{"id":149,"date":"2016-12-11T17:49:38","date_gmt":"2016-12-11T17:49:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/net4573.net.ucf.edu\/economyofgoods\/?p=149"},"modified":"2017-03-10T21:20:06","modified_gmt":"2017-03-10T21:20:06","slug":"the-longest-living-fashion-statement-the-womens-pump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projects.cah.ucf.edu\/economyofgoods\/index.php\/2016\/12\/11\/the-longest-living-fashion-statement-the-womens-pump\/","title":{"rendered":"The Longest Living Fashion Statement: The Women\u2019s Pump"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vincent Ventola \/\/ AMH 4112.001 – The Atlantic World, 1400-1900<\/h4>\n

In the past, women as well as men and children wore pumps, or shoes; these pumps are very similar to what we know as pumps or heels in the 21st<\/sup> century.[1]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 In the 18th<\/sup> century, pumps were also worn during special occasions, just like they are today. However, they were crafted in a different manner than today.\u00a0 They used materials such as silk, glass, and metal.[2]<\/sup><\/a> Where as today it is mostly out of leather and modern materials. When looking at the Metropolitan Museum of Art\u2019s shoe collections, you find many different variations of shoes produced during the 18th<\/sup> century.[3]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 Floral patterns, as well as very colorful patterns, were very common for women of this period. Some pumps had a buckle as well as some with rhinestones, to show wealth and class.\u00a0 Pumps were worn in very social settings, so mostly women that could afford shoes for form over functionality were the main ones wearing pumps in the 18th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n

<\/a>
Women\u2019s Silk Pumps from the mid-1700s. Image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You aren\u2019t able to tell much what the pumps looked like from Glassford and Henderson\u2019s Colchester store\u2019s 1760-1761 Ready Money ledgers.[4]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 Because the pumps were sold at a store, they were unlikely to be made-to-order shoes, but more likely represented the most current fashions from Glasgow or London.\u00a0 According to the Ready Money accounts in November, 1760, only five pairs of pumps (described a as single or double channeled or boys) were bought. On one occasion buckles were also purchased which may have been acquired to complement the pumps.[5]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 In November 1760, only four additional pairs of shoes were purchased in the same month, all of which were less expensive than the pumps.<\/p>\n

<\/a>
Examples of Pump purchases in the November 1760 Ready Money Pages of the Colchester store of Glassford and Henderson (folio 10).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Women, just like today, loved wearing heels to show off to others.\u00a0 They obviously wanted the most decorated and classiest pump for their special event.\u00a0 Pumps were basic fashion for women in the 18th<\/sup> century and it correlates to the women of today.\u00a0 There was a sense of fashion back then, especially since their pumps were handmade.<\/p>\n