Make money collecting vintage shoes

There has never been a better time to start collecting vintage shoes and dip your toes into the vintage shoe market.

Although you might not trip over anything like the scarlet satin, rhinestone-studded Ferragamo stilettos once worn by Marilyn Monroe and sold by Christie’s in New York for more than $48,500 (£25,500), there’s still money to be made in this market.

Shoes also trade well. Pairs by Christian Louboutin, with their iconic red soles, typically achieve 64% of their original price.

A £5 pair of seventies stilettos from Oxfam in reasonable condition can fetch £50 in a specialist vintage clothing and fashion shop, or if sold online.

An original pair of 1970s shoes from the British designer Terry de Havilland could fetch between £400 and £500.

Sara Pope is a collector and owner of around 100 pairs of shoes,  studied footwear design at Cordwainers at the London College of Fashion – a joint initiative between the college and the long-established livery company.

Ms Pope holds regular shoe sale parties at her home, with prices starting from £20 and rising to as much as £80, depending on the design and quality of the craftsmanship.

One pair, black with hand-painted flowers, picked up for £2 in a charity shop, recently sold for £30.

“I don’t go for anything overly fashionable or a particular designer,” says Ms Pope. “I just look for beautiful, soft leather and something that makes the foot look good.”

As a vintage shoe collector, she sticks to set rules: never pay more than £40 and don’t buy anything too worn or battered. “The older and more roughed up a shoe is, the more it reminds you that it has been worn by someone else,” she adds.

TIPS TO START COLLECTING

1. Choose an area to specialise in: time period, designer, or category
2. Categories to look out for: 1970s wedges, stilettos and tango shoes.
3. Designers to look out for: Roger Vivier, Charles Jourdan, Manolo Blahnik and Stephane Kélian.

In the latter case, the ‘Holy Grail’ for collectors must be the famous ruby-red slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz, which made $660,000 (then around £412,000) when sold at auction in 2000.

Ms Cox says that among more affordable collectables worth searching out are 1970s wedges, stilettos and – with their unmistakable note of Latin passion – tango shoes. Alternatively, if you are prepared to hunt high and low for bargains and have the cash to spare, you could look out for designers such as Roger Vivier, whose extravagant 1960s and 1970s creations earned him the title ‘The Fragonard of the shoe’, and Charles Jourdan, whose family firm designed for Dior from the late 1950s.

“Don’t forget the legendary Manolo Blahnik, either,” she continues. “His exquisite footwear turned him into a style icon when his designs were worn by the actress Sarah Jessica Parker in the hit TV show Sex and the City. The Parisian designer Stephane Kélian is another name to look out for.”

Whether it’s ballet pumps or scary stilettos, once you’ve decided what to concentrate on, you’ll need to do your homework. Learn as much as you can about your target shoe – only then will you recognise the ones that are a little different and therefore more likely to bring in extra value.

Given that people have long disposed of their old shoes, you can expect to find unwanted footwear in all sorts of places. Happy hunting grounds are charity shops, car boot sales, attics and even the back of your mum’s wardrobe.

PLACES TO LOOK

1. Charity Shops – The number one rule when visiting charity shops is: don’t be afraid to rummage. It’s usually the case that the most collectable items lurk at the bottom of the pile. And keep going back to any shop you think might have hidden treasures, because the good stuff goes fast. Twice a week is not excessive for an enthusiastic collector.
2. Car Boot Sales – same rule as above. Spend a bit of extra time going through the boxes and bags that are often on and around the tables.
3. Attics – your own attic and those of friends could have all sorts of treasures in them!

The best places to sell your shoes are largely online.