Label for the exhibition Shoes: Pleasure and Pain
Precious Pattens
These shoes of brocaded Spitalfields silk are complemented by velvet pattens (overshoes). The velvet would not have withstood any soiling, so the pattens must have been for a woman who did not need to navigate the grubby streets. They were status symbols used only indoors, or for those few steps into the waiting carriage, and proclaimed that the wearer had expensive shoes on underneath.Shoes with velvet pattens
1735–45
London
Brocaded silk, velvet and leather
Given by Col. F.G.G. Bailey
V&A: T.274&A to C-1922 [2015-2016]