Doin' Up the Pemberleys

After owning these shoes for, what, 18 months?  I have finally gotten around to painting them.  Oh, Costume College, where would I be if I didn't have your deadlines?

My inspiration was this pair from the Met:

Slippers

Date: 1790–1810

Culture: European

Medium: leather, silk, metal

Dimensions: 3 x 10 1/2 in. (7.6 x 26.7 cm)

Credit Line: Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Herman Delman, 1954

Accession Number:

2009.300.1474a, b

But in teal, of course

First coat.  I was a bit nervous at how streaky it came out, but all blended together nicely.

Second coat

Third coat and finishing coat

 Now to make the tassels.  I couldn't figure out was what holding the tassels on the Met pair together, so I had to get creative:

Scissors, embroidery floss, and a metal D-ring

 My toes were about the right diameter for wrapping the floss.  I had to trim it down later, but it was much easier to manage when it was long.

Tie it up; cut it apart.

Then I needed something to secure it to the D-ring.  So I tied on some floss, and made a monkey chain to the other side.

I caught up the short side of the floss in the chain, so that it the knot wouldn't untie.

Then, I slipped the tassel under one side of the D-ring, over the floss chain, and under the other side of the D-ring.

Et voila!

The Seductive Shoe

First off, yesterday was my 20th birthday.  Now I have to be a real person and not a crazy teenager (in my mind).  And I wanted to share one of the books that I got, The Seductive Shoe: Four Centuries of Fashion Footwear, which is completely awesome.

I had never heard of this before (but maybe I'm just not reading enough costuming blogs - you can never read too many!)  I haven't had the chance to read much of the text yet, but the pictures are completely drool-worthy.  I've been using this book to get inspiration for the Pemberlies!

English olive leather shoes with gold-stamped design and yellow silk tassels, c. 1800-1810

English brown and yellow kid shoes, c. 1792