A pair of child’s elasticated boots, made in Hughes Shoe Shop, Wantage, during the early Victorian period, feature in a new collaborative display at The Oxfordshire Museum© Oxfordshire Museum
A lengthy collaboration between museums, universities and collections across Oxford has paid off handsomely. First shown at The Museum of Oxford, this enviable wardrobe of hats and shoes features the bowed footwear of bygone mayors, a homemade beekeeper’s hat, a cocked hat donned by the High Sheriff and sheepskin boots used to keep the tootsies of airmen warm while they flew the heater-less aircraft of the First World War.
This pair of heavily worn clogs were found along with other shoes and a set of cobbler tools during modernisation work in a roof space in Standlake© Oxfordshire Museum
There’s still no definitive answer – theories ponder evil-warding properties and the keeping of spirits in footwear – but one certainty is the importance of shoe style long before high street finesse, attested to by leather fragments of rounded and pointed-toe shoes, found during an excavation of Oxford Castle decades ago and believed to date from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries.
Other highlights of a five-section show include an animal headdress from a Tudor pageant in 1885, an obligatory worn cap worn by a maid in a sartorial symbol of household expectations during the 1930s, and a feathered hat from the 19th century – at the time, feathers were so popular (and expensive) that they played a part in the foundation of the Society for the Protection of Birds, formed in 1889 amid concerns about the international trade of feathers from rare species.
“Delving in to the local history of and shoes has been a rewarding experience for everybody involved, particularly when working with the community groups and volunteers who have given up their time to help,” says Object Conservator Sam van de Geer.
“The exhibition will show people how fashion influences us all in obvious and sometimes hidden ways.”
- Open 10am-5pm (2pm-5pm Sunday, closed Monday). Admission free.
More pictures:
A mortar board made by Oxford's Hookham Company was worn by FE Marshall - a lawyer who died in 1874 - during the mid-Victorian period© Oxfordshire Museum
This medieval shoe fragment was found during the 1973 excavation of Oxford castle, during the construction of the Westgate shopping centre© Oxfordshire Museum
A maid's cap worn by a housemaid named Bella at Swyncombe House during the 1930s© Oxfordshire Museum
This hat was worn by baker's daughter Annie Elizabeth Biggers during the 1930s© Oxfordshire Museum
