Just wondering if anyone can tell me the era of these Bally heels. The label doesn’t match any I can find online.
Wow, aren't they wonderful, with the sea shells! I love Bally shoes, and they have been around a looong time, over 150 years. Shoes are not my area of expertise at all, but I think the scripty insole text, and the hand written sizing, makes them fairly old? perhaps mid 20th Century somewhere?. Looking forward to seeing what others say.
They are gorgeous!!! Can you please post a photo of the whole shoe - are they closed or peep-toe at the front? Bally was indeed around for a long time and produced beautiful, high quality shoes. I saw an exhibition about them two years ago - that script is definitely older. They might be 1940s, but I would like to see the whole shape of the shoe.
Thank you! I wonder if they might not be late 30s with that very high heel. In the early to mid-40s I don't think they would have produced anything like that. When I look at my photos from the Bally exhibition and at old ads from those years, it was all about substitute materials like cork, wood, straw - and heels were not that high. Or they could be just immediately post-war when access to shoe materials seems to have quickly bounced back. Maybe @Jonathan can weigh in?
This... is a conundrum! I have handled a few pairs of 1970s Bally shoes over the years. They all featured the more modern, block-writing like Bally logo and they never had hand-written numbers in them, they were always printed. On the other hand, the sole design with that dotted line and the "old" Bally logo was used in some 70s Bally shoes (I forgot where I had saved the images of my sold items ) - combined with the newer logo and printed numbers. The "old" script logo in these shoes I have seen in 30s and 40s shoes in the exhibition, and it was still used in the 50s, though with a circle around it then...
I believe they are just prewar, c. 1938/39, but they might be just postwar 1946ish. I want to go prewar because of that very architecturally shaped heel, and the strap that is carried around the back on the outside of the shoe's quarters, plus the colour palette and novelty of the shell designs strikes me as more prewar in style. I believe the script label was used prewar but I won't swear to it, because I can't remember. Bally completely retooled at the end of the war, and their labels and numbering systems were changed. I used to know their prewar numbering system - it was sequential, so you could get an idea of the age of the shoe by the number - but I can't remember the details anymore. There used to be a Bally Shoe Museum in Schonenwerd, but their collection was purchased by the Swiss government when Bally closed, and I believe it is now in a museum, but I don't know which one. There was a very complete corporate collection that had all the shoes positively dated, but the numbering system changed after the war and it was no longer sequential.
Aha - yes - they are prewar. I kept a photo of this pair, which are Bally and were postiively identified as 1939/40 - note the strap - identical: If you are selling your pair, let me know.
Wow thanks so much! You guys know your stuff. I’ve had them for about 10 years however a bit snug for me. Their condition really is amazing. I have about selling them but not sure. Your welcome to make me an offer though and I’ll think about it. Kerry
Thank you for weighing in, Jonathan! It was definitely that script label pre-war - I saw a number of 1930s and especially late 1930s Bally shoes at the exhibition here in Zurich and they had that label. It's difficult to see though on the photos I took: The shoes in the last two images were shown at the National Exhibition in 1939. The Bally shoe museum is still in Schönenwerd, but it's only open by appointment. The exhibition that I saw was put up by the Museum für Gestaltung (museum for applied arts/design).
Yes - I think they only showed the most spectacular models at the National Exhibition and then they stayed with the museum. My mom and I basically wanted alllll the 1920s, 30s and 40s shoes in that exhibition .
