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

especially female shoes, were characterised by a very particular shape. They
were narrow, their exterior was of black or white satin or silk with light leather
inside and they had square toes and a rosette on the vamp (illustration 6.1).
This new fashion was very different from the pre-revolutionary high heels,
pointed toes and leather or brocade covers which both men and women wore.
This was the style that predominated in England till 1820.66 The creation of
light shoes (not dissimilar to pumps or today's ballerina shoes) changed the
average life of a pair of shoes. It was not uncommon to buy from six to twelve
pairs of shoes a time and their use could be for just a few weeks. In this
'multiplication of consumption', fashion changes were magnified and France
had a prime role in setting la mode.67
French cordwainers were able in just a few years to impose on an
international level "le goat particulier que les hommes de cette profession ont
apportés dans l'exéxution des chaussures".68 French shoemakers were the best
in closing, while British shoemakers had superiority only in finishing. In
England and in France different cuts were used. This was a field for discussion
because the style of the shoe depended on the cut used, and as English
shoemakers admitted "either country has a peculiar style of its own".69
Apparently the French style was more appreciated than the English one,
especially in Ladies' shoes where France had "a most decided superiority.., as
may be inferred from the fact all the best shops in London declare their ladies'
shoes to be of Paris manufacture." 7° The French shoemakers:
d'après le goat d'une pratique ou d'après la mode us sont obliges de se servir
d'etoffes de soie en tout genre, lorsqu 'us emploient les velours, le satin, les
draps de toutes espèces et de toutes couleurs, le gros de Naples, la prunelle, le
nankin, toutes les cotonades et apprêtées de tout manières djfférentes, qu 'ii
serait extrêmement difficile d'en rendre un compte exact.71
duties, cit., p. 14.
Cordwainers' College, London, 'Catalogue of shoes', 4 vols; R.T. Wilcox, The mode in
footwear (New York, 1948), pp. 115-21.
67 R.T. Wilcox, The mode in footwear, cit., p. 117.
J. Morin, Manuel du bortier et du cordonnier (Paris:,1831), p. 133.
69 The innovator, or Boot-and-shoemakers Monitor, l' January 1857, p. 2.
70 Ibid., i' November 1857, p. 74.
" J. Morin, Manuel du Bottier, cit., p. 137.
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