Need Help Dating Shoes

Hannah Johnson

Hannah Johnson

Registered Guest
Hi there! I thank everyone in advance who helps me out! My name is Hannah and I need some help dating some shoes and finding out more about the brand/designer/whatever's on the tag. I want to make sure they're vintage and I guess I'm just curious. I can't find much info on the shoes or brand, but there are a couple different Timothy Hitsman (the name on the tag) shoes listed on Esty. Overall, it's unclear to me how old the shoes are and who Timothy Hitsman is. I suppose if I had to make a guess I would say they're from the 1980's? I don't know man...I'm knew to this and I've only been alive since 1996 so I wouldn't know any better.
Details:
Brand/Designer: Timothy Hitsman (Name that is on the tag. Have no idea who or what Timothy Hitsman is.)
Color: Metallic/ Shiny Gold Body with Translucent Heels and Gold Inner Lining
Materials: Unknown, Maybe Leather??? Not Completely Sure... Not Listed on the Shoes (I have another pair of Timothy Hitsman heels with the same tag that are made of leather, so that kind of makes me think these might be leather as well)
Unique Features: The heels of the shoes are translucent and have 3 ridges on the inside of the heel
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This applies for both the shoes you have posted: I would place these in the early 90's because that toe is just changing to a squarer shape. Plus there was a trend for lots of see through materials and items in the 90's.
The US trademark for Timothy Hitsman shows they were making shoes and handbags and have used that logo since 1989 for footwear and 1990 for handbags. The international trademark for both was issued in 1996.
http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4803:t36re5.2.1
 
Oh wow that website seems very useful. Thank you so much Pinkcoke! Hm...well then they don't really seem like anything special huh? And I don't know if I can really call them "vintage." *Sigh* Oh well....Thank you!
 
Both designs are a bit quirky because of the heels, there are plenty more average 90's footwear out there than these :)
In earlier years designers would patent a heel design like those, I wonder if they were still doing that in the 90's or it was unenforceable by then.
Yes there are on the cusper between vintage and just old. Your best bet is to try and find adverts for a similar shape shoe, or Timothy Hitsman if you can.

Just found his obituary, which reveals a bit more:
http://business.highbeam.com/435553...timothy-hitsman-shoe-designer-and-businessman
 
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Oooooooo we got some liars on Etsy...saying their timothy hitsman shoes are older then they are...
Oh, and by adverts you mean advertisements right? How would I go about finding ads? (If you're wondering why I care so much, I like vintage clothing and might try starting my own booth at an antique mall and I don't want to sell anybody any "vintage" items that aren't really vintage.)
 
Hannah, there a lot of misdated "vintage" items on etsy. I don't think they police it at all, and it's a great place for amateurs to sell so they may not realise that their datings are out.

That's one of the many reasons I love the VFG forums: any one can post their items here and get opinions on them.

I agree with Melanie on a '90s dating for these '60s inspired shoes - I think they're about mid '90s. As Melanie says, they're much more interesting than a lot of shoes made in that decade and I'm sure you'll find a good home for them.

I remember shopping for shoes in London in '92 - every single shoe in the shop was black. Shoes like yours are part of the colourful backlash that came after, as a counterpoint when we'd all had enough of black shoes.
 
And that's why I'm here! And I plan on using this website a lot in the future. I'm really glad I found it. Dating a clothing item is very exciting to me. I enjoy trying to solve the mystery, but it's a bit frustrating when you're knew to it like me. But I'm working on my knowledge. Thank you so much Circa Vintage!
 
Oh wow I think I might actually buy that! Thank you! I got some books for Christmas about vintage fashion, but none of them are actually very helpful when it comes to finding vintage items so the book you suggested looks really useful. Thank you!
 
Sweeeeeeet! That's very helpful thank you! Once I get my hands on a book like that I might start walking out of goodwill with real vintage shoes instead of shoes from mid to late 90's and early 2000's. (I find my self drawn to items that are still too new to be vintage...Not sure what that says about my style...It's probably not good). Once again, thank you! You are SUPER helpful.
 
When you're hunting for vintage, you're inevitably going to find mostly modern things, so it's a matter of picking up the clues so you can recognise the pearl amongst the chaff. Apologies for the mixed metaphor.

I'd recommend my book "Love Vintage" too but it's out of print now, but you can read my blog - for free no less! Here are some articles you might like:

 
I looked at a few websites for tips and now I know about RN numbers and lot numbers and odd number sizes, and made in Mexico and California and Hawaii and U.S.A. and woolmarks and all kinds of junk! And I'll totally check out your blog. Now that I know all this stuff I've been busting out some of my suspected vintage clothes and dating them.
 
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