Old Rags

Slippers like these were relatively cheap to produce and the middle or upper-class ladies who wore them might purchase several pairs at a time to wear over the course of a few weeks or months. This was not necessarily because they required a different pair for each outfit but rather because the lightweight soles and silk uppers of these elegant shoes were not very durable.

The square toe and throat style of ladies’ slippers or ‘sandle shoes’ was popular from the 1820s, when it began to eclipse the earlier pointed toe and curved throat style which first came about in the 1790s. Ribbons to tie round the ankles and bows attached at the throat at the front of the shoe were a feature of this type of shoe throughout.