WOMEN’S SHOES:
To go with all those breathable less structured dresses during The Regency were breathable, less structured shoes.  No more heel. No more discomfort. No more squashing toes into rigid up turned points. Let's talk, slippers. Sure they still had pointed toes but they were made of soft materials and came in romantic pastels. Lavender, pink and robin's egg blue were amongst the colors to choose from.
Later in the century as the stay was reeling it's ugly head once again, shoes hardened up as well and because they were always hidden under a a dress there wasn't much attention paid to them. And when there is low demand, there usually lacks variety. In fact, there were only three styles of shoes to choose from in the later part of the century:  the boot, the clog and the dress slipper.  The boot became the everyday wear, durable and practical but took a long time to break in.
Once the sewing machine was patented in 1850, the boot was accessible to more women and it eventually became the footwear for the working class.  The dress slipper and clog were worn only on special occasions which were made of satin in many luminous colors and intricate designs to match the dress that the women was wearing.
MEN’S SHOES:
Like men's clothes, men's shoes become steadfast and conservative and basically stayed that way for centuries to come. Black becomes basically the only color for shoes. The riding boot becomes fashionable for a time at the beginning of the century which were low heeled and practical.

The laced up shoe which can still be seen today became popular at the beginning of the century and has been with us ever since. When it comes to men's shoes, they changed and developed and consisted of some crazy styles here and there until the end of the 19th century when suddenly perfection was attained and the search was over. Kaput. This was it. Why bother anymore? You won't find much variation from this time on with a brief detour in the 1970's with the Anything Goes era.

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