January 2010

posted by Trish

Italian chopine, c. 1590-1600, on loan from Museo Stefano Bardini, Florence, Italy
Italian chopines were typically hidden from view under women’s skirts and were worn to elongate the body. This elongation also required that women wear longer skirts, an expense that helped proclaim the wearer’s status. The design of the sole of the chopine is reminiscent of a flower and is an elegant solution to need for stability.
Photograph © Fototeca dei Musei Civici Fiorentini

Hello all! I hope everyone had the most or at least a few minutes of peace between the holidays and the new year’s day that has delivered us to the beginning of our second decade of this new century. I will admit I took full advantage of the relaxed vibe I felt floating around this past week. Half days are good for a little break but not forever.  I am looking forward to hunkering down to work to see what fun we can have in 2010. One of the first things I stumbled on in the new year is this beautiful exhibit of Chopines & Baroque Heels. I love all the delicate features and details of these chunky shoes. Just looking at the chopines with those crazy platforms imagining what it would be like to stand in a pair of them. It could not have been easy to get around on those puppies. So at some point I will find myself delving into the lifestyle of the women who wore these shoes. Not only will the shoes provide inspiration as I close my eyes, but everything thing I find out and see along the way about other accessories and clothing worn at the time. Designing with a little fantasy as the economy gets back on it’s feet never hurt anyone. Anyway, enjoy the pics and if you are so inclined … share your latest source of inspiration with us. Leave a comment and a link.

Spanish chopines, 16th century, on loan from the Museu Diocesà i Comarcal de Solsona, Spain
Spanish chopines have a distinctive character and can be identified by their rather blocky design. Spanish chopines began as overshoes worn to raise the wearer above the filth of the streets and even later examples which were worn for display, rather than for practical purpose, retain the structural look of an overshoe with an instep strap. The fact that Spanish chopines were often visible and not hidden beneath their wearers’ skirts further reinforces their origin as overshoes. This pair is covered with tooled leather.
Photograph © 2009 Museu Diocesà i Comarcal de Solsona

Ottoman qabâqib, probably Syrian, 19th century, from the collection of the Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto
This pair Ottoman qabâqib is typical of wooden stilt shoes worn by Near Eastern women in public bathhouses since at least the 16th century. Qabâqib were worn by women to elevate their feet above the heated floors found in Turkish baths. This pair of is 26 cm high. Qabâqib like these may have inspired Venetian chopine makers to make chopines soar to greater heights. These wooden qabâqib are inlaid with mother of pearl.
Photograph © 2009 Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto, Canada.

Milanese chopines, 16th century, on loan from Castello Sforzesco, Milan, Italy
These chopines are typically Italian in design. Their bases are of carved pine, tapering in the middle and flaring at the base to provide greater stability and are covered in white kid. The uppers are decorated with cutwork in patterns reminiscent of lace from the same period.
Civiche Raccolte d’Arte Applicata – Castello Sforzesco, Milan. All rights reserved

Italian, 1580-1620, Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto, Canada
This pair of velvet covered chopines embellished with lace, ruching and tassels were clearly never intended to be worn as overshoes but instead were items of luxury in the wardrobe of an upper-class woman.
Photograph © 2009 Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto, Canada

Shoes, Swedish, 17th century, on loan from Skokloster Castle, Sweden
The architecture of this shoe is highly idiosyncratic. The shoemaker made a sole by combining elements of a chopine with a high heel and he made an upper that combines a shoe and a mule. It seems that the shoemaker was attempting to merge the extreme elevation offered by the chopine with the up-to-the-minute fashion of high heels. The resultant shoes are a remarkable statement of ostentatious display.
Copyright © Collection of Skokloster Castle, Sweden (Photo: Göran Schmidt)

Slap-sole shoes, possibly Italian, c. 1630-40, on loan from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA
This pair of slap-sole shoes was embellished with straw appliqué. The “mule” portion of the shoe, including the edge of its sole, is heavily embellished suggesting that this pair was not designed for sustained wear out-of-doors. The fashion for slap-soles began with a mule and a heeled shoe being joined together.
Photograph © 2009 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Boots, Swedish, c.1655, on loan from Livrustkammaren, Stockholm, Sweden
When heels debuted in Western fashion at the end of the 16th century, men eagerly embraced them as signifiers of status. This pair of jackboots is thought to have been worn by the Swedish King Karl X Gustav and features red-painted, stacked-leather heels and sharply squared toes fashionable in the middle of the 17th century. The boot cuffs were worn pulled up over the knees for protection when riding.
Livrustkammaren/The Royal Armoury, Sweden (Photo: Göran Schmidt)

These shoes are on exhibit at the Bata Shoe Museum through Sept 2010. On a Pedestal: From Renaissance Chopines to Baroque Heels

Cheers,

Trish

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