The Gossip Lady Reports on a 1730s Wedding Dress and an Exhibit on Shoes

Photo courtesy J. Dennis Robinson

Gossip: Shoes Through The Ages

By Jeanné McCartin

Portsmouth Herald, July 03, 2014 - 2:00 AM

Walking through History

Kimberley Alexander, Ph.D., visiting assistant professor in the Department of History at the University of New Hampshire and a member of the Warner House curatorial committee (take a deep breath after that), is a very busy woman and could do with a pause herself. That's unlikely for some time though.

Alexander just completed six months of researching Bostonian Elizabeth Bull. The project culminated in a discussion by Alexander at the Old State House in Boston, regarding the pre-Revolutionary fashionista's incredible wedding dress (search for the write-up on the Boston Globe's Web site at www.bostonglobe.com).

Alexander and Patricia Gilrein, the Bostonian Society's collections manager, are collaborating on a publication based on the "amazing trove of information" gathered during the process. "We're hoping to complete it in the next nine months," Alexander says.(www.bostonhistory.org)

That is in addition to a "dynamic" new project, the Newmarket resident adds.

Alexander also is co-curating an exhibit of historical footwear with Sandra Rux, president of the Warner Houses board and curator at the Portsmouth Historical Society. The exhibit is scheduled for the Portsmouth Athenaeum in 2015. (www.PortsmouthAthenaeum.org)

"We're looking at how shoes were made, but also shoes as an important commodity," Alexander says. Shoes speak to status, job, change in style, even the wearer's condition. "They tell you stories you don't find written text. ...; So many are women's shoes and they are left out of the official historic record."

The show will feature footwear from throughout New England, many pieces exhibited for the first time publicly.

Image, Sally Brewster Gerrish silk brocade shoe, c. 1770s John Paul Jones House, Portsmouth Historical Society, Courtesy, J. Dennis Robinson

For full article, see: http://t.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140703/ENTERTAIN/407030302/0/tablet&template=tabletart

A Pair of Lady's Shoes From the Lynn Museum, c. 1780s

In preparation for a talk at the Lynn Museum "The Art & Mystery of Making Shoes: New England Shoe Stories From the Long 18th Century," I am making an advance trip to visit some old "friends" such as the shoe pictured above. 

This pair of lady’s shoes, c. 1780s (probably London, no markings or label) features white silk brocade, with an exuberant, stylized floral pattern.  While the colors are faded, the palette was muted initially. The heels are covered in the same material and exhibit the leaner profile seen as the 18th century progressed.  A buckle was used to secure the shoe; however, no evidence of pin holes or stress on the fabric was evident upon close inspection by the Director Kate Luchini, Assistant Director, Abby Battis and the author.  The pointed tongue may have been altered, probably square. There is a straight side seam, and as was frequent, no separate left or right shoe.   The lack of wear and somewhat unfinished appearance may indicate that the shoe was either a display sample or worn only a few times, then put away.

At 9 ¾” long, 3 ¼” wide, 4 ¾” high, these shoes would be approximately a size 8.5 to 9 in US sizing.

Courtesy,  Lynn Museum (www.LynnMuseum.org)

What is in a Label? London Cordwainers Identify Work

Excerpt from 

"Silkbrocade: The Commoditization of the London Georgian Shoe and 

Its Reception in Colonial America"

Kimberly S. Alexander, Ph.D.

University of New Hampshire

Durham, NH. USA

Fashioning the City Symposium, Royal College of Art, London

September 2012

Part 1: Thomas Ridout and James Davis

In the world of the Georgian London shoe trade, the survival of dozens of labeled ladies shoes in North American collections  provides a unique opportunity for the costume historian. Having examined an abundance of these shoes, ranging from the 1740s-1810s, the focus of this post will be on two well- established cordwainers and what their labels reveal.

Working both independently and in partnership, James Davis and Thomas Ridout, affixed labels to their shoes by the mid-18th century. Stylistically, the labels are round or feature a "shield" set within the roundel. The border is simple, although, in the example of Mehitable Rindge Rogers (1725-1803) shoe (c.1760-1770) by Davis, the treatment has a more baroque flourish. (Warner House, Portsmouth, NH. USA) The label notes that the shop location was near Aldgate and research reveals that this was in the heart of the Ward of the Cordwainer. Indeed, Ridout and Davis were no doubt at the height of their production, when, in 1763, the late Medieval Aldgate was taken down.

The very existence of labeled work attests to issues surrounding professionalization, recognition and advertising. Further, for those shoes destined for the export trade, the existence of a label may have been a distinguishing factor for tariff payments on British goods. Ladies shoes are frequently listed separately on ship's manifests, cargo lists and Custom House records in seaport cities such as Salem, MA. and Portsmouth, NH.

Illustrations courtesy of
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Warner House, Historic Deerfield

The author thanks Tara Vose, Emma Hope, Bridget Swift, Carolyn Roy, Ned Lazaro and Tom Hardiman for their ongoing assistance.