Oh, the things we do for fashion. While the connection between pain and beauty seems as strong as ever today, the truth is that women have been suffering for style since well before the corset days. Today, Toronto’s Bata Shoe Museum opens Fashion Victims: The Pleasures and Perils of Dress in the 19th Century, an exhibit that looks back at some of the most dangerous dresses, shoes and accessories of the Victorian era.
Much like the advances that came a century later with the advent of American sportswear in the 1920s, the Industrial Revolution saw a number of drastic changes to they way women dressed, including flats, high-waisted skirts and loose dresses. Not all of these changes came easy though; “The problem with flats is that they were incredibly narrow and they were made as straights, which means that pairs of shoes did not have distinct lefts or rights,” says Bata’s senior curator Elizabeth Semmelhack. What’s more, many were dyed with hyper-poisonous arsenic, a chemical that while responsible for some of the most vibrant hues of the day, could kill.
Here we preview Fashion Victims with a look back at 10 of the most dangerous styles of the 1800s. For more information on the exhibit, visit batashoemuseum.ca.
Photography by Ron Wood for the Bata Shoe Museum
Photography by Ron Wood for the Bata Shoe Museum
Photography by Arnold Matthews for the Bata Shoe Museum
Photography by Ron Wood for the Bata Shoe Museum
Photography by Ron Wood for the Bata Shoe Museum
Photography by Ron Wood for the Bata Shoe Museum
Photography by Ron Wood for the Bata Shoe Museum
Photography by Ron Wood for the Bata Shoe Museum
Photography by Ron Wood for the Bata Shoe Museum
Photography by Ron Wood for the Bata Shoe Museum
1/10
Green-satin
Green satin Adelaides: European, c.1840s
“These have tested positive for arsenic. Arsenic was commonly used to dye things green and by the middle of the century people had become more fully aware of its dangers. Doctors expressed concern for the wearers of arsenic dyed fashion but they also became increasingly concerned for the makers. This pair doesn’t show much evidence of wear but certainly the woman who sewed the uppers came into close contact with the toxin.”
2/10
Men’s red boot
Men’s red boots: French, late 19th century
“The se are quite impressive not only for their very restrictive design but also their very high shine. Privileged men were expected to have shiny boots but they didn’t shine them themselves. Instead, homeless shoeshine boys provided this service and the polishes that they often used to achieve such high-gloss surfaces were often poisonous.”
3/10
Arsenic dress
Arsenic dress: English or French, c. 1860–1865
“Steel-cage crinolines were meant to make things easier for women by reducing the number of under-skirts they had to wear but they made the skirts so wide that many women unknowingly brushed against fires in fireplaces or candles on tables and quickly caught fire.”
4/10
Black Pinet boot
Black Pinet boot: French, late 1870s-early 1880s
“François Pinet manufactured some of the most exquisite footwear worn by the most elegant during the second half of the
19th century. Much of his footwear was factory‐made but he also employed seven hundred embroiderers who laboured in less than comfortable conditions creating botanically accurate floral embroidery.”
5/10
Austrian Empress shoes and gloves
Austrian Empress shoes and gloves: Austrian, c. 1850s
“Empress Elisabeth of Austria was considered by many to the most beautiful woman in the world in the 19th century. Her long hair and slim
figure attracted the attention of many setting the standard for constricted
beauty and became an obsession for her. This pair of almost impossibly narrow
Adelaides and gloves were given as a gift to Colonel Louis de Schweiger one of
her many admirers.”
6/10
Mauve boot
Mauve boots: English, early 1860s
“In 1856 when William Henry Perkins accidently invented mauve, the first synthetic dye, a new age of colour in fashion was born. Soon
vibrant and often gaudy synthetic colours were the toast of fashion but many of these hues also came with risk to wearer. Arsenic and picric acid to name a few
were just some of the toxic chemicals used in create coloured clothing. This pair of mauve boots shows the brilliance of the new synthetic colour.”
7/10
Top Hat
Top hat: Swiss, c. 1885–1925.
“The desire for beaver fur hats in European men’s fashions
dates back centuries and spurred the development of the 17th century North
American fur trade. However, it was not until the 1730s that mercury began to
be used in the making of beaver top hats. This hat, which dates to the end of the
19th century, still contains small amounts of mercury.”
8/10
Boudoir slipper
Boudoir slippers: French, 1880-1885
“The high heel was reintroduced into Western fashion in
the late 1850s as part of the nostalgia for the 18th century dress that captured fashionable imaginations of the period. Along with this interest in 18th century
came the specter of the licentious woman, this pair of boudoir slippers which features many hallmarks of 18th century mules, would have been perfect for
this highly charged image of femininity.”
9/10
Parisian boot: French, 1875
“This boot was made by the Parisian shoe manufacturer L.P.
Perchellet and was found in an estate in Santiago, Chile, suggesting the reach of
mass‐produced French footwear. The original shoe box are edged with arsenical tape.”
10/10
Gold button boot
Gold button boot: Swedish or German, c. 1890s
“This pair of handmade, bespoke button boots
reflects the infusion of erotically charged references in women’s dress that emerged at the end of the 19th century. These boots were designed to look like a stockinged leg in a shoe. Although the majority of the calf‐hugging shaft and
elaborate gold kid appliqué would have been hidden under their wearer’s skirt, any glimpse would have tantalized the onlooker.”
