I Have 100 Years of Antique Shoes : Fashion Historians Collection

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by Nicole Rudolph

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05.12.2026



Take a look at the shoes styles that brought us to the modern age. While our shoes today may look different, they all have their origins in this 100 year span. Ballet flats, boots, high heels, cut outs, straps, and so much more can track their history back to this time. Rather than rely on museum photographs, we’re going to look at my collection of antique shoes and boots which can show us far more about the different decades than meets the eye!

The 19th century began with big change in fashion. Shoe lost their heels and began to transition to square toes by the 1820s. But it wouldn’t take long for fashion to bring back the heel in the 1850s. As decades went on, the toe shifted from square to round to almond to point and back again. Boots came in as the common day footwear at the beginning of the century, but by the 1920s were starting to give up their dominance. Every decade has it’s own distinct style and silhouette, though they are full of a variety of unique options.

Met fashion plates: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/libraries-and-research-centers/watson-digital-collections/costume-institute-collections/costume-institute-fashion-plates
NYPL: https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/
Russian Shoe Museum: https://eng.shoe-icons.com/
1864 Boots: https://www.historicnewengland.org/explore/collections-access/gusn/925/
1816 Shoes: https://emuseum.history.org/objects/49578/shoe?ctx=a947673ed00dc8c8e906d508f49630408440c053&idx=89
More References: https://www.pinterest.com/colevintage/shoe-timeline/

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Edited with DaVinci Resolve: https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve
🎶Music via Epidemic Sound: https://www.epidemicsound.com
00:00 Introduction
02:45 1820-1850
09:22 1850-1880
18:18 1880-1900
22:57 1900-1920

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