Three Centuries of Shoes
Most ladies will admit to owning many pairs of shoes that accumulate in the back of the wardrobe, bought when they were in fashion and no longer worn as fashions change so frequently .Hang on to those shoes ladies, because fashions return! Our speaker this month was Helen Johnson, the Museum Development Officer for the Staffordshire County Museum Collection, who spoke about 'Three centuries of shoes' and she informed us that even features of a medieval shoe can be seen in our shoes of today.
Helen works at the Staffordshire County Museum Collection based in the old servant's quarters at Shugborough Hall. As part of a team, she helps to look after 27,000 objects, 35,000 photographs and 1,800 items of fine and decorative art. The variety of objects covered in the collection, range from thimbles to carriages. All items have belonged to people living in the county of Staffordshire and have been donated to the museum collection. They now provide an invaluable social history resource where 30% of the items are on display at all times. The costume collection features costume and accessories from the past 400 years and they have a unique collection of shoes and boots from Lotus Ltd, Stafford and Stone's shoe manufacturers.
Stafford has a long history of shoe making. It is recorded as far back as 1476, when it was a cottage industry, but the manufacturing process was introduced in the 1700s. William Horton founded his business in 1767, which progressed to become the largest shoe company in Stafford, selling worldwide.
The shoe manufacturer Lotus was originally named Bostock's and was founded by Thomas Bostock, a cobbler. His three sons started their own factories in Stafford, Stone and Northampton. The original Stafford factory was destroyed by fire in 1901, but was rebuilt on Sandon Road in 1903. In 1919 the three factories amalgamated to become Lotus. The Sandon Road factory was demolished in 1998.
Crakows were a style of shoes with extremely long toes, very popular in the 15th century .The point of the shoe known as the "poulaine" often exceeded 8 inches; very much a fashion shoe, not very practical. Shoes were a sign of wealth and status and your class defined what you could wear.
In the 18th century, shoes had a heel positioned under the instep and a latchet and buckle fastening. Buckles were decorative and designed to be seen. In the early 19th century ladies wore dresses with an elegant empire line. They wore silk pumps or soft leather slippers, fastened with ribbon and often with square toes. Men wore riding boots with the design of a military style. The 1900s saw silk shoes decorated beautifully with seed pearls .However, practical shoes were also worn for cycling, a pastime that was becoming popular. Then in the 20th century shoes for the Lotus factory were being designed by the Royal College of Art. Materials such as plastic were used and earlier features such as stiletto heels, buckles and elaborate trims again became popular.
Helen gave us a fascinating talk and we all came away vowing to not throw away any of our hardly worn shoes – you never know when they will become fashionable again!
Our March meeting was also the AGM. The usual business of presentation of the financial statement, annual report and election of officers took place. We were reminded of the varied programme we had enjoyed throughout the year. Final arrangements were made for the Blythe Group meeting that Yoxall WI will be hosting in March.
Our next meeting is on Wednesday 9th April when we will have a speaker on the 'Funfairs of Great Britain'. For further information please contact Penny Bailey through the link below. We meet in Yoxall Parish Hall and everyone is welcome.