A Century of Shoes

The Rise and Fall of the Georgian Heel

A Century of Shoes celebrates the visual splendour and dramatic forms of a century of shoes from the opulent and extravagant Georgian era. From the fanciful footwear of the wealthiest to the functional mules of the down at heel, this new exhibition reveals the fashion and function of Georgian footwear.

For the wealthiest in society shoes were the ultimate fashion statement and accessory. Often luxurious and flamboyant in design, they showcased exquisite materials and craftsmanship which transformed them from being mere functional items into aesthetic objects of desire. Shoes, then as they do today, reflected the style, personality, gender and class of the individual who wore them. Spanning a century of fashion with over hundred shoes on display,  A Century of Shoes: The Rise and Fall of the Georgian Heel celebrates the Georgians’ love affair with ‘heels’; charting the evolutions which took place in their design, the monumental shifts which took place in their manufacture and sale, and the crucial role they played amongst Britain’s shoe-obsessed elite as symbols of the wearer’s exquisite tastes and superior social rank.

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