Gorgeous Shoe Fashions ( Vintage Film 1936 )

 1930's Shoes for Women - Archive film

"Gorgeous fashion in 1930's footwear. A Rainy Morning, but no rubbers, but sure footing in shoes
of gleaming water-proof patent leather - with the new pearl luster finish. A shining example for the new year.
Oxfords and Pumps hold their own during the rainy season.And now with clear afternoon skies, it is time to wear the more formal high heel shoes.These exhibits are designed by Dan Porter.These white oxfords are for cocktails.Evenings bring the high heeled sandals with open toes. Dance, be merry and keep pace with the times with slippers fit for Cinderella."



The 1930's, despite the Depression - brought an amazing variety of beautiful shoe styles to women.
Gone were the simple ankle straps of the 1920's Flapper and in came the heel. This unique archive film
showcases the 'latest' women's shoe fashions of 1936.

Popular shoes included pumps, slip-on, lace-ups, buckles, two tone and spectator designs. With outdoor fashions becoming more and more popular for in the leisure woman, you saw more sandals - not just on the beach but the high heeled version for evening wear too.

Fashionable colors included white, black, two tone white and black, brown and wine shades.
The standard evening shoe to wear with your dress included asymmetrical trimmed court shoes, sling backs and of course - peep toes.
With skirt hems getting lower during the 1930's, women's shoes became all the more exotic with decorations being the order of the day [ it was the Art Deco era after all ! ].

Cutouts were seen on pumps and the standard Oxford shoe became much more decorated with perforated hole designs and so on.This vintage film showcases womens shoes for street wear, rainy days to evening sandals and heels. Gorgeous.

Download beautifully restored 1930's Beauty Guides from Vintage Make-up Guides

1940's Shoes - A Vintage Shopping Guide

The Ultimate Shopping Guide in 1940's vintage style shoes for women

You may have already decided what colour
you wish in your retro or vintage style shoes
and whether you need them for general wear,
dress wear or sports.
But as shoes of any genre differ in so many ways,
you may wish to discover the key styles before you
go shopping for that all important 1940's fashion item !

Most women think of the classic Mary Jane style shoe,
but there's a wealth of interesting names that
no vintage fashionista should go without knowing!

Women's shoes in the 1930's and 1940's were classified as oxfords, pumps, sandals,  and boots ( high shoes).

1940's Oxfords were sturdy and desirable for general-purpose wear because they gave support to the arches and ankles.
Military oxfords were especially popular and serviceable.
Dress oxfords, commonly called ties, were used for dress occasions

1940's Pumps appeared lighter in weight and provided less support than oxfords: many were suitable for wear on dress occasions and for shorter periods of time.

1940's Sandals could appear light or heavy and be worn for sports or evening, depending upon the styling and the materials.

Heels were increasingly popular among women through the 1930's and 1940's and had various names to indicate their height and shape and to describe the material they were made from. For example, there were military heels, low and broad:
Cuban heels, medium in height and less broad than military heels:
Continental heels (thin cuban); high Cuban or French.

Some heels were made of leather and others of wood, but covered in leather ( more common in the more meagre dress code days of the second world war ).

A flat heel was very common, being the most practical, for home, school, or work.

The toes of womens shoes in 1940's fashion were round or square, boxed or soft, open or closed.
The type of shoe you wore made a big difference in how tall you looked or atleast how long your legs appeared.
Shoes with broad instep straps made legs look shorter; low cut oxfords and pumps without ankle straps made legs look longer !

Just to finish off, I'll bet you never heard of a Fluoroscope !
Shoe Fitting was a science those days, as were many aspects of a womans look.

The Fluoroscope for shoe fitting was seen in all shoe stores in the 1940's. It consisted of a vertical wooden cabinet with a hole into which you placed your feet. When you looked through one of the three viewing ports you would see a fluorescent image of the bones of the feet and the outline of the shoes !

Also found this on Modern Mechanic - which highlights a shoe breaking in service for women. Now that's service with an ouch !

When buying vintage retro style shoes as apposed to original shoes, these online stores all come with good reputations:

Revival Retro - which also sells a lovely vintage line in clothing - especially like the Land Girl
outfits !

Dance Store.com ship dance shoes all over the world and are run by genuine jitterbugging
enthusiasts.

Remix Vintage Shoes from LA are a virtual museum of period shoes and they have
a very impressive range of vintage retro style shoes

Vintage Vixen - one of the oldest vintage fashion clothing sites on the web,
have a considerable collection from all genres and they ship all over the world.




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