I wrote such a long post about shoes from the Spring of 1936 that today I’m just going to share a great quotation from Leah Garchik and some color pictures from an Art Deco shoe ad dated 1929.
From an advertisement for Arch Preserver Shoes:
Arch Preserver Shoe Ad, 1929. Note the stockings colored to match the dress.
The caption: 
The quotation:
“According to the Table of Shoe Hotness, any brand that promises comfort will add 10 years to one’s WEA (Wearer’s Estimated Age.)” – Columnist Leah Garchik, writing in the Style section of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Some Arch Preserver Shoes from 1929
Arch Preserver Shoe, 1929: ROMANY — Sunburned beige with decorative strap underlay of brown perlustre kid.
Arch Preserver Shoe, 1929: JANZIA — An afternoon model in Lido sand kid, accented with perlustre kid strap in stone color and brown piping.
I wouldn’t mind wearing either of them – except that I had to move on to prescription, flat shoes with rigid orthotics in them years ago. My WEA – and my actual age — are now both too high to lie about! The travel-themed designs (a navy blue print fabric?) behind the shoes is very jazz-age.
witness2fashion 
I love the style of 1920s shoes…but I fear that they wouldn’t have enough padding for me to wear these days.
I love that quote from Garchik.
Right now comfortable shoes are having a bit of a fashion moment, with sneakers on the Chanel catwalk and such. That’s fine for the 20 year old set, but if a 60 year old woman wore sneakers – even Chanel sneakers – with her suit, then she’d be looked at as having given up instead of being in style.
I love those arch preservers. They don’t look a bit dowdy to me.
If even designer sneakers are ‘out,’ there’s no hope for me. I remember when Mephisto shoes were all the rage with urban women — worn with suits to and from the office, but not at the office. I think they were accepted because, at the the time, they notoriously cost over $250 a pair — which was a lot more money than other sneakers cost back them. (My husband is still devoted to Mephistos; when they get worn out, he returns them to Nordstrom and they come back from Mephisto a few weeks later with new soles and other refurbishments! They last for years. That makes them good-value-for-money — and probably destroys their cachet.)
The age barrier also applies to hairstyles: Last week I saw two young women downtown with “Just got out of bed and threw my hair on top of my head” hairdos, and thought how sexy and breezy they looked (they were wearing artsy but office-appropriate outfits.) Then I realized that a senior citizen who wore her hair like that would look like a victim of dementia, regardless of how chic-ly she was dressed. In fact, an artsy mix of new and vintage clothing would make her look crazier!
Oh my goodness, aging is so dang depressing. I want to wear my hair in a messy bun, mix vintage with modern clothing and be as kookie as I please….wait (!)….are not older woman allowed artistic license to a certain degree? I’m not a senior citizen yet, but it won’t be long! There was this great video out a while back about all these older woman who dressed outrageously and looked fantastic. Wish I had a link to it. I love your blog by the way :o)
Ari Seth Cohen wrote a great book, Advanced Style, with his photos of fabulous older women from the sidewalks of New York. Some of them are over 100. He also has a blog and a You Tube video…. Inspiring. However, I do notice that an adequate budget seems to be involved in looking great at any age.