The Boot and Shoe Trades in London and Paris in the Long Eighteenth Century

At the end of the century boots were used in all occasions, symbolising a
modern sense of mobility and participation t public life. Boot production not
only flourished, but was also considered the highest part of the trade, because of
bootmakers' capacity of reinterpreting an old product for new uses. 113 It is
important to notice how with the end of war, boots did not go back to their rural
or military origins and remained in fashion for all the 1810s and 1820s." 4 This
was the result of the conscious action of the so-called 'leaders of fashion', rather
than of a general attitude. George IV, as Prince of Wales, and - before him - his
closest friend George Bryan 'Beau' Brumnel, were used to be seen in society in
boots." 5 In France, perhaps more than in England, the indiscriminate use of
boots was criticised: "aujourd'hui le ton, le grand ton est de se botter pour
garder son appartement, pour courir Paris sans même monter a cheval, ni
passer les barrières." 6 Francou (père and flu) in their Art du Bottier noticed
that "Les bottes, au lieu d'être uniquement une chaussure destinée pour les
hommes qui montent a cheval, sont deventés la chaussure habituelle de
mombreuses classes de la societe".117
Other changes, however, were opposing the widespread use of boots. After
1825 trousers gained in popularity and replaced pantaloons giving space to low
heels male shoes rather than boots. Their decline coincided with a long period of
relative peace in Europe. After 1850 Victorian values rejected a kind of footwear
too related to belligerent images. Men's boots became again the right footwear
for hunting and country life, while bootmakers remained "idle spectators of
other people's progress"." 8 Women's boots prospered thanks to a variety of
different shapes. In the 1860s they became more colourful, expressing
femininity." 9 For men, boots were allowed only for particular events, and a
" T. Martin, The mechanical arts...(London, 1813), p. 257; B. Francou and J.-F. Francou,
L'art du bottier (Paris, 1833), p. 1.
" J. Brown, Sixty years' gleanings from life's harvest. A genuine autobiography (Cambridge,
1858), p. 172. Martin's Mechanical Arts reported that the fashionable_the top-boot was an object
of competition among London boot and shoemakers. Everyone wanted to know how to extract
the colour of the tan and substitute it with a clear white or cream colour. T. Martin, The
mechanical arts, cit., p. 257.
" 5 F.E. ledger, Put your foot down, cit., p. 119 and J. Layer, Taste and fashion from the French
Revolution to the present day (London, 1937), p. 25.
116 L.-S. Mercier, Le nouveau Paris, cit., t. 11, vol. i, p. 1154.
117 B. Francou and J.-F. Francou, L'artdu bottier, cit., p. 1.
118 The Innovator, March 1857, p. 18.
" 9 J. Layer, Taste and fashion, cit., p. 60.
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