want an hour-glass figure, you need to get yourself some stays. Cinch that waist. Suck in that breath. Cinch that waist again.

And as the waist kept getting smaller, the skirt got wider and wider and the sleeves got poofier requiring wires to retain their poofiness to the utmost and more and more petticoats rustled beneath. Everything became overloaded with all sorts of trimmings, heavy plaitings, puffs of ribbons and ruffles of lace.




<Left: Detail. Princess de Broglie. 1851-53 Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Oil on canvas. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

By 1880 the jersey and the kilted skirt came into play, adopted from England, where it had been originated by Lily Langtry, the "Jersey lily," as she was called, to show her beautiful figure and was worn by practically every woman and child.




Right. Lily Langtry. c. 1890>









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WOMEN’S SHOES:
To go with all those breathable less structured dresses during The Regency were breathable, less structured shoes.  No more heel. No more discomfort. No more squashing toes into rigid up turned points. Let's talk, slippers. Sure they still had pointed toes but they were made of soft materials and came in romantic pastels. Lavender, pink and robin's egg blue were amongst the colors to choose from.



<Left: Detail. Portrait of Catherine Worlée, Princesse de Talleyrand-Périgord. François Gerard.
1804-05 Oil on canvas,
Private collection





Later in the century as the stay was reeling it's ugly head once again, shoes hardened up as well and because they were always hidden under a a dress there wasn't much attention paid to them. And when there is low demand, there usually lacks variety. In fact, there were only three styles of shoes to choose from in the later part of the century:  the boot, the clog and the dress slipper.  The boot became the everyday wear, durable and practical but took a long time to break in.





Right: English boot. 1830>







Once the sewing machine was patented in 1850, the boot was accessible to more women and it eventually became the footwear for the working class.  The dress slipper and clog were worn only on special occasions which were made of satin in many luminous colors and intricate designs to match the dress that the women was wearing.

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MEN’S FASHION
The Revolution really shook things up in the men's fashion world for all those flamboyant and frivolous styles went by the wayside. Black and dark colors replaced the snazzy vibrant colors. Plain cloth and leather replaced the silk and velvet. No more ruffles, lace and ribbons. After all, dressing like a dandy was not proper for a democratic citizen. Breeches lengthened to the ankle, coats grew high collars with large lapels and sleeves fell way past the wrists. The tricorn was replaced by the top hat and everyone who was anyone carried a cane. 

<Left. Detail. Portrait of Pierre Sériziat 1795 Jacques-Louis David.
Oil on canvas, Musée du Louvre, Paris





By the end of the century, men’s fashion became steadfast and conservative with only small hardly noticeable changes periodically.  Like in the later half of the century, the daytime and evening coats were replaced by the morning coat which happened to have a curved waist but other than that the style was not much different. 




Right: Detail. Portrait of Zacharie Astruc. 1866; Edouard Manet. Kunsthalle, Bremen>

Tailcoats became popular for eveningwear throughout 1880-90 and although prints and plaids were stylish during the daytime, black remained the only acceptable eveningwear.

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MEN’S SHOES:
Like men's clothes, men's shoes become steadfast and conservative and basically stayed that way for centuries to come. Black becomes basically the only color for shoes. The riding boot becomes fashionable for a time at the beginning of the century which were low heeled and practical.

The laced up shoe which can still be seen today became popular at the beginning of the century and has been with us ever since. When it comes to men's shoes, they changed and developed and consisted of some crazy styles here and there until the end of the 19th century when suddenly perfection was attained and the search was over. Kaput. This was it. Why bother anymore? You won't find much variation from this time on with a brief detour in the 1970's with the Anything Goes era.

For more images of 1800's shoes, please visit my Styles Gallery.

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