Chopines

The chopine was a tall clog worn in primarily in Venice to elevate the lady above both the dirt and the hoi polloi of the street. While relatively few shoes survive from the period of the 15th to 17th century, chopines are inordinately represented in museum collections as they were saved most probably due to their outlandish peculiarity. This exemplar illustrates all the classical characteristics of this specialized form: red or green velvet covering, lobed platform sole trimmed in gold lace with hobnails, gold braid edging, shirred ribbon trim on the vamp, and beard-like tassel below the open toe. -Description: Metropolitan Museum of Art- Shoes of this type are called chopines or pantobles. The design was based on shoes worn in Turkish baths. They were originally a type of overshoe, which is why they have no back. People wore later versions either as overshoes or on their own. This delicate and elegant pair of chopines are made of wood covered with silk velvet and trimmed with silk ribbon and gold lace. The upper is divided with holes for lacing. This suggests that the gold lace which covers that area may have been added slightly later. However, the lace was made at about the same time as the shoes, in the late 1500s or early 1600s. In 1591 Elizabeth I had made for her two pairs of pantobles open at the toes and 'laid on with silver lace'. -Description V&A-