Boots, woman's

These black leather stiletto-heeled ankle boots were historian Dame Judith Binney's favourites. They were made in a family shoe factory in Alaior on Minorca in the Balearic Islands, Spain. Dame Judith purchased them while on an overseas holiday in 1973.

With Victorian or Edwardian detailing to the upper outer edges, they were worn by her with garments such as her Annie Bonza silk velvet maxi skirt with patchworked lower hem.

These boots had a colourful life: in the late 1970s, they were stolen by a prostitute, along with other items of clothing, but soon after were returned to Dame Judith by the police.