Name/Title
Candie's tan leather high-heeled slide sandals (mules)Entry/Object ID
2025.1.341Description
Pair of women's open-toe, backless high-heeled slide sandals (mule type). Uppers are caramel/tan leather built as a fanned, huarache-style vamp of numerous narrow leather strips banded across the instep and gathered through a knotted central element toward the toe. Footbeds are leather, with a gold-foil maker's logo and size at the heel area. Heels are tall sculpted wooden wedges with a concave instep profile, the upper portion wrapped in matching tan leather over exposed darker wood, set on a leather sole. The signature Candie's "slide" silhouette — a minimal leather strap upper over a wooden high heel.Use
Belonged to María A. Arús Caraballo. She got them from her mother, who received them as a gift from a relative, who bought them in the USA (or Spain) in the 1980s.Context
An imported American fashion shoe of the disco-to-early-1980s era. Charles Cole registered the Candie's brand in 1978 under El Greco, Inc., and the wooden-bottomed high-heeled slide became a mass phenomenon, helped by Olivia Newton-John's footwear in the final scene of Grease (1978). From 1978 to 1981 El Greco sold roughly 14 million pairs of the slides to women aged 14 to 30.
Western consumer goods of the period typically reached Cuban households through travel, gifts from relatives abroad, or the parallel market.Collection
The Cabrera Arús family collection, María A. Arús Caraballo collectionClothing/Dress/Costume Details
Article of Clothing/Dress/Costume
SandalsClothing Sex
FemaleSize
7Textile Details
Material
LeatherColor
BrownMade/Created
Manufacturer
El Greco, Inc.Place
Country
BrazilContinent
South AmericaEdition
Candie'sNotes
Date: circa 1978–early 1980s — consistent with the Candie's script logo and the El Greco production era (the brand passed to Pentland Group in 1986); not narrowable from a date mark on the object.Label/Inscription/Signature
Type
InscriptionLocation
insoleTranscription
Candie's
109Language
EnglishNotes
Insole (each shoe), gold-foil cursive logo: "Candie's." Confirmed.
Above the logo, impressed/foil size: "7M" (US women's size 7, medium width).
Beneath the script logo, a small rectangular foil emblem ("109"). Enhanced but not fully legible; read as the maker's logo box, contents unconfirmed.
Sole: "Made in Brazil"Dimensions
Dimension Description
Size 7 (US Women's shoe size)Parts
Two shoes (left, right)Relationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
María A. Arús CaraballoNotes
ownerRelated Places
Place
City
HavanaCountry
CubaRegion
Caribbean, Central AmericaNotes
useCreated By
María A. Cabrera ArúsCreate Date
March 31, 2022Updated By
María A. Cabrera ArúsUpdate Date
June 17, 2026
