Dating shoes is still not my strength! I picked these up at an estate sale recently. I'm hoping someone can help! Also, is there a way to clean them up/fix the cracking, or should I just leave them as is? Do you think the laces are original?
1910s (pointed toe from turn of century but straighter non waisted stacked leather heel) The laces are original to the period in my opinion, original to the boots only if they lace all the way up and still have enough length to tie. European, from the sizing. You can get leather treatments (saddle soap etc.) to improve the condition.
Waisted heels - yes - are curved in the middle. If you google "Louis Heel" you'll see what I mean. They're also called waisted heels but I just tried googling for that and a whole lot of irrelevant stuff came up. Better yet, google "louis heel boots" and you'll see exactly what Melanie means. Yours look like cuban heels.
Indeed they are a cuban heel, but I have a feeling the term wasn't in use until the 1930s, so I'm not sure what the period name is. Jonathan no doubt knows better than I :D
