Slippers

While plain black or white satin slippers were favored for eveningwear in the second quarter of the 19th century, daywear shoes, particularly house slippers, could be more colorful and ornate. The appealing embroidery on this pair of tabbed slippers transforms an otherwise mundane object and reflects the lingering taste for neoclassical designs. Curiously, the heavy sole and small wedge heel suggest that they were intended for public wear, as opposed to domestic confinement, however shoes where generally considered excessively immodest and inappropriate for walking and visiting at this time.