Children’s footwear was lovely in the early 19th century, if you ask me. The most fashionable shoes were very colorful and adorned with embroidery, cut-out designs, applique, and other decorations. Of course, every pair was handmade, which only adds to the charm. Here is a fine example of girl’s heelless pink slippers from The Met Museum. They were made in 1795-1810. This simple but graceful-looking pair of shoes was most probably worn with a white dress, so the bright pop of color was greatly appreciated by 19th-century kids.
These are European kid slippers made in 1795-1810. The shoes are made from fine leather. Today, they’re stored in The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
They’re in a pretty shade of pink. This was a popular trend – to use colorful shoes with plain white dresses. Kids wore pink, crimson, canary yellow, forest green, mint green slippers and boots. Surely, beige and brown children’s footwear also often occur in this period, but such pink slippers would have been the vogue.
On the top front part, there is lovely cut-out design (similar technique was very popular, and we can see it on 19th-century women’s and kids’ footwear). By the way, such cut-out decorations were invented to imitate the slashed ornamentation of traditional Tudor dress. Remember the sleeves with many small cuts through which you can see the shift underneath?
In the 1810s, fashionable shoes were heelless – for men, women, and children. This particular pair has a low wedge heel, which is comfy and healthy for kids. Sometimes, the heel was a bit higher but still not too high.
Probably every girl in the 1810s would be happy to wear a pair of shoes like this one – trendy, cute, and comfortable.
