GEORGIAN SHOE BUCKLES with Ian Armstrong OAM

The high period of the Georgian shoe buckle time was declining in the late 1700s and there was a petition to the King by the buckle makers to encourage the wearing of them by Royalty in order to keep the buckle trade alive. The king obliged. However, the tide was flowing against them and by the early 1800s the buckles were all but dead other than for court or ceremonial uses.

George III had at least 350 buckles which meant he could change his buckles on a daily basis. Ian Armstrong will discuss the reasons why there was such a decline, which included the introduction of shoestrings.