ABSTRACT
This chapter examines three aspects of shoes in Georgian towns and cities: first, access to and acquisition of shoes; second, how and where shoes were worn 'on display'; and third, the politicization of footwear through the era of the American Revolution. It analyses the consumers who had access to the latest fashions and proceed to an analysis of public display, as British American women in growing urban centres such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Charleston used shoes to fashion an identity. Through the lives and letters of clever apprentices, skilled cordwainers, wealthy merchants and elegant brides, the chapter explores the production and dissemination of shoes through bustling London streets, ship cargo holds, New England shops and, ultimately, to the wardrobes of eager consumers. As Gary Nash observes, the colonial seaports were able to provide regional customers with just such an experience, albeit on a much smaller scale than that of European market towns and cities.
