Slippers

“ Nothing fascinates a man like a woman's slipper, from its utter incomprehensibility, its astonishing unlikeness to any article subserving the same purpose for his own sex. Eva's slippers always seemed to have a character of their own,—a prankish elfin grace, and these as they stood there seemed instinct with life as two white kittens just ready for a spring.
I put two fingers into each of the little wretches and made them caper and dance, and we laughed gayly. ”

“ You know so many women, young and old, who do this, that our advice is, try to recall those who do not. Yes, now you see what we aim at; the women you have in mind always continue the line of their gowns with their feet. You can see with your mind's eye how the slender black satin slippers, one of which always protrudes from the black evening gown, carry to its eloquent finish the line from her head through torso, hip to knee, and knee down through instep to toe,—a line so frequently obstructed by senseless trimmings, lineless hats, and footwear wrong in colour and line. ”

“ Pair of Old Slippers
After the last cat has disappeared, bring out the slippers; any kind except toy ones will do. Place the slippers on a sheet of white paper laid on the top of a table where all present may see.
Fig. 49.—Place one slipper on top of the other.
Explain to the girls and boys that they must take one turn each in trying their fortunes by putting one slipper crosswise on top of the other, both right side up (Fig. 49) , and while holding them so, repeat the following verse:
These slippers I toss into the air. ”

“ When the old philosopher enumerated the best old things to burn, drink, etc., he should have specially mentioned old shoes to wear,—John, take away these heavy boots, and bring me my slippers,—my old, loose, easy, comfortable slippers.—There! They are not handsome, I grant you, Madam. But beauty is only skin-deep, you know; and when we talk of tanned skin, I assure you its beauty often conceals unloveliness beneath. They are broad and large;—yes, this foot of mine, which is not particularly handsome in any case, does not look attractive in the old slippers, I acknowledge. ”

“ They told her Yes, but that she had hurried away as the clock struck twelve, and in such great haste that she had dropped one of her little glass slippers, the prettiest in the world. They told, too, how the Prince had picked it up, and how he had done nothing but look at it all the rest of the evening, and agreed that he was undoubtedly very much in love with the beautiful owner of the little slipper. ”

“ I can’t do without slippers; I can’t do without gloves. I might get silk ones, of course, but they make me feel creepy-creepy all over. I daren’t touch anything when I have them on. I should look like one of those wax figures in shop windows, with my arms sticking out on either side! I can’t do without ribbons; I can’t do—well, I suppose I could wear the old hat as it is, and do without scent, and a sash, and laces, or any single pretty thing to put on at night, but I don’t want to! They are the most interesting things... Oh, dear, here goes! ”

“ Your real hardened adventuress on the stage always wears the most delicious slippers, no matter how inappropriate to the occasion, but she wears them prophetically as it were, for she alone knows that she is destined to die in the fifth act, with her feet to the footlights. ”

“ To satisfy him, I put on a pair of slippers and go downstairs to inspect the dining-room clock. What happens to a man when he wanders about the house in the middle of the night, clad in a dressing-gown and a pair of slippers, there is no need to recount; most men know by experience. Everything—especially everything with a sharp corner—takes a cowardly delight in hitting him. When you are wearing a pair of stout boots, things get out of your way; when you venture among furniture in woolwork slippers and no socks, it comes at you and kicks you. ”

“ At length, conscious of the need of every possible protection from the freezing night atmosphere, I sought my belt for the slippers, and one was missing. In gathering the wood it had become detached, and was lost. Darkness was closing over the landscape, when, sorely disheartened with the thought of passing the night with one foot exposed to freezing temperature, I commenced a search for the missing slipper. I knew I could not travel a day without it. ”

“ She then gave her a pair of glass slippers, the prettiest in the world. ”

“ Makers of tiny slippers and such dainty bootlets as show forth and enhance the separate beauty of each inch of outline of rounded ankle, arched instep, and slender length of foot, shall lend their help. And if envious Time have something done to blur the bloom upon the cheek, or blot the clear transparent purity of skin,—sunt certa piacula,—there are not wanting means for helping a mortal Diva to some of the prerogatives of immortality in these respects. ”

“ Her poor little feet were so hot that she took off her gold-embroidered satin slippers, and put them into the water—her feet, not the slippers—and the next minute they began to grow and grow, and to get larger and larger, until they were so immense she could hardly walk at all ”

“ Flesh-colored slippers look much better with cream and orchid than with either green or blue, at any rate! A watermelon pink fan is lovely in night-light with all three; so is a cream one. Or perhaps by changing both fan and slippers, a different effect is produced, since the colors of your clothes are background colors.
But nothing really can compare with the utility and smartness of black. Take a black tulle dress, made in the simplest possible way; worn plain, it is a simple dinner dress. It can have a lace slip to go over it, and make another dress. ”

“ Sometimes they may be seen promenading the streets, robed in the richest silks that were ever woven in Chinese looms, but when you gaze down at their lower extremities you discover them stockingless, their feet thrust into a pair of coarse slippers, which expose to view a pair of rusty heels that look as if no ablution had been performed upon them for at least three moons. ”

“ And behind him is an Arab water-carrier, with limbs bare to the knee and a huge skin bag full of water on his back.
But the strangest sight of all is still to come.
Halting to look around I suddenly espy a pair of yellow Turkish slippers, a good deal worn, lying at the foot of a huge tree which stands alone in the midst of the open space. They are not flung carelessly down, either, as if their owner had thrown them away, but placed neatly side by side; just as an orderly old gentleman might put his slippers beside the fire before going out. ”

“ Thin, wiry, and muscular, he wears raw-hide slippers, in which he moves with cat-like, stealthy tread—a habit survived from prehistoric days—while his very dress is protective, rendering him at a short distance difficult to discern, so like is he in colour to the rocky background. ”

“ There is, for instance, the modish young lady taking an afternoon stroll in high-heeled satin slippers. What could be more inappropriate? Satin slippers should be worn only with semi-evening or evening dress—never with street clothes. Pumps with fur coats are strikingly inconsistent, as are straw hats with winter attire, or velvet hats with dainty summer-time frocks. True fashion does not profess to distort the seasons, although the style authorities would often have us believe so for their own material gain. ”

“ The most colossal overshoe is neither so big nor so objectionable as an early grave, and that is just what lies before some of you girls if you don't quit wearing French heels and going about in damp and chilly weather without protection for your feet. Burn up the high-heeled slippers, then, with their atrocious shape; cultivate health and common-sense rather than the empty flattery of a world that cares nothing for you. ”

“ Our shoes, particularly those of women and children, were made of cloth, or knit. Some one had learned to knit slippers, and it was not long before most of the women of our settlement had a pair of slippers on the knitting needles. They were knit of our homespun thread, either cotton or wool, which was, for slippers, generally dyed a dark brown, gray, or black. When taken off the needles, the slippers or shoes were lined with cloth of suitable texture. The upper edges were bound with strips of cloth, of color to blend with the hue of the knit work. ”

“ She was a beauty and loved gaiety, and got her death by going to a ball in thin slippers. I supposed, in my childish ignorance, that this radiant creature went about all day long in shining silks that stood alone, and never by any chance wore other than red satin slippers. My paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Miller, sniffed a little at my enthusiasm, and averred that she, too, in her time, had worn silks that stood alone and slippers of a much smaller size than those of Kitty Weaver. ”

“ The gurgling Italian lady on the other side of the restaurant
Replies with a certain hauteur,
But I await with patience
To see how Celestine will re-enter her slippers.
She re-enters them with a groan. ”

“ Work in the end of the thread through a few stitches. Remove the marking threads. This heel will have no seam.
[35]
Slippers you can Make.
A PAIR OF MEN’S SLIPPERS.
Footwear, like everything else, is exceedingly high-priced at present, and to know how to economize in this direction is a serious problem. But have you ever thought of making your slippers? This is really quite possible. Indeed, there is no reason why very presentable shoes and slippers cannot be made at home. ”

“ The Oak-Tree Fairy said, “You see, I had to have yellow slippers to wear to the wedding!”
[54]
The prince ordered the Flower-Fairy to plant some more seeds of the wonderful flower that bore the yellow slippers, so that the Oak-Tree Fairy might have a new pair of slippers every year.
If you search in the deep woods you may see the slippers growing there. They are called Lady Slippers now.
The prince and the princess lived happily ever after, and the fairies went all over the world.
After Grandpa had finished the story Freddie woke up.
He rolled over against Teddie. ”

“ Their toes are tucked into small heelless slippers, which take a certain amount of dexterity to keep in place; but all young girls learn early in life to give that flirtatious outward jerk of the heels which keep the slipper from falling, and also prevents the folds of the skirt from opening in front. ”

“ The slipper consisted essentially of a sole of leather or matting attached to the foot in various ways (see the several styles in Fig. 91) . Custom limited its use to the house and it went characteristically with the tunic (§237) , when that was not covered by an outer garment. Oddly enough, it seems to us, the slippers were not worn at meals. Host and guests wore them into the dining-room, but as soon as they had taken their places on the couches (§224) slaves removed the slippers from their feet and cared for them until the meal was over (§152) . ”

“ I SAT in the town-hall and basted red tape round the edge of gray felt slippers.
They are to be worn by a wounded soldier somewhere in France.
I took the half-finished slippers home with me, when I went.
Also a roll of pink-and-white Canton flannel, cut up into pieces ready for me to put together.
I never sewed for any man before.
I live alone in a white house with green blinds on a New England hill-top with a maid-servant and a majestic female cat for company. ”

“ The girls wear either their usual frocks or an arrangement like this. I can tell you my pretty brown gym suit was the event of the day when I appeared in it.
"Everybody wears slippers at school, puts them on when she first comes and no wonder, because the English shoes are the worst-looking and clumsiest things ever invented by man. Edith's feet look twice as big in her boots as in slippers. You'd think by their appearance that English feet were a different shape from ours, but they are not; it is only the shoes. ”

“ They hang in bunches, festoons, and chains. Every man here wears slippers when he puts anything at all on his feet. Boots would be of no use to him, for he has so often to shuffle off his foot-gear in a hurry. Modern streets, with their stones and liability to nails and broken glass and other sharp things, has led to the native taking to strong soled slippers when he walks about his business.
HE GOES HEAD FOREMOST INTO THE BLACK WATER.
There is a sizzling and a delicious smell from the next shop, and peeping in we see a huddled form crouched over a pot placed on a few red embers ”

“ If one persists in wearing the customary shoe in pregnancy, the feet may swell, and untold discomfort result. Relief is frequently obtained at the expense of the husband’s slippers. Let him provide his wife a pair of youth’s slippers at least two sizes larger than those she ordinarily wears. ”

“ But very pretty ornamental slippers can be made by young ladies out of scraps of gaily coloured leather. They can buy a pair of soles, and get the leather at a leather-dealer’s. This is all simply substituting glueing for sewing, and strong tannin-glue holds quite as strongly as a great deal of the sewing of cheap, machine-made shoes. ”

“ In the majority of cases the men wear the heels of their slippers folded down under the feet, only putting them up when necessity compels them to run, which they take care shall not be too often, as they much prefer a sort of ambling gait, best compared to that of their mules, or to that of an English tramp. ”

“ "I don't believe fine young ladies enjoy themselves a bit more than we do, in spite of our burned hair, old gowns, one glove apiece and tight slippers that sprain our ankles when we are silly enough to wear them." ”

“ The usual way is to work them in common cross-stitch; but if done in tent-stitch or queen-stitch, the slippers will be more elastic, much softer, and will take a smaller quantity of crewel. When you have finished working them, have the slippers made up by a very good shoemaker. They will last a long time. ”