History & Notes: According to donor, the shoes were worn by former ID first lady Lucille Smylie, wife of former ID governor Robert E. Smylie at one of his inaugurations in either 1959 or 1963. Given that Lucille wore a white dress for these inaugural balls this seems unlikely. However, the territorial centennial of 1963 coincided with the beginning of R. Smylie's final term. Newspaper articles from March of that year state that in preparation for a centennial ball, Lucille had a velvet gown commissioned in a color matching the shoes. It is probable that this was the occasion for which she wore the shoes instead of the inaugural ball. The Sohari Collection was made by the Johansen Brothers Shoe Company, Inc. in St. Louis, MO. They were in business from 1948-2009.
Description: Royal blue velvet pumps from the Sohari Collections by the Johansen Bothers Shoe Company from Saint Louis, MO. They have a matching bow-type decoration on the toe with metal and crystal rhinestone accents on either side. The soles are tan hard leather. White leather insoles and leather and suede lining. The inscriptions on the insoles are written in gold ink. The silver metal and crystal rhinestone accents are circular and contain approximately 14 rhinestones each and the bow decoration is threaded through the accent an sewn onto the pumps.
Object Number: 2014.002.0001
Object: shoe
Category: Women's Footwear
Circa: 1960
Materials: textile, leather, velvet, suede, metal, rhinestone