I absolutely adore 19th century shoes ~ particularly high-laced/buttoned boots like these. There are quite a few in this collection well-worth drooling over.
The variety of fabrics and leathers and decorations on these shoes was pretty incredible. These shown on the left look like satin and were made in 1889.
This second pair is leather from 1868 ~ the style of these are buttoned (the flap pulls over the front of the foor and fastens on the side. Ladies had special button hooks (sometimes very fancy ones!) to help get these on and off.
It's amazing to find shoes this old in such prime shape. No matter how decorative, they were made for practical purposes and most were worn out, handed down and eventually destroyed after much use. Think about the life of your own shoes!