Take a look at the shoes just recently finished for Laina – they’re very similar to the shoes from Lesson 7: Mid 16th C. Shoes (Stacked Leather), but in this case, I added a bit of leather edging around the quarters and vamp. I also decided to dye the welt and the sole black to contrast with the red shoe. I can’t actually document that, but they definitely look spiff.

Note that these shoes are lined with black silk taffeta. I’m still struggling with documenting a shoe that is lined as such. Most of the paintings and portraits that we have show the wearer’s hose showing through the slashes, but in many cases, there is some kind of binding or stitching on the outside of the slashes. In some cases, it even looks like whip stitching. There is also evidence for fabric covered shoes, but, especially with white fabric, I suspect that these could get dirty rather easily. Leather, on the other hand, only gets better looking as it wears provided it is kept in good shape. It can always take a cleaning with some light soap and a nice buff will make it look shiny, both figuratively and literally!