high-button shoes

high-button shoes

An example of something that is outdated or no longer fashionable. Women commonly wore high-button shoes through the early-20th century. I'm sorry, Grandma, but shag carpeting went out with high-button shoes—we really need to update your place.See also: shoe

high-button shoes

A symbol of times past. Through the Victorian era up to the end of the first World War, women wore ankle-high boots that fastened with buttons. When the style lost favor with fashion, the footwear became of a symbol of a time gone by, surving in the scornful expression that an old-fashioned item or idea “went out with high button shoes.” Other such “went out with” objects were banjo picks, horse collars, and buggy whips.See also: shoe