The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1882-11-24
STAGE CRlSPlNs.
Peculiarities OF Actresses Boots
?. .# am and Shoes.
How They are Made-The Size
Various Stage Favorites a.
Wear, Etc.


facture OF ladies' hne SHOES, especially those
fanciful or character makes required by tie
actresses. He laid down the brush yes
terday, with which he had been gliding the
heels Of . pair of low cut GOLD shoes, to an
swer a Post-Dispatch reporters question re-
garding their use.
"These are zig slippers" he said, turning
the one hanging heel down on bis left fingers
so that the five eyelet lacings OF the short
slippers could be seen. "They are No. II !,
the smallest size ever made for any young
woman either on or of the stage. doubt
II there Is u daintier foot In this country
than the one Little Pearl means TO shake
this slipper with before the variety footIlghts.
Actresses have an ancient precedent for cap
turing the hearts and heads Of their natural
enemies In the apocfypbal account of how the
Hebrew widow Judith overthrow the Assyr-
ians at Bethula, by appearing before Holo-
fernes In such beautiful sandals that they
travished his eyes, In those days women
did not depend on the shape and size of the
shoe for effect, but upon its richness, using
cloth or leather fretted with gold and set
with precious stones. As late as the middle
of the sixteenth century Ii was common
among the nobility to wear the value of
farm In shoe strings alone. Now a woman's
foot must be small and prettly arched, ana
the covering Is Of secondary consideration,
except that II have glove fit"
"What Is the smallest size ever worn by
woman" /.
"There was a duchess of York In George
Ills reign, remarkable for her little feet.
They were five and three .fourths inches long
aud one and three. fourths in width. She
wore green silk slippers, starred with gold,
which had red heeh. Models were made Of
these In China for mantle and table orna'
ments, and the sentiment attaching to these
fairy forms were emblematized by cupids
perched around their tops. Actresses more
than any other women, endeavor TO reduce
their feet to the imperceptible state, though
few of. them wear q smaller size than 49,
and many take q No. o who are of large
figure and stout.
"What Is that hanging from the heel Of
your slipper"
"a Jingle. The center Of the brass plate
screwed on Is cut out In horseshoe shape
and this piece refastened with sliding rivet,
so that 1t makes jingling sound In walking
or dancing, as In the case with the brass side
piece, which used to be screwed Oh TO the
side Of the heel instead. This appliance
10 prepared because 1t does not make the
heel appear out of shape. A child Of from
seven 10 eight could wear this size shoe.
Variety actresses are much more particular
about having good fitting shoes than women
on the legitimate stage, and they don't
grumble about the prices. Lolita never has
pretty shoes because she Is too stingy. She
wears 1885 or 10, and has habit Of buying all
the old stock shoes because she can get them
cheaper than by having them made to
. order"
"Who first made specially of manufac
turing actresses shoes In this country"
~ think his name was or IL Nestbrook,
though there are now two such shops well
known In New York, and one Of the proptie
tors Is dead. At any rate, the one first es'
tablished was opened on Bowery about
thirty years age. Before that such goods
were imported from Paris, where the best
are still to be had. Competition In the east
has reduced the price of character shoes ST.
much that II Is far cheaper for an actress To
lay in a supply before starting west. About
the time she gets 10 ST. Louis, some, or all Vi
the shoes are lost, discolored or badly worn,
and she hunts me up III hurry to see what
can be done, for character shoes are not kept
In stock by any Of the stores. If haven't
any made up, take the order and send In
the shoes next day, when, If she Is legitl
mate star,I am told that theprice Ii too high,
although II now ranges from $3.50 to sl3
where 1t used 10 run from $40 TO SIS aud $50.
Unless manufactured to order, the shoes
turned out for actresses are always poorly
made, but Of good material"
"Isnt there some trick by which the shoe
Ia made TO look sholt.r?"
"That Is by working the toe-leather over
and under At least an inch before IL meets
the sole. This apparently shortens 1t that
much, and the sloping French heel takes, OF
another inch Of the length. But shoes. al
ways look smaller on the stage than Off Of
It,"
aHow high ID the heel?" s
RaSeldom over two and often us low rs one
aud one-half inches. The highest ! ever
saw were four inches, but the woman could
scarcely walk and was SO stout that she
looked as absurd rs Fortescue would on such
stills. There are hollow iron heels, painted
I'm colors and riveted on with screw, which
high kickers nse. Wooden heels are fragile
to risk. / make none but of leather, and
either paint them or cover them with satin
Salmon pink IL the shade most used, but
none OF the St. Louis stores kept IL. II /.
d made purposely heavy for shoemakers' use
Then we manufacture high-laced shoe o
white duck, which actresses buy and cove
with satin, as they want change Of shade,
for the duck will out wear half a dozen o.
more satin coverings. The only difference
between the high shoes Of ancients and mod
erns is that the former laced theirs to the
toes, while we run the eyelets at the In
step.n
Shave actresses naturally shapely feet?"
"Yes. I never knew one to have corns o
bunions. Mary Anderson has q PATRICIA
foot, and always takes care between scene
to wear lov-heeied slipper. Nilsson ono
bought u strap slipper of,me. Her foo
was perfect. Maggie Mitchell wears Nc
81 on very pretty foot. She IL easy to sui
TOO. Amer being long In high-heeled shoes
or after fatiguing dancing, actresses say the
have habit OF soaking their feet In sal
water about half an hour, and then sitlin
with them In bandaged cotton strips anothe
half hour before retiring, 50 that the bone
may not spread and spoil the shape Of ih
foot. Naturally broad feet have been nal
Towed by this practice, Actresses really d
not pinch their feet, as Pstrarch did TO gal
Taura's favor until lie was almost lame, Il