Open Forum

Hi Rene - There is a fabulous shoe museum in Toronto Canada called the Bata Shoe Musuem - here is there website - perhaps they can advise….

batashoemuseum.ca 

Hi Rene,

In addition to the Bata museum, the Northampton Museum in England has a significant collection of shoes and may have information for your researcher.  She can reach them here: https://www.northamptonmuseums.com/directory/2/Collections/category/8.  Many of the major art museums in the U.S. have significant costume collections that include important shoes and may have some that were entered in Worlds Fairs--she could start with the Met and work her way around the country. There is also an important book about women's shoes published some years ago by historian Nancy Rexford called Women's Shoes in America, 1795-1930 that may offer her some information.  And finally, I'd recommend she post her question on the Costume Society of America's Listserv (or find a member to do it for her if she's not a member) where a number of curators will likely see it and can respond to her directly.

You've already been given a lot of excellent leads to track down, but I would add the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. As a fashion-focused teaching/academic institution, FIT might be plugged in to research resources. https://www.fitnyc.edu/

Thank you Gurufateh, Melissa, and Brian -- these answers are so helpful! I've passed them on to the bootmaker, and she was thrilled to have such useful leads. I appreciate the help!