Renaissance shoes for women are a thing of beauty. Many of today’s women’s renaissance shoe makers add a special creative flair to what is considered period, or is at least out of the ordinary. True, it’s very difficult to find authentically designed period shoes for your historical clothing, but most reenactments and renaissance festivals don’t go totally garb-nazi on you for wearing a more festive version of renaissance slippers or poulaines. Individuals may vary.

Of course, if you want truly authentic renaissance shoes, your best bet is to purchase a well documented reenactment shoe pattern and either make the shoes yourself, or hire a cobbler to do it for you. It’s surprising, but they do still exist, and while they’re often hard to find, it’s well worth the effort. Even a small town like Ephrata, PA has at least one cobbler!

When searching for already finished shoes, check for documentation or a statement to the effect of “these shoes were inspired by moorish Spain” in order to find the most period renaissance shoes for women.