The other day, a coworker of mine (and quite possibly one of the coolest people ever) mentioned the other day that she had decided to purchase a pair of spats. Cool points abound.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with these fantastic sartorial flourishes, spats are accessories that cover the foot and ankle with late 19th century military origins. Today, they’re still worn in some marching bands and for protection in heavy industrial work, but for show, they’ve been somewhat neglected… until now!
Looks like there are some really cool spats designers out there. A ShoeBlog post pointed me in the direction of Strumpets- they make gorgeous spats (even though they prefer to call them “strumpets”). Don’t you love the cherry ones?
The same post pointed out a German company called Maide which has some really fascinating silk creations. Their “Pink Lady” spats are especially fascinating- like a Rococo take on a traditionally masculine creation:
My particularly cool coworker says she got her spats on Etsy. I decided to have a look at the Etsy offerings for myself, and I have to say, there’s a wonderfully wide range:
There are Faitavec’s super feminine wool spats…
Corpseknit’s sexy spat-like legwarmers…
LeshasWorkshop’s more voluminous spat-inspired Shoe Guard Legwarmers…
Teatimeinc’s rugged looking steampunk spats…
And spiderlilyclothing’s very modern ankle spats:
There really is a spat for every style. I love to see peoples’ different takes on the accessory, and I am especially partial to the idea of spats being used as a new sort of legwarmer- less Clydesdaley / wrinkly and more streamlined and Victorian. Hope I see people sporting them out on the streets someday~
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*Swoons*
Now if only men would start wearing them with their formal evening attire as well~ <3