I didn’t know about the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto until recently, when a friend sent me a link to the Bata’s current exhibition, Fashion Victims: The Pleasures and Perils of Dress in the 19th Century. (I definitely need to make a special trip to Toronto to see this show. Fortunately, it runs through June 2016.)

In perusing the Bata Shoe Museum’s website, I came across these beauties. They were made in the late 1870s or 1880s by the luxury footwear firm of François Pinet. Just look at the perfect heel and curvy lines, not to mention the intricate floral hand-embroidery.

I would wear these boots in a second, if someone could reproduce them in a present-day size 8.

Here’s a video of the Bata’s senior curator, Elizabeth Semmelhack, discussing the Pinet boots.

Collection of the Bata Shoe Museum.
Photo credit: Image © 2014 Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto, Canada