Boys' Strap Shoes: Colors


Figure 1.--Red strap shoes might be worn as a play shoe. We have no information about this photograph. It does not look like an actual family snapshot but more like a portrait for a fashion magazine. We believe it is probably English.

Our information on the color of strap shoes is still very limited, but we have begun to collect some information. Strap shoes for formal occasions were mostly black and made of patent leather. HBC has noted mostly black strap shoes through the early 20th century. Assessing the color, however, is somewhat complicated by the black and white photography of the early 20th century. Clothing catalogs in the early 1920s were mostly offering black strap shoes. We have noted some white shoes made of canvas in the early 1900s. HBC believes that colored strap shoes did not appear until after World War I in the late 1920s and eraly 1930s, but this needs to be confirmed. Some strap shoes were also made in white. Less common were srap shoes in various shades of red and blue. These colored shoes were motly for younger boys and for less formal occasions then formal black and white strap shoes. Here social class factors were influential. Some mothers from affluent families used red strap shoes as a kind of play shoe, but by the 1960s we have noted them being used as a kind of casual dressy style.

Chronology

HBC has noted mostly black strap shoes through the early 20th century. Assessing the color, however, is somewhat complicated by the black and white photography of the early 20th century. Clothing catalogs in the early 1920s were mostly offering black strap shoes. We have noted some white shoes made of canvas in the early 1900s. HBC believes that colored strap shoes did not appear until after World War I in the late 1920s and eraly 1930s, but this needs to be confirmed.

Country Trends

We have virtually no information on country color trends for strap shoes. Much of our informstion here comes from America and Britain. We have less information about Germany, but have not noted red strap shoes. We have no color informatioin about France and Italy at this time.

Specific Colors

The most collon color for strap shoes was of course black, especially for strap shoes worn as part of dressy outfits. There were, however, strap shoes made in several other colors. The colored strap shoes, especially red and blue, were popular for play shoes. Brown shoes were often used as a school shoe, but not by boys--at lease the single -bar style. White shoes were another formal style, but not nearly as common as the black strap shoes. Except for red shoes we have not noted bright colors being used for strap shoes. Our information on the color of strap shoes is still very limited, but we have begun to collect some information on the various colors used for strap shoes.

School Sandals

Strap shoes doe with a center strap were commonly used as school sandals in Britain. Almost always these were done in brown. Some mothers chose a kind of reshish oxblood brown color. Less common were school sandals done in dark blue. Some of these were done in the double strap style.

Unidentified Colors

One problem in assessing the color of strap shoes is that during the time they were most common, photograph was black and white. The white shoes are fairly easy to spot. So are the black shoes, although some colors may show as quite dark. We note many shoes which are clearly not either white or black. It is difficult to tell just what colors these shoes are. An ecample is a Polish boy in 1939. We think at least some of these shoes were red, but we find it difficult to tell. Not only was the photography black and white, but over tome different films types were used which show colors differently. Thus we are not at all sure about the full range of colors worn. We notice some light shades that do not look to be red. We believe that vecause some films in the late 19th and early 20th century did not reproduce blue well, that at least some of these light shades were blue, but a drker blue than shown.

Gender Trends








HBC





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Created: June 2, 2004
Last updated: 6:21 PM 9/17/2013