Help dating Dior shoes

N

noelle

Registered Guest
Hello, newbie to the forum (and kinda new to the whole vintage thing too).
I found these Dior shoes from a charity shop and have a hard time dating them. First I thought they might be relatively new but on closer inspection thought they might actually be older. Any help is much appreciated!
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One of the shoes has "Christian Dior" in big text and the other ""Bonwit Teller" which Wiki tells me was a high-end department store and actually was important in backing up Dior's early career.
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A close-up of the label + you can actually still see the price tag - the shoes were bought from Bonwit Teller and the price apparently was 21.95 (which could also help with dating...inflation rates and all that jazz)
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I would say they are mid 50's from the babydoll shape and stiletto heel, not pointed enough to go into the 60's I think. They appear to have been painted or dyed though, as the black colour should not extend onto the leather sole or linings.

As an aside, I've also found this period the most prevalent for having shop names on department bought shoes.
 
Vivier began working for Dior in 53 but did not get his name on Dior's shoes until late 55. I suspect these are vivier for dior but obviously pre late 55. The slim heel and almond toe suggest 55ish to me. Its too bad they were dyed, and rather badly.
 
Hi, thanks for everyone for your help! I thought they might be from the 50's but again, I'm no expert.
Truth be told, I didn't realize they were dyed until you pointed it out. Shame for they object itself, but as they will just be for my personal collection I am fine with it (they even are my size!). The dye spillage is unfortunate but at least in real life the colour seems even on outer surfaces.
The shoes seemed unremarkable at first but upon wearing have a graceful quality to the shape. Don't know if that's just the Dior label talking though :)
I mostly am intrigued about their history, I actually bought these from my home country of Finland. Considering Finland was a poor country in the 50's, the fact that someone travelled to the States and bought them seems fascinating and I wonder what her story was -you almost never see old luxury brand items at local vintage stores. (If another vintage enthusiast had owned these before me they surely would not have been in a charity shop).
 
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