The 1930s & 40s

With the stock market crash of 1929, many people were left in an economic struggle. To escape these hard times, people found solace in the glamour of the movies, where platinum blonde women lived opulent lives and dressed in luxurious clothing. During this time, the popular t-straps and bar shoes of the 1920s continued their stay on the fashion scene as heels began to rise and shoe silhouettes became rounder and softer. Most notable to the fashion changes of the 1930s was showing more skin, including the foot. This meant the rise of peep-toe shoes and mules. Open toed shoes and sling backs found their way from the beach to every day living as designers such as Seymour Troy began to incorporate celluloid and Lucite into his designs. Ginger Rogers herself was often seen wearing these sparkly, strappy open-toed shoes in her famous dance numbers with Fred Astaire.

The results of the market crash also meant that the use of leather became restricted. As a result, shoe designs began to use more fabric, even in the historically leather Oxford, which instead began to use leather only in the toe, using cloth for the remainder of the shoe. Linen shoes became popular during this time, using muted colors such as navy and sage to mimic the look of leather. For evening wear, shoes continued to sparkle, using sequins and rhinestones along with bows and intricate ribbons.

As the 1940s and World War II began, glamorous shoes were pushed aside for sensible, war time shoes. The wedge heel grew out of wartime rations of steel. When Salvatore Ferragamo could not make his traditional shoe arches using steel, he invented a new version using layers of cork as a heel. This cork was both comfortable and safe as it supported more of the foot than a standard high heel. The wedge heel became a popular favorite for both its high heel glamour and use as a practical and comfortable work shoe as women headed to work as their men went to war.

The restrictions of this time, forced designers to be creative in the material they used. Most notably, Ferragamo began to use straw, raffia and dyed grass to adorn his shoe designs. For those who could afford such luxuries, up market boutiques began to display shoes made from snakeskin and heeled sling backs favored by pin up stars of the time.