Feather-footed

Feather-light shoes created by New York designer Yanturni in the 1920s took up to three years to make, and he refused even to make a start on a pair without a $1000 deposit. He made plaster casts of clients’ feet and molded the shoes around the contours. Yanturni made 300 pairs for the Spanish-American hostess Rita de Ascota Lydig. Some were made with 12th-century velvet, some of lace appliqué, others of brocade or gold, and silver metal tissue. Mrs. Lydig collected violins so that Yanturni could use the delicate wood to make his shoe-trees. Designer Cecil Beaton once claimed that a Yanturni shoe, complete with its tree, weighed no more than an ostrich feather.