Pumps
The Osgood collection comprises 179 objects, chiefly fashionable Italian-made women's shoes dating from the years 1954 to 1958. The shoes were collected by Charline Osgood, Director of the Kid Leather Guild, a trade organization of American kid leather manufacturers. Highlighting the use of kid leather in footwear, the collection provides a fascinating and enticing view of high-style European shoe design from the period, representing many of the finest and most inventive Italian makers.
Osgood called this type of shoe a "sweater pump", ostensibly due to its tight, sexy style echoing the "sweater girl" look of the 1940s and '50s. Strongly interested in improving the fit of American-made shoes, Osgood urged manufacturers in the U.S. to emulate the elasticized throat and general snugness of this model.
Osgood called this type of shoe a "sweater pump", ostensibly due to its tight, sexy style echoing the "sweater girl" look of the 1940s and '50s. Strongly interested in improving the fit of American-made shoes, Osgood urged manufacturers in the U.S. to emulate the elasticized throat and general snugness of this model.
Artwork Details
- Title: Pumps
- Designer: Mario Valentino
- Manufacturer: V. Valentino (Italian)
- Date: 1956
- Culture: Italian
- Medium: leather
- Credit Line: Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Charline Osgood, 1960
- Object Number: 2009.300.3212a, b
- Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute
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