Queen Victoria’s slippers

Yesterday I was lucky enough to view, measure and handle Queen Victoria's slippers!

These beautiful kid skin slippers which are decorated with painted shamrocks, thistles and roses were owned by Queen Victoria from 1837-1850.

The slippers feature an intricate cypher of Queen Victoria topped with a crown. These shoes measure 9.5 inches, taking away the .5 to contribute for room around the toe box this means Queen Victoria was around a 3-4 in UK shoe size.

These were part of a very large collection of items of dress and accessories which was given to the Museum by Harrods, the department store, in 1913. The collection had been formed by the artist Talbot Hughes, who wrote a book on the history of dress, illustrated with photographs of models wearing items from his collection. A large firm in America had offered to buy the collection and present it to the Metropolitan Museum, New York, but Hughes did not want it to go abroad. At the suggestion of Cecil Harcourt Smith of the V&A, Harrods bought it for £2,500 and gave it to the Museum for the 'public good'. Harrods displayed the collection for three weeks in December 1913.

Keep an eye on my blog for even more up-close images of Queen Victoria's garments and accessories!

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