Amber Smitham's Blog 

On the 2nd October, I attended a tour into the archives of the Museum and Art Gallery to research the vast shoe collection on display. To any individual interested in the history of footwear, this was the ultimate location to discover items from over the centuries and across the globe, ranging from brogues to military boots to elaborately decorated Wellington boots even to 1930s fetish footwear. 11,000 pairs of shoes are kept inside this establishment, all containing their own piece of history and where they originated from.

Overall however, despite analysing many pairs from different eras I found myself fascinated with the trend of the 1920’s and in particular this pair of Black High Heeled Diamante Shoes which you can view below. My reasons for this are due to the exuberance of elegance and class, as well as combining liveliness, optimism and freedom from conformity. The shoemakers focussed hugely on attention to detail and influenced throughout the decade, which fabrics ranging from silk to gilded to reptile skin to tan leather. This was evident in each pair I found amongst the collection, demonstrating the normality of this trend. Obviously this was because of the outfits shifting in design, with dresses shortening, revealing the shoe itself, therefore becoming a major fashion statement in this era as shoes could not just be hidden underneath a long gown but needed to be selected with much more deliberation and care. In addition, the dance craze boomed by 1924, thus the introduction of ‘Mary Janes’, T-bar and cross-over straps and the 2 inch heel height became mass manufactured and a popular fashion statement was initiated. 1925 also gave way to international influences with the Exhibition of Decorative Arts in Paris, which exhibited Greek, Asian and Egyptian motifs.

The component of this shoe that initially strikes me, however, is the jewelled heel, a very feminine, fun, and outgoing feature that would appear to have been worn for an upper-class party or evening event. It would have been the perfect height and with the heel also widening towards the bottom, plenty of support to dance in. It was also, to my surprise, a recurring trend as today’s fashion consists of this style. The second eye-catching element is the diamante buckle, highly fashionable in 1926 which stunningly stands out boldly against a classic black velvet fabric, which was actually a safe option to the bright, wild colours many women wore. Buckles were often known to be encrusted with semiprecious materials for instance pearls and sequins again to add the glamorous eye-catching effect. This was definitely a decade that sparked off the importance of adding that 'something special' to your outfit but ultimately allowed you to feel liberated from old fashion habits in order to express postivity in society.