Figure 1.--This mother and her two children are on an outing to the local psark. They are unidentified, but it looks like Germany during the 1930s. Notice the girl wears T-strap shoes, but her little brother standard strap shoes. We also see girls wearing the standard strap shoes, but boys did not commonly wear the T-strap style. We see German boys wearing T-strap sandals, but rarely the more formal T-strap shoes.

The T-strap shoe is basically a type of strap shoe. The only difference is the added center stap that is joined to the cross bar of the standard strap shoe. We first commonly note them in the early-20th century. It is generally a style associated with girls, especially in the United States. There are, however, differences in the conventions associated with the shoe over time and from country to country. They are generally done in black and to a lesser extent white. Other colors exist, but are less common. The more formal types are done in patent leather. There were variations in the shape, width and placement of the straps, and the extent of open area. There were other variations such as designs cut in the toe area. Discussing this shoe style is complicated because play shoes or sandals are also done in this style. The difference is commonly in ther material used and the sole type. T-strap or school sandals were very commonly worn by boys, especially in Britain, but we see boys wearing them in many other countries, mostly European countries.

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Created: 9:27 PM 11/13/2010
Last updated: 9:27 PM 11/13/2010