Hello, Can you please help me date and assist me with other questions about these shoes?

furwise

furwise

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Can you please help me with these shoes. I purchased them today at one of my local antique stores that I shop at. The owner of the store thought they were from the 20s however I felt that they were older. I came home, looked in my books and did not see anything like these until 1891 and saw similar styles through the teens however towards the 20s the heel that was shaped like this appeared higher and the shoes started to look more modern. Can you please help me narrow dating down for these? I also wonder about the fabric. They feel like the softest leather I have ever felt. Would the fabric be Kid leather? Would it be better to attempt to clean/restore these before selling or leave as is and if I should clean what would I clean these with?

Thank you, Caryn

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If the leather is a very fine suede you can attempt to remove marks with a fine nail file, lightly go over the area for short lengths until the shade is nearer the original colour. Don't be tempted to do it any more or you will end up with a very obvious light circular patch!
If it is normal kid leather you may be better with some cleaners but I haven't tried this so can't recommend any sorry.
 
1900-1905 - they are made of cotton, silk, white kid, suede, doeskin... lots of different materials in white at the time, but the photo is too bleached to tell which. You can't remove rust stains from the material - it will have permeated the fabric right through, so there is no point in even trying.
 
I appreciate your responses, the help on dating, and info regarding care. The fabric does feel like the softest leather I have ever felt with the exception of silk frayed fabric under the buckle. Jonathan when you say the photos are too bleached do you mean over exposed? I sometimes need to adjust my strobes for white. Sorry. I think it is harder to tell with white but here are two more photos; one where you can see the shoes from the top and the fabric that is affixed to the opening edges compared to the rest of the shoes and one of the buckle close up which has silk fabric that has shredded underneath. I know the rest is some kind of leather, just softer then I have ever felt before. If you can't tell from these photos can you tell me from your handling which feels softer, kidskin or doeskin? I don't know if these photos are too large. I am sorry if they are. Thanks again.

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Caryn,

Nice to see you here! Your photos are great. I can't help but I'm sure that the additonal photos will help Jonathan when he pops back in.
 
I agree with Jonathan on the dating and think they are probably glace' kid leather - it's really soft. That's from your description: in the photos it looks like it's silk trimmed in cotton. Are they lined in cotton? I agree that the photos are too washed out to see details.

It looks like there was a silk bow beneath the buckles, now in shreds: I think these may have been wedding shoes, which could explain why they were kept. Such a pity they're not in better condition - Jonathan's right that you won't get the "rust" out. I'd consider removing the shredded bows too, as they make them look really shabby.
 
Hi Linn, Thanks. I appreciate your stopping in to say hi.
Nicole, That was a good idea. The inside of the shoe in part is the kidskin and the front inner by the toe seems to match the cotton edging. I have a really hard time removing pieces from history even when damaged but it was really shredded so I removed it as you suggested. That meant the buckle had to go to. Here is a photo without the buckle and silk shredded bow.
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After I posted these shoes for assistance I noticed my shoes looked very similar to a pair of c. 1901 shoes on the shoe icons musuem website. After removing the buckles I see that they are really close. I hope it is ok for me to post this link. I don't think there is anything for sale on this sight. Please take a look and please forgive me if I wrongly posted this.
http://eng.shoe-icons.com/collection/object.htm?id=1429
 
Caryn, they look much better without the bows, I'm glad you removed them. I'm a big believer in restoring as much as I can, but the fabric had deteriorated and could not be restored. It's unlikely that anyone would want them, but you can always offer the pieces to the buyer, just in case. The buckles look like they've deteriorated a lot too. They're lovely without them, and much more saleable.
 
Thanks Nicole. I am really glad you suggested it and that I did it. I agree. They do look much better. You have got a great mind ;).
 
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