Saddle Shoes History

“It’s the ‘hardy perennial’ of shoe fashions… ever smart…ever now!,” claimed a 1930s description for brown and white saddle shoes. If there ever was a 21st century shoe that was always in style it was the saddle shoe. Developed in the 1900s it took 50 years to reach movie star status in the 1950s but it was a wardrobe staple, experiencing only slight changes over half a century. It is an icon of vintage style today.

Let us explore how saddle shoes evolved over the years.

Saddle Shoe History: 1900s-1920s

1922 white canvas with black leather saddle strap and heel back stay. Notice the square toes too.

My usual fashion history sleuthing came up empty as to the origins of the saddle shoe design. What we do know is that it was initially a sport shoe designed for men. Golfers, in particular, picked up on the two tone color scheme and incorporated it with their uniforms starting around 1910 and lasting well beyond the ’20s and ’30s. Men quickly diversified the two tone combination into wingtips oxfords and loafers. They replaced the simple saddle pattern with a swirl of two tone colors. Concerned about dirty shoes, they also replaced white with an off white color.

Women, however,  enjoyed the simplicity of the saddle design and embraced it much more than men. As with all things sporty in the 1920’s women were quick to take the men’s saddle shoe and wear it for themselves. They liked the pure white contrast with black leather saddle. Pure white soles were a must too. They required frequent cleaning and whiting of the white canvas material.

Heels remained very low to keep with the ease of walking, running, or hiking. Girls often wore them in gymnasium classes. The majority of clothing catalogs at the time targeted saddle shoes to women and girls equally.  A more lady like Cuban heel was added to some women’s oxfords to marry the common walking shoe with the casualness of the sporty saddle pattern. They were worn with sporty knits, house dresses and men’s style knickers in the 1920’s. 

1922 Saddle Oxfords with Cuban heel, canvas body, rubber saddle, black laces.

1930s Saddle Shoes

The trend for canvas continued into the depression era. Other materials were cheapened to keep them affordable.  Leather or rubber saddles were replaced by dark fabric- whatever scraps the factory could acquire for cheap. Crepe rubber was the “new” style of sole to have since it was durable, non slip, shock absorbing and less costly to make. We start to see some contrast white stitching and white laces in the 1930’s. Depression or not, women still wanted to look fashion forward!

1933 “Uppers of bleached and mercerized white duck with black fabric and rubber saddle strap. Real crepe soles and wedge heels.”

Blue and White or brown and white duck cloth saddle shoes with natural rubber heels.

The mid 1930’s also saw the first pair of shoes to leave the brown and white or black and white color combination. Blue and white canvas saddle shoes became the new trendy shoes to wear. Lighter shades of brown also made them more feminine and complimentary to lighter summer fabrics. Soles were usually a natural rubber color that looked best with lighter colors too. Only the oxford style with taller heel used leather soles instead of rubber. Saddles shoes were still mostly a summer time shoe, especially when made of canvas.

1937- Leather returns with black or brown saddle straps, white or black soles, and wedge or stacked heels.

1937 Men’s saddle shoes with crepe soles in brown/brown or black/black.

1938s Rubber sole saddle shoes. Brown and white with brown laces.

By the end of the 1930’s the depression lessened and factories returned to making leather saddle shoes. Men could now afford leisure shoes again and more saddle shoe designs were available for men. Steering away from the color combination that women were wearing, men’s shoes now came in dark on dark tones. Tan on dark brown, black on black, blue on black, and black on grey were just some of the new options.

1940’s Saddle Shoes

1940’s Saddle shoes in brown and cream with brown soles and white stitching

The 1940’s was when saddle shoes really came into pop culture. Men were wearing two tone shoes with business attire and women with afternoon dresses and even suits.  They were no longer a sport only look.  But it was the female teenager that adopted the saddle shoe as her exclusive shoe.  Having worn them as girls, young teens still found them to be a style that was more youthful than most women’s shoes such as the wedge or peep toe.

Men’s 1940’s Brown and White Saddle Shoes, white laces

With the war going on in the early 40’s the “make do and mend” mentality applied to footwear for everyone. The respectful trend with teens was to make new saddle shoes look old:

 “At the time it was the style to wear dirty saddle shoes, so spent the rest of the day rubbing my new shoes in the grass and driveway gravel until they looked just right” – Marge Goral (quoted in Life in the Fantastic Forties)

See if you can spot the dirt in the following photos of teens in the 40’s.

Modeling summer fashion with shorty shorts and saddle shoes.

Teens and skirts, bobby socks and dingy saddle shoes

1942 Women and Girls Saddle Shoes, Black and white black soles, and white laces.

1940’s saddle shoes, Bobby socks and a hair comb? A trendy way to say “I care about my appearance.”

1949 teens all wearing saddle shoes and bobby socks.

1950s Saddle Shoes

1951 saddle shoes with red soles, white stitching, white laces. Comes in black, red, or green.

Teens in the 40’s started the trend for saddle shoes and bobby socks. They were nearly always black and white saddle shoes with either natural or black rubber soles. The dirty shoes trend ended and the latest craze was for red rubber soles and spotless “just like new” saddle shoes. Girls would spend an hour everyday cleaning and polishing shoes to perfection.

Starting in Junior High every girl and now boys had to wear saddle shoes. They looked best with poodle skirts. On the weekends and in summers they looked great with denim blue jeans too. These teens were called “Bobby-soxers” because they always wore white socks with their saddle shoes. “Bobby socks are a fun and comfortable way to ‘girly up’ masculine footwear like brogues or saddle shoes. The socks are generally ankle length and white with a lace upper that folds over, sometimes with a ribbon bow to add a decorative element to a plain shoe.”- Queens of Vintage, “How to be a Bobby Soxer.”

Bobby socks had to be folded down just right, in perfect symmetry with each other.

In Baltimore I either wore saddle shoes or a ballet type slipper.  If wearing saddle shoes the socks had to be rolled precisely and then one year I had things that were like doughnuts that went inside the rolled part.  That way the cuffs were huge.  Don’t ask why-I don’t remember! – Barbara, Madame Hatsy (check out her hat shop!)

Housewives also loved saddle shoes. Comfortable to wear around the house yet too informal to be “proper,” housewives quickly changed into heels before their husbands came home. It was a secret ritual women performed daily yet their husbands never knew about it.

1952 Men’s Saddle shoes (R),brown and white, white laces, brown and black soles.

1950s- Young college man in his saddle shoes

1955 white sole, black sole trim, elk leather saddles shoes. Also in white/brown.

As the 1950s moved on so did the evolution of the saddle shoe. Just like in the ’20s and ’30s which put the saddle strap onto walking oxfords the 50’s put the saddle strap onto flats, loafers, and pumps.  The saddle strap was everywhere in every color and every material. Suede shoes? Check. Patent leather? Check. Pink, green, red ? Check, check, check.  The saddle shoe became the iconic style of the 1950’s. How could they not be when every man, woman, and child was wearing them!

Audrey Hepburn inspired black “flatties” and now in new saddle and loafer flatties.

1957 Bubble saddle shoes with back buckle, black soles, black laces. Also in grey and black and all black styles.

In the mid 1950s the “Bubble” saddle oxford became common for a few years. It was a slimmed down version of the chunkier saddle oxford and often had a buckle across the back of the heel. The soles were also thinner and heels low. It was a lighter, more fashionable, version adopted by students. It was often called “Ivy League” or “Ivy Style” for its popularity with college students.

1960s Saddle Shoes

1964 black and white and black on black saddle shoes

You would think that after such a pop culture explosion of the saddle shoe in the 1950s the style would be outdated by the 1960s. Not quite. Girls, boys and young teens continued to wear the shoes as their daily uniform. Many schools actually made saddle shoes part of the dress code well into the 1990s.  Black soles were replace by white soles in the early ’60s and the black on black saddle became the newer trendier school style.

The 1960s was the last decade that adults were seen wearing the shoes. Why the sudden change? It had a lot to do with the rebellion against old school values and styles. The mod generation embraced two tone color blocking into fashion but not the saddle shoe. By now it was too old, had too much history, and was too child like for a grown up generation. Sad, but all good things must come to end… at least until the next revival.

1960s women and saddle shoes and sailor play suits, (This must have been for a performance where women were acting as school children. )

1961 white sole saddle shoes (r), black with white piping (m) and low profile flats with a hint of the saddle shoe design.

Saddle Shoes Today?

I would like to say the saddle shoe has come back in fashion as fervently as they were in the 50’s. They are not but that doesn’t mean they are can’t be found. There will always be saddle shoes for 1950s costumes and men’s shoes never did lose the saddle from their line (although just in dark colors, rarely a re-run of the black and white combination.) A recent trend for walking oxfords and ballet flats saw a few saddle patterns return on women’s shoes as well. Basically, if you want a pair of saddle shoes to recreate for a vintage costume or your vintage inspired wardrobe you have some options:

1950s Style Saddle Shoes

Saddle Shoes shop page– Women’s and Men’s saddle shoes from multiple shoe retailers online. Most big brand names like GH Bass (affordable men’s and women’s leather saddles), Allen Edmond’s (higher quality men’s), Johnston and Murphy (very good men’s shoes), and others. They come in all different color combination, sole colors, lace colors and stitching details. As you can see by the above history saddle shoes come in a diverse selection so nearly any current saddle style will be similar to saddle shoes of the past.

Here are some more shops to look at for vintage reproduction saddle shoes:

Royal Vintage Shoes- A new line of fabulous reproduction saddle shoes in black, blue or brown patterns with a red-brown sole. High-quality shoes for women only.

GH Bass saddle shoes- For women, the “Noah” saddles shoes are an excellent quality shoe. Unfortunately, the men’s have been discontinued in the black/white pattern.

Orvis– For men, Orvis has classic brown and white saddle shoes. I am still on the hunt for high-quality men’s black and white shoes.

Muffy’s – Red sole 1950s saddle shoes are difficult to find but Muffy’s has them. VERY nice shoes. Many other 50s styles too. The website is outdated and not always working. Call or look at their eBay store. 

RemixVintage–  Another source for classic 50′ saddle shoes. Look at the ebay store first for good deals on discounted shoes.

Shop women’s saddle shoes online (men’s here):