CECIL BEATON | MRS RITA DE ACOSTA LYDIG'S COLLECTION OF YANTORNY SHOES

Although she walked very short distances, Mrs. Lydig possessed at least three hundred pairs of shoes, shoes that have never been seen before or since. They were made by Yanturni, the East Indian curator of the Cluny Museum, a strage individual with an extraordinary gift for making incredibly light footgear that was moulded like the most sensitive sculpture.

Cecil Beaton

The conditions under which he would supply a few favored customers were somewhat unusual. Yanturni demanded a deposit of one thousand dollars, from which he would subtract the price of each shoe or boot supplied, though delivery often took two or three years. Once he had agreed to work for a customer, he made a plaster model of both feet, on which he would then work and mould his materials until they were as flexible as the finest silk.

Cecil Beaton

Mrs. Lydig’s shoes were fashioned from eleventh- and twelfth-century velvets, with variations in long pointed toes or square-ended toes and correspondingly square heels. Her evening and boudoir slippers utilized brocades or gold- and silver-metal tissue. Some were covered with lace appliqué and leather spats that fitted like a silk sock.

Cecil Beaton

Mrs. Lydig collected violins expressly so that Mr. Yanturni could use their thin, light wood for his shoe trees. With its tree inside, each shoe weighed no more than an ostrich feather. She preserved these shoes in trunks of Russian leather made in St. Petersburg, with heavy locks and a rich cream velvet lining. 

Cecil Beaton
The Glass Of Fashion (1954 - Rizzoli Ex Libris, 2014)