Shoes
SHOES
18th Century Shoes can be a lot of fun. Can you think of another era where it is absolutely fashionable for men to wear high heels? Think of all of those glorious pirate shoes in the movies!! How boring to have a sword fight without high heeled shoes!!! It just wouldn’t be the same!!!
We have enjoyed decorating our shoes for the Balls we have attended. If you look at the blue shoes above, I decorated those with two ear-rings and some silk bows. I bent the wires that went into the ear lobes and sewed them on to the bows. If you can sew on a button, you can absolutely make this happen. Trust me, you will feel like a million bucks when you are finished!!
Look around your house to see what you have. You can absolutely hot glue anything you like to your shoes.
Some ladies also just wear sneakers or flats under their long gowns. No one has to know. Or companies like American Duchess have a wide selection of ladies shoes. Fugawee is also a great company. There are some amazing makers on Etsy selling 18th century shoes. Always read the reviews to make sure the sizing is the same.
Men’s shoes are really on display in 18th century dress because of the knee length pants, called breeches. So the cheapest way to pull this look off is with plain black men’s dress shoes. You can pin two black Dollar Tree hair bows over the laces and you have some 18th century looking shoes.
Or if this is a look that you are excited about… you can purchase some 18th century men’s shoes. Etsy has some great makers. My husband has these shoes in black and red.
I have these in black:
Also take a look at Fugawee shoes. It is amazing how many modern shoes, for both men and women, have the exact same silhouette as colonial shoes. The blue shoes I decorated above are from Fugawee. I love the shape and this company in general, is more affordable.
Inspiration
Some shows that will help you see the fashion plates in action:
Queen Charlotte on Netflix
Chevalier on Hulu
Harlots on Hulu
Versailles on Netflix