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

silver and gold acquired from buckles was badly spent. Leather buckles were
imported from England, the only place were people could think of wearing
leather buckles in time of peace.'
This sudden change of fashion in France in 1789 was the first sign of an
economic catastrophe for British toy producers who were the leading buckle-
makers in Europe. It has been estimated that during the 1780s in Birmingham
more than two and a half million buckles were produced for internal
consumption and exportation.' 45 During the three years from 1789 to 1792
buckles went out of fashion also in Britain. The buckle producers of London, in
association with their fellows from the Midlands, petitioned the King, the Royal
Family and in particular the Prince of Wales to ask protection for the trade. They
asked the Prince to forbid the use of laces in his presence.' The court would
have set an example of preservation of fashion - rather than innovation - more
common in the nineteenth than in the eighteenth century. The petitioners asked
also for the banning of laces in the Army. The same request was made without
much success to the Duchess of York, relying on the fame of her small feet.'47
All this did not have any result and buckles quickly disappeared, remaining a
sign of political conservatism and bigotry.'48
3.4.3 Innovation and emulation
During the second half of the eighteenth century, and in particular during the
revolution, France had a key role in setting footwear fashion. The neo-classical
style spreading from France all over Europe during the last decade of the
century imposed a new dress de simplicité characterised by light fabric and
without corps a balaines. Such simplicity has been considered part of a
'43 Magasin des modes nouvelles (Paris, 1789) and Magasin des modes (Paris, 1789).
'Rendez-moi mes bucles. A M.M. l'Assemblée Nationale (Paris, 1789 - BN 8 LB 39).
145 Brooke, Footwear, cit., p. 71.
'Appeal from the buckle trade of London and Westminster, cit., pp. 7-9.
147 Ibid., pp. 11-14. According to their petition, the new fashion had come from the continent
and very quickly destroyed their trade, beginning with the morning dress when buckles were
considered too formal.
148 j Mackay, Price guide to collectable antiques, cit., p. 57. Shoe buckles continued in the
nineteenth century on few female shoes.
138