As winter approaches again, I am always left wondering what did ladies in the 1950’s wear as boots? You often don’t find images of ladies boots. Last year I was able to find images of sort of rubber golashes one would wear over your shoes and then also high heeled boots. This image, which I was happy to come across in an add for heating, shows a closer view. I think we can assume these boots are, as I suspected, meant to be worn over your indoor shoes. They look solid and warm, but allow you to wear them over heels and then when you get where you are going (office, home, visiting) you slip them off and have lovely dry shoes underneath. Obviously out marketing and such, or going to the movies, you would leave them on. Yet, if you were popping over to a friends, you could pop them off to dry by the door while your dry clean shoes would not mar your friends carpets.
Very smart and it would allow for the need for less boots, one nice pair for heels, and also only worn outside, not as a ‘fashion statement’ all day indoors. I would love to find such a pair, but my feed are often too large for actual vintage shoes. If anyone knows of such a place to get these today, please let me know.
I have talked of my growing love for the “Early American” or ‘Colonial’ look becoming popular in post war era decorating. This ad, for wallpaper has a great example. If you want to see the whole ad go to the Vintage Advertising Page of the site and click on the thumbnail. You can see the use of reds and greens and blues but also little vignettes of ‘colonial’ times, very stylized and made quaint. I would love such a paper in my kitchen when I finally redo it. And it’s stain retardant properties make it ideal for a kitchen setting. I have also started a Flickr group called Early American Decorative Collective and it is there that I will collect up all my EA images and hope others will contribute as well. It can be found HERE.
I also found this ad from a 1953 Better Homes which now helps me date my Kitchen clock. Here it is in my kitchen.
You can see, at least I think so, that it’s modern styling works fine with more Early American items such as my tole lamp and matchstick holder. The Green Fire King juicer/measure cup was a gift from my MIL. The Tomato slicer also works. I always keep its vintage paper on when I am not using it to protect the metal. I love moments like that, when you can finally connect the exact time and place.Happy Homemaking.
Oh, I remember galoshes that women wore in the 50's. We lived on Long Island, so we did get snow in the winter and very cold temperatures, but not huge snows or below-zero temperatures or anything like that. I don't know what women wore in places like that. But on L.I., they wore those galoshes over their shoes. There were even CLEAR plastic galoshes to wear over high-heels. They were all sloppy and a pain in the neck, and you had to take them off when you went inside.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was about in the 5th or 6th grade, or maybe even later, anyway in the early 60's, they came out with SHOE BOOTS, which are the boots we wear today, only they were called shoe boots, because they were shoes and boots all in one. You didn't have to take them off when you went inside! We no longer call them shoe boots, just boots.
I went to Catholic school, however, and the nuns would not permit us to wear "shoe boots" with our uniforms. We had to take them off and put them in the closet and put on our regulation saddle shoes.
The picture you provided above is of really pretty boots! They look like an earlier form of "shoe boot" to me, that is, you don't wear shoes inside them.
I don't think they are, because that is from a 1953 magazine and I am pretty certain those heels are hollow to allow the heel of your shoes to fit in. I would love a pair because what makes sense to me, is who wants to wear heavy outdoor boots in heated rooms. When we still lived in Boston I , as did many, wore Ugg boots. I shudder when I think of it now and when I would go into places, my feet were SO HOT.
ReplyDeletethe only thing I have seen are these modern plastic galoshes type thing - the shuella - shoe umbrella but they look a little slippery
ReplyDeleteIf only they took the time to make them with heels, as they show them over heels. It would be much safer to have them as they once did, but probably not as cheap to make and therefore sell. Today we expect prices that would have been impossible to meet in the 1950's.
ReplyDeleteI have shown your boot picture around the assisted living home where I work, and not a single lady ever recalled there being a boot like that where high heels were worn underneath. Here in Boston, the ladies say that boots like that were worn on general marketing/errand days. If one were going sledding or shoveling, flat boots worn over shoes were available. One might wear the boots you have pictured to a friend's house, but would bring along here heels and change upon arrival. As another poster stated, galoshers were quite popular, particularly the ones for heels. The boots you have pictures made the ladies shudder with the thought of twisted ankles on slippery streets if heels were worn beneath. Men always were galoshers, or overshoes, or over boots with metal snap fasteners.
ReplyDeleteanon-thank you so much, I was very curious. Because my own mother, a young wife in the 1950's, did have over boots that went over heels, but as she has Alzheimers, I can't ever ask her details. Thank you so much. Now I definitely want to find a boot like this. I suppose it would be sturdy with a large heel like that. You can also tell that what ever 'slip resistant' material they have on the front of the boot is part of the heel.
ReplyDeleteWell, that mystery solved, now: Where to buy them? I have no trouble in heels and in fact last winter, when I would go into town, I would still wear a heel ( a sturdier mid 50's heel of course, not a 1960 kitten pointed heel) and was simply careful. It is rather funny how quickly one simply adjusts to things. IN the 20s/30s ladies 'day shoes' were those black lace ups with a heel not unlike this boot and women wore them all the time. I recall, as well, in the reality show 1940's house, that the grandmother of the show wore these type of shoes all the time. I remember a scene where she had been on her feet all day for the WVI and was soaking her feet in the kitchen, going over her ration books, when an air raid siren went off. It just stuck with me, because at the time I had not done 1955 yet and thought, "Well, she has been wearing those heels as if a modern person would a loafer or sneaker/trainer".
Interesting. I do know about the flat golashes, as I posted pics last year of ladies and women playing in the snow wearing the big almost manly golashes strapped onto their feet. Thanks for the information.
I hope this helps,
ReplyDeletehttp://livinvintage.blogspot.com/2010/10/why-hello.html
Rachel
Rachel-Thank you so much, I KNEW it, I knew they had to be hollow. One could almost tell by the width of the heel. Well, thank you so much. So, to any of you who are not following the above link provided by Rachel, it is a post in modern times of someone buying these same type boots and having found shoes inside. The heels WERE hollow. It makes so much more frugal sense, if you ask me. They will wear longer, for you only wear them when you are out and about, and you can still wear your lovely fall shoes into winter as they are protected when out of doors.
ReplyDeleteDonna,
ReplyDeleteSome times I see these boots that you put over your shoes from the 1950's at second hand shops. I remember them when I was growing up and yes the heel of the rubber boot was hollow and the side zipper metal. They were a very sturdy rubber. email your size to me and I will look around.
Jeanne nabozny
I like winter boots shoes collection
ReplyDelete