Women's Shoes in America, 1795-1930 [Hardcover]

Nancy E. Rexford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 24, 2000

"Many a man's heart has been kept from wandering by the bow on his wife's slipper."--Demorest's, 1883

In an engaging narrative history, the beautifully illustrated Women's Shoes in America investigates an aspect of American material culture not previously examined and provides a detailed reference for dating women's footwear.

Part One, "A History of Women's Footwear in America," discusses the history of the American shoe industry and surveys changing styles of shoes, boots, boudoir slippers, overshoes, and sports shoes. It examines the relationship between women's footwear and women's roles in the context of nineteenth-century culture, as well as providing specific information about the evolving etiquette that governed women's choices in shoes.

Part Two, "Dating Women's Shoes, 1795-1930," a detailed reference for dating surviving shoes, will be of particular use to museums, dealers, collectors, material culture historians, and reenactors. It is arranged according to easily defined visible characteristics and presents the style variations in chronological order. Over four hundred clear and detailed drawings make identification as simple and accurate as possible.

Women's Shoes in America is invaluable for those interested in fashion and costume history--or just shoes!

Product Details

• Hardcover: 393 pages
• Publisher: Kent State Univ Pr (November 24, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873386566
• ISBN-13: 978-0873386562
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #244,483 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Shoe Reference Ever!!, December 15, 2000

By 

Karen Augusta (Vermont, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Women's Shoes in America, 1795-1930 (Hardcover)

Since I received my delivery of _Women's Shoes In America, 1795-1930_ from Amazon earlier this week, I have been unable to put down this extraordinary book. Nancy Rexford's work is a magnificent contribution to the field of costume history. I understand that it took Nancy 14 years to research the information for this book. I have no doubt that she will soon be acknowledged as the leading expert on the history of American shoes. Women's Shoes in America is divided into two main sections. The first section is "A History of Women's Footwear...". This section includes chapters on the rise of the American shoe industry (fascinating), cultural stereotyping, sporting shoes, etc. The second section of the book is "Dating Women's Shoes, 1795-1930". This section is a well organized and easy to follow guide on how to date shoes by their various parts; eg. heels, soles, uppers, trimmings, etc. This is a book every museum, dealer and fashion lover will cherish. You will be wowed by the author's breadth of historical knowledge, thorough research, clear organization, easy to follow identification key and her beautiful illustrations. For me, the icing on the cake for this book is that it is also so very literary; simply a delight to read!! I highly recommend it!

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rexford's Shoes, January 13, 2008

By 

Margaret T. Ordonez - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Women's Shoes in America, 1795-1930 (Hardcover)

A must have for anyone with a collection of pre 1930s shoes; well organized and illustrated; invaluable for analyzing, dating, and describing women's footwear.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding resource, June 29, 2007

By 

panimar - See all my reviews

This review is from: Women's Shoes in America, 1795-1930 (Hardcover)

It is exceedingly rare to find in one book just about everything you need to know to catalog a collection of artifacts. Women's Shoes in America manages to do that for women's shoes. The front matter of the book includes "Fig 1. Parts of the Shoe" which features 16 illustrations drawn by the author diagramming the terminology for common parts and pieces of shoes, basic types of front-lacing footwear and common heel types. Part Two, Dating Women's Shoes, 1795-1930, offers steps for dating a shoe and five chapters devoted to every aspect of the shoe: upper patterns in shoes, upper patterns in boots, heels and soles, variations in lasts and materials/decorations. Part two alone has over 400 illustrations of individual shoes elegantly drawn by the author with a caption to explain the style/type described. The text of each chapter tells you everything you wanted to know about uppers, heels and decorations in an energetic, meticulous and succinct writing style. Each illustration/shoe is further described in a credit section at the back of the book. Appendixes discuss: "How leather is made" and "How shoes are made", and include a "Partial Listing of Shoe Manufacturers as compiled from Labels and Advertisements," which is particularly valuable when trying to decipher worn labels. The glossary of 15 pages is thoroughly written so that one can feel confident using the correct terminology. Part I, A History of Women's Footwear in America includes the chapters: A Brief Look at the American Shoe Industry, Women's Shoes and Female Stereotypes, a Chronological Overview of Shoe Fashions, The Correct Dress of the Foot, and Shoes Adapted for Sports and Protection. Every aspect of the subject matter is laid out before you so that a beginner can feel confident dating and describing a shoe while those interested in fashion and costume history will treasure the wealth of information and the precision with which the author covers her subject. I can't imagine anyone writing a better book on the subject than this one.