Beschreibung:

A pair of male suede, lace-up shoes once belonging to Fred Astaire, approximately UK size 10, rubber soles; some spotting, slightly worn soles. Also included is a black and white photograph of Fred Astaire from the 1938 movie 'Carefree'. Provenance: These shoes were presented to the vendor by the son of Mr. and Mrs. O'Mahony, who resided in Cork, Ireland. Mr. O'Mahony was a keen gardener and began to make a living as a garden designer, collecting clients along the way. One such client was Ava Astaire and her husband Richard McKenzie, who lived nearby. Fred Astaire visited their cottage in this remote part of Ireland a number of times. On one occasion, when Mr. O'Mahony was working on the garden, he accidentally lost a boot. He recalled that Ava disappeared into the house and returned with a pair of old shoes, once belonging to her father. He held on to them and they eventually passed to the vendor, a family friend. According to a famous interview released in 1957 and in which he detailed his style preferences, Astaire owned about 50 pairs of professional dancing shoes and more than 20 pairs of his own. He reportedly said "It's really very economical to have that many. I have shoes today that are as good as when I bought them 20 years ago" ('Flashback Friday: the Astute Astaire' by Richard Hublar, GQ, August 1957). Brown suede shoes where Astaire's favourites and, as all the other pairs, were custom-made in London.