Style Guide: Dolly Shoes

Dolly shoes are flat slip on courts with an ankle strap fastened by a button or buckle. they have a differennt history to ballerina flats.

Child's dolly shoes by Marshall & Snelgrove 1930s

The origin of this style is thought to stem from the French Doll manufacturer Jumeau who began business in the 1840s.

Bebe Jumeau doll's shoes, Victorian

Nowadays of course you can be any age to wear them

Silver glitter dolly shoes with a heel by Prada

Shoe Folklore

Down at Heel: To be poor

Recorded in 1732 in William Darrell's A gentleman instructed in the conduct of a virtuous and happy life

Shoes and shoe leather were expensive, for the poor repairs were costly and as they often only had one pair of shoes, difficult to manage.

The phrase well heeled may have arisen as an antidote to this however there are other theories on the origin of that - see Phrases.org.uk

Louis XIV (1701) by Hyacinthe Rigaud (again).

Joyce of California: 1940-1949

In a decade where comfort was the number one concern of most women, Joyce made the grade.

December 1940

November 1940

September 1941

September 1941

JAnuary 1942

May 1943

May 1944

August 1944

January 1945

August 1946

March 1946

December 1947

December 1947

August 1948

July 1948

October 1949

This article first appeared on Vintage Chic. 29 June 2010

Rayne: As Seen In...

Vogue GB September 1953.
The new pointed toe and Jordan heel.

In 1953 the heavy, practical styles of the 40s began to give way to something more feminine, heels were still substantial but as the illustration shows the idea of a stilleto heel was already in the designer's mind though the technology was still a year or two away.

Vogue September 1953.

In brown calf with silk pleated inset.

Handbags and Shoes 1938

Non-matching bags, shoes and gloves from 1938, if you were at all fashionable the styles became more formal as the day wore on. >

Accessories in Eve's Journal May 1938. First posted on Vintage Chic 9 August 2014.