Satin evening shoe

These shoes are made of white silk satin and kid leather. They are decorated with a metal braid and embroidery in silver gilt (metal) threads in the Ottoman style. Turkish slippers and shoes could be brought back from the Near East or made in Europe to imitate Turkish styles. They were an important part of outfits influenced by and sometimes incorporating Near and Middle Eastern dress and textiles. The seraglio and Turkish dress for both men and women inspired many romantic costume balls and masquerades throughout the eighteenth century, but the fashion for goods produced in the region had begun much earlier with the Turkey Trade in the late 16th century. During the second half of the 18th century many dress styles (rather than fancy dress) were inspired by Near Eastern clothing, and known by names such as ‘Persian’, ‘Turkish’ and ‘Levite’. They captured something of the richness and flowing layers of Ottoman and other Near Eastern dress. Sitters often wore a version of Turkish dress for portraits painted between the 1760s and 1790s. The shoes probably date from this period.