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Men's Slippers, about 1858
Undress or negligee dress was the term given to casual, loose-fitting clothing worn in the morning before changing in to fashionable day dress. Men's embroidered slippers (bright-colored worsted work on canvas) were very popular in the early Victorian period. Ladies magazines often included embroidery patterns for house slippers that a woman mightmake for her husband as a gift. Please note that the term Berlin Work or Berlin Woolwork comes from the fact that the best embroidery patterns came fro…
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Mules, about 1870
Mrs. Tom Thumb (1841-1918), was known variously as Lavinia Warren, Countess M. Lavinia Magri, and Mercy Lavinia Warren Bump. She was a dwarf who stood just 32 inches high. Lavinia Warren went under contract to P.T. Barnum in 1862, who indulged her preferences for fine clothing and jewelry.She married Tom Thumb (Charles Stratton, 1838-1883) in 1863 and the two toured with P.T. Barnum's Circus until Thumb's death in 1883. These fine slippers offer an indication of her size (very small) and style (…
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Women's Boots, about 1870
The machine stitching on these boots is extraordinarily tight and fine--fabulous. Very narrow outer sole for a long, skinny foot. They could be wedding boots. Donor Mrs. Ethel G. Douglas, of 5th Ave. in New York City, was born circa 1885 in Pennsylvania. It is plausible that these were her mother's shoes, perhaps worn at a wedding around 1875.