Pattens
c. 1936
Edward L. Loper’s 1936 design sketch brings a rather clunky piece of footwear history to life with elegant simplicity. Known as a patten, this object was essentially the historical equivalent of modern-day galoshes—a thick, pointed platform strapped over regular shoes to keep feet out of the mud and muck of unpaved streets. Rendered with soft, precise shading against a blank background, the drawing highlights the strange, almost alien geometry of this utilitarian object, turning a muddy necessity into a sleek study of modernist form.
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