Mules
The two drawings at the top of the image show low cut and high cut styles. Known as slippers at the time, they were intended for wear in the privacy of the home. Worn by both men and women, often made from rich fabric and highly decorated. You never knew who might be coming to call so you wanted to look your best even when you were slipshod.
Ladies Boots
Left side, top and bottom - two forms of the "Balmoral boot" This is what most people expect of the Civil War era.
Center, top - a bottine, boot made up in fabric, sometimes in two different prints, they lace up the side of the shoe on the inside of the leg. The bow was tucked inside the shoe. The chamois leather foot socks were supposed to cure rheumatism.
Center bottom and right top and bottom - congress shoes, an ankle boot with elastic panels on the side instead of lacing, introduced in the 1840's. Made in leather or suede, sometimes plain but more often decorated with trim, tassels or taffeta ribbon. Some were made in suede with leather toe caps and heel guards.
Ladies' Fancy Dress Shoes
This is the shoe for dances and dress up and it is often elaborately decorated. They are your basic pump, but note the heel. Almost all of the ladies shoes of the period have this style of heel. The toe can be boxy or pointed but the heel should always have the curve front and back. The exception is the Escarpin or ballet slipper. Strictly for the ball room, they were worn as slip-ons or laced up like a ballerina.
Shoe colors noted in 1861 were black, white, mauve, violet, green, blue, red, “cuir” and "Havana" color (? tan and cigar brown ?) Colors often matched clothes but some women liked a shock of color under somber dress. Very stylish women would also wear "clocked" stockings with their dress shoes. "Clock work" was a fancy pattern embroidered or woven into the stocking.
Ladies' Sturdy Shoes
Top left and bottom right are called derby style. Top right (high cut) and bottom left (low cut) are called Oxford style. They were worn with both a high heel for the more stylish lady and with a shorter, stacked heel for those with a yearning for comfortable feet. Made in leather, sometimes in different shade or color combination, they were often decorated with fancy stitching.
Men's Shoes
At the top: Men's fancy dress shoes. What real gentlemen worn on the dance floor. Left is the d'Orsay, right is the pump, both in black patent leather. They might also wear the Escarpin or ballet style shoe
Three styles of men's dress boots: Left and center, Balmoral boots, plain and with fancy stitching. Right is the congress boot. The congress boot had elastic panels in place of laces and a tab in the rear and sometimes the front as well, to aid in pulling the boot on.
Four everyday shoes:
Left top - the Brogan, left bottom - the Derby, right top - the oxford,
right bottom the Quaker shoe.
Men's Boots
Top left - working mans heavy duty boot with reinforced toe.
Top right - Blucher boot. Designed by a German general for his troops during the
Napoleonic wars. It became a standard design in workmen's shoes that is still
used today.
Bottom left - Civil War uniform boot.
Bottom right - the Top Boot, a gentleman's riding boot. Soft leather, often with a
seamless calf. The top fold was done in a lighter color. The toe was slender and
more pointed than other boot styles. The loop at the top was to pull the boot on
and then it was tucked inside.
