Women's shoes

The brown buckskin shoes’ toecaps are pointed, their heels are high, curved towards the waist their upper part is a so-called tongue-strap. The upper part and sides of the shoes and the heels are embroidered with stylised flowers, sprouts, tendrils and leaves. The pattern of the upper part also extends to the tongue, thus it is likely that the side straps were joined behind them. The pointy toecaps and the curved, high heels are so typical of the shoes worn during the reign of Louis XV ( 1715–1774) that this heel-type is also called the French heel. Skirts became shorter from the 1720s, and the feet of ladies became visible, as well as their shoes made of delicate material, ornamented with various decorations and embroideries. On contemporary paintings, just like François Boucher’s full-length painting of Marquise de Pompadour made in 1759, the shoes harmonize with the clothes and they are always worn with white stockings.