Monday, April 15, 2013

Getting to the Heart and "Sole" of it... (or shoes, Shoes, SHOES!!!)


Hi all!!!

Ugh! It's Monday again. It seems the older I get, the faster the weekend goes by. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I teach on Saturday mornings, so my weekends only really consist of Saturday nights-Sunday night. I love Sunday nights because 3 of my favorite TV shows are that night: "Once Upon a Time", "Call the Midwife" and "Mad Men". SUCH a great TV night.

But enough of my weekend, or lack thereof.

I want to talk about shoes! (or my lack thereof Hehe)

The other day as I was going through my wardrobe I realized that I am TOTALLY shoe deprived. Well, I guess I always knew that, but with Spring arriving and Summer coming before we know it, the fact that I need more REALLY hit me.

The reason why I don't have many shoes is because I'm slowly getting rid of all of my modern stuff and in a fit of impatience I threw out most of my shoes. Well, put them in a huge bag that is on its way to Goodwill. I don't wear any of them anymore anyway. I've been trying to keep my wardrobe as vintage appropriate as possible, when possible. I decided that the less modern things I have the harder it will be for me to throw on something I don't really like out of pure laziness. Not to say that EVERYTHING in my closet is vintage. I haven't accomplished that goal yet, but I try to keep everything as close to 40s/50s looking as possible.  I've been able to find super cute blouses that have a 40s, 50s or pin up feel at Forever 21 lately!!

Oops... so off subject right now! Back to shoes.

The main shoe problem I'm having is that I'm not good at vintage appropriate shoe hunting. So I've decided to do a little research on the styles of 40s and 50s shoes and this is what I've learned (I'm sure you veteran vintage gals know these things already, I did too to some extent, but I needed to see it all laid out to know where to go from here):


1940s Shoes

As we all know, most of the 40s were war days. So all of the rationing leaked in to fashion and shoes. Heel lengths were restricted to save on materials. Wooden soled shoes were made to save on leather. "Wedgies" were popular and made of cork or wood.

1940s Pump (Image Source)


1940s Wedges: top center and center (Image Source)



I also found out that most shoes came in 3 heel types: The Cuban heel, the Continental heel and the Wedge.





The were also categorized by style:

Oxfords:  These were practical everyday shoes. They had a thick low sole so that they could be worn comfortably




Pumps: These shoes were a little less practical and could be worn on special occasions




Sandals: These could be worn casual or dressy depending on the style. They could be worn as flats, pumps or wedges






Whew!! That's a lot to remember. And there's more where that came from but that's good to get me started. Now on to

1950s SHOES

We all know I'm a 50s fanatic so these are the ones I needed to research the most. I'm trying to familiarize myself with the cut and shape of 1950s shoes.

By the 50s shoes had a little more glamour to them because there were no more restrictions. Heels got higher  and the stiletto was created. Much of the shoe was cut away to show off more of the foot. By the mid fifties the kitten heel, mule and  flat became popular. Wedges remained popular.

Stiletto:








Mules: (Can we say YUMMY!!!)




Kitten Heel: These are from Etsy. If they were in my size I would snatch them up. PLEASE someone buy these!



Ballerina flats:




Wedges:


Lucite heels: I LOVE these!!!!  These perfectly clear shoes go with almost anything. I love the glass slipper effect. I really need some this summer!




So there you have it. My vintage shoe research for the day. Now that I know what I'm looking for I'll do a post about modern versions of these types of shoes. Since it's a little difficult to find actual vintage shoes that are a size 8.5 and in total wearable condition, I (as most of you probably do) need to search for vintage appropriate versions. Although I do want to start buying a least some actual vintage shoes.

Anyone have any tips on buying or finding vintage shoes????


xoxo
post signature

17 comments:

  1. Ah....we share a love of vintage shoes. Holla! I would love to find some of those vintage wedges!
    conniesnow.blogspot.com

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  2. Good luck on your shoe hunt! I gave up on trying to find vintage shoes a long time ago since it is next to impossible to find a size 10 in vintage shoes. What I have found has been on the narrow side. I think you will have better luck as an 8.5 though! ;-)

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  3. Hi La Toya, I think I might be able to help you with your vintage shoe hunt. I'm getting a lot of vintage shoes in this week for my Etsy shop, (not trying to spam here, honestly) they are suppose to be larger sizes (7 and up). I could send you a comment or message when I get them, see what you'd like. I'd love to send you a pair, help a new vintage lover. Katie

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    1. OMG! That is incredibly sweet of you!! I would love to check out your Etsy shop!!!! I favorited you and follow you on Etsy (I'm vintagepink50 on etsy) and your blog now. Totally drop me a line when the shoes arrive!!!

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  4. Hi La Toya, I think I might be able to help you with your vintage shoe hunt. I'm getting a lot of vintage shoes in this week for my Etsy shop, (not trying to spam here, honestly) they are suppose to be larger sizes (7 and up). I could send you a comment or message when I get them, see what you'd like. I'd love to send you a pair, help a new vintage lover. Katie

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  5. If you are willing to spend a little more money, I would recommend A Vintage Sole. They have deadstock shoes in various sizes. I have three pairs of their shoes. The customer service is amazing too. I did a blog post on them here: http://tinyurl.com/c7gcbqr

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    1. THANKS!! Yes, I'm totally willing to shell out money for shoes that I like. It's worth it for a quality shoe!!!

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  6. Great post! You did a lot of research and it shoes. A few weeks ago I bought a couple pairs of wedges that have a very 1940's feel to them. They're wedges, sling back have cutouts. I got them from Amerimark. They have "old lady" shoes but they are decently priced. I got the wedges on clearance for $12 a pair shipped. They were being discontinued. Hope this helps.

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    1. Thanks! I'll definitely look up Amerimark!!! YAY! All this help is great! Love you guys!

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  7. I did a blog post a couple posts back here..

    http://dividingmoments.blogspot.com/2013/03/vintage-shoes-and-anticipation.html

    I find it's also interesting to search by shoe vendor.

    Hey, guess what we wear the same size so I can also scope some out for you. Any decade in particular you are looking for? Also are you a normal 8.5 or a narrow? And, are you leaning more towards an 8 or a 9?

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    1. OOOOHHH!! Thanks! I totally read this post but was more interested at that beautiful coat at the time!!! HAHA! But thanks for the reminder. Going to look up all these vedors now!!

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    2. Oh! forgot to answer your questions. I am pretty much a normal 8.5 but depending on how narrow the shoe is I can lean more towards a 9. And most of my wardrobe is 50s based so I think I should stick with that to get me started.

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  8. Omg uber fab post mama! I will vicariously through you and my other vintage sistas. All of those shoes are delicious!!! xox

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  9. I do love shoes!

    I have had better luck with modern shoes that are designed to look vintage because I have an 8.5 (which was large by modern standards) and it's not narrow though it is thin by today's standards. I'd say my favorites are Miss L Fire and a little store down the street from my house.

    HRF

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  10. Wonderful post, dear gal - and one that I can certainly relate to as well. I've been wearing vintage clothes for many years now, but I own almost no true vintage shoes, because I've had such a very hard time finding those in my size (a modern 8/8.5) and price range, let alone that fit my somewhat odd shaped (they look normal, but have super high arches and are a touch uneven sized) footies.

    Fingers crossed that tons of stellar vintage and vintage appropriate (the latter of which most is the heading most of my footwear falls into) come your way this year, honey.

    ♥ Jessica

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  11. I have been curious about shoes as well. I think Vintage Vandal does a good way of incorporating modern shoes into vintage looks. Im really curious to what vintage BOOTS look like with this crazy Canadian weather. Thank you for your hard research!

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  12. Hi You should try Re-Mix vintage shoes. They had a booth upstairs at Viva this year. There site is remixvintageshoes.com. Happy shoe hunting:)

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