** English boy clothes -- footwear high-type shoes








English Boys' Footwear Types: High-top Shoes


Figure 1.--We mostly see high-top shoes well above the ankle. This was not only the case in England, but Amnerica abd the Continent as well. Here we see a rather sgort high-top, vut only a little above the sanbkel. We are looking at fashionable Londin boy, Isborne Tichsrds in 1876.

High-top shoes are shoes that went above the ankel. Low cut shoes are shoes that are cut below the ankel. We are not sure when English boys began wearing high-top shoes. We do not know about the 1850s. We begin to notice them in the 1860s, but that may be because wiyh the CDV we have many more images available. High-tops were not universally worn in England as was virtually the case in America. And we notice both lace-up and button shoes. We notice the Watson boys wearing high tops in 1863. There are an incredible number of eyelets and posts. We also notice button shoes. High-top sjhoes seem very common in the late-19th century. A good example is John Montague Stopford, a fashionable London boy in 1871. Another example is an unidentified English boy about 1870. They were, however, not universal as was the genreral sitition in America. We also see many boys wearing low-cut oxfords. We still note boys at the turn-of-the-20th century wearing high-top shoes. A good exampe is Crespal Gordon Stoddart sbout 1900. The 19th century type of 19th century shoe seems to have gone out of style after World War I when we see boys increasing wearing low-cut shoes and sandals. We do see boys ewearin gavy shoe-like high-tops. Another matter concerning high-tops is the closure method. In America beginning in the 1860s we mostly see button high-tops. In England, however we see a lot of lace up shoes, both low cuts and high-tops, including button sdhods. We are still working on the chronology of high-tops and the closure methods. We notice variation in family images. Age seems have been a factor. A good example is an unidentified Frome family in the 1860s. Generally the high-tops went well above yhe nkle, a few were not as hih only a little above the ankle (fiugure 1). .







HBC





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Created: 5:18 PM 3/31/2022
Last updated: 5:18 PM 3/31/2022