This pair of pointed slippers has been stitched with blue and white beads. Sombre colours of black, blue and green were considered appropriate for mourning periods in the 20th century. Slippers of these colours are rare because they were used only during periods of mourning and many were thrown away after the mourning period. The slipper faces were sewn with beads on a frame and then sent to Chinese shoemakers to be attach to the leather slipper base. The sole of the slippers are stamped with the shopmark of ‘Dah Hua Shoe Co.’ (大华) in both English and Chinese characters.Beaded slippers, also known as kasut manek, were popular with Peranakans in the early 20th century. The slipper faces were sewn with beads on a frame and then sent to Chinese shoemakers to be attach to the leather slipper base. It was a time when Western-style clothing and materials like Europe-imported glass beads were incorporated into Peranakan fashion as an expression of their “modernity”.
