Sexy shoes add zing to spring: Women’s shoes from the 1979 Sears catalog

Spring ’79 will be a season of sensuality for footwear — and glove-like fabrications, bright colors, sculpted heels and “echoes of the ’40s” are the trends to watch, reports the Footwear Council.

The shape is closer to the foot, rounder, softer — and that goes for business shoes, sports shoes and dress shoes for men, women and children.

Women will become familiar with the “citisandal” and the “fisherman” shoe this spring. The former boasts stacked heels in myriad shapes and heights, a palette of colors ranging from pale neutrals such as champagne, sand and pebble to clear, crisp brights such as honeydew green, pale banana, Pacific turquoise and Chinese red.

There will be a large variety of strap combinations, perforations and cutouts featured in the shoes, fabricated in soft leathers and supple suedes.

Sporty and sophisticated women’s shoes from the 1979 Sears catalog

The French-inspired fisherman sandal works with pants or skirts, goes sporty or sophisticated. This style can be an intricate jumble of criss-crossing straps or just two buttery-soft folds of leather. It can rest on flat-flat heels or scooped-out wedges, stacked mid-heels or stiletto spikes.

For the casual fisherman, check out delicate snakeskins and linens, the Footwear Council suggests. For a fisherman’s elegant evening ashore, perhaps nubuck, soft and velvety as a summer night.

The council also reports an assortment of disco shoes that defy description. Fantasy is the key: glamour and sparkle, bursts of color and strappy metallics, the highest of heels and the barest look possible — but the chic-est as well.

– Article from Lancaster Eagle-Gazette (Lancaster, Ohio) – March 22, 1979

See the catalog: Women’s shoes from the 1979 Sears catalog

Click on any image below to see larger catalog pages, and to start the slideshow!

Retro high heel shoes with open toes and in 70s platform and pump styles

Vintage strappy heels and sandals for women from 1979

Retro shoe fashions with strappy heels and sandals plus patent and canvas handbags to match

Retro leather and urethane dress boots for women from 1979

Stylish perforated shoes for women from the 70s - sandals and clogs

High-heeled sandals and ballet wedges plus ankle strap vintage shoes for women

Shoes with moccasin toe urethane upppers and plantation crepe rubber soles from 1979

Sporty stitch trim Oxford athletic shoes from 1979

Retro casual shoes for women with brown leather uppers and rubber soles

70s-style Oxfords with brown leather uppers and wavy platform soles

Vintage moccasin-style shoes and slip-on footwear for women from 1979

Sandals with cork soles and chunky heels from 1979

Vintage low-profile walking shoes for women from 1979

Vintage mid-heel brown leather sandals from the '70s with wood and cork soles

Stylish 70s pumps for women with ornamental vamps and metal trim and square heels

Walking sandals for women in the 70s - low square heels and cork wedge soles

Sophisticated dressy sandals from 1979 - wedges and T-straps plus pumps and heels

Vintage open-toe high-heel sandals with T-straps and knotted vamps plus ankle straps

Retro crafted-look sandals - crochet-look, macrame-style and hemp heels from 1979

Luxurious 70s kidskin sandals with cross vamps, T-straps and ruffle trims plus cork sole

Cool and comfortable fabric heels and espadrilles from 1979

Vintage conservative shoes for women from 1979 - leather uppers and mid-heels

Retro Motion-Ease Sole Shoes with gimmicky molded rubber soles - from 1979

Vintage casual shoes - oxfords, espadrilles, slip-ons and ballet flats

Vintage women's fabric casuals and tennis shoes from the 70s

Vintage 70s casual clogs for women with brown leather uppers and natural wood platforms

Vintage dressy high-heel sandals with wood soles and leather uppers from 1979