1790-1805 ca. Women’s pink patterned kid leather shoes as worn by Jane Austen and other ladies in her times. Made by Hoppe, London, of stencilled kid leather.

In Jane Austen’s years, fragile slippers were worn for balls and evening events but for walking sturdier shoes were needed, In the early 1800s, slippers were made of fabric such as satin or from leather, were flat or had a very small heel, slightly rounded toes and were laced up on the top. They were usually not made in right or left, but instead one shoe shape and in multiples so that when one slipper wore out, another was on hand to replace it.