As a Lindy Hopper, it’s pretty mandatory that you have at least one pair of Keds in your collection for dancing. They are comfortable, last for a long time and come in cool colours and now super cool designs. BUT did you know that Keds had a division that started in the 1930’s that were strictly for women called “Kedettes“? They did! and the line was stylish, really beautiful and with its shock-absorbing sole also comfortable (Keds history)!

Take a look at the following selection of vintage ads for Kedettes and start imagining how cute you would have looked on the dance floor with them on!

1950s vintage ad for Kedettes Shoes for Women featuring ballet flats and 1950s poodle and cat skirt.

Disclosure: Some of the links on my blog from Etsy are Affiliate Links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

“Kedettes”-Keds Stylish Women’s Shoe Division

The Vintage Advertising

Love this dancing Kedette ad from the 1930s.

1930s vintage ad for women's Keds shoes-Kedettes. Ad features saddle shoes and open toe shoes.

1940s vintage ad for women’s shoes perfect for summer time fun! I will take the Green one’s, the Yellow ones, brown ones…..

1940s Vintage ad: 1940s vintage shoe ad for Kedettes a division of Keds. The women's shoes are perfect for summer. Fun 1940s fashion illustrations.

1950s vintage ad: “Say Saludos when you buy your next pair of new Kedettes”.

1950s Vintage ad: 1950s vintage shoe ad for Kedettes shoes a division of Keds featuring a woman in mexican style clothing.

I just loved the colours AND styles in this 1950s ad and had to add it to the collection of pics.

1950s vintage ad: 1950's shoes ad for Kedettes shoes a division of Keds. Fun women's 1950s fashionable shoes.

All of these 1940’s Kedettes would be perfect in my closet, every single one.

1940s shoe ad for Kedettes shoes for Women. 1940s fashion.

1940s for Kedettes Wedges that are perfect for Spring and Summer.

Source: Etsy

I may be tall but I’m a sucker for a wedge and these wedges don’t seem to be too tall for little old me and they are so beautiful as well. 1940s ad.

1940s vintage ad: 1940s vintage shoe ad for Kedettes shoes-1940s shoes for women.

1940’s Kedettes are simply gorgeous and I have at least 10 dresses that would look perfect with them 🙂

1940s vintage ad: 1940s vintage shoe ad for women's shoes by Kedettes a division of Keds.

Would you like to own a pair of Kedettes? Here are some examples of what was on sale on the web at time of posting (head over to Etsy to do a search for more updated finds)

1950s / 1960s Kedettes in red, white and blue slip on. So cute! (Avail as of Nov 2023).

Vintage Shoes: 1950s / 1960s Kedettes in red, white and blue slip on. So cute!

Source: Etsy – BombyxVintage

Vintage 1950s Kedettes yellow ballerina flat slipper shoes. A beautiful pair of 1950s flat shoes made of bright yellow woven cotton fabric with a yellow cord loop on top.

vintage 1950s yellow flat ballerina shoes

Source: Etsy

1940s 1950s Summerettes Kedettes canvas shoes lace-up sandals in blue and off-white.

Source: Etsy

Original Vintage 1940s /1950s Red Canvas Strappy Kedettes Summerettes Wedges Sandals.

Source: Etsy

There you have it, Keds was not always a brand for just running shoes. Now I don’t know about you but I think I might run off to ebay/etsy and see if any still exist in this world that I can drool over.

FURTHER READING:

Vintage Fashion: ‘Keds’ Turn 100
Vintage Fashion 1920s-1960s (Archived Blog Posts)

Liz 🙂

This Christmas I purchased an amazing book called “Lets’ Dance-A Celebration of Ontario’s Dance Halls and Summer Dance Pavilions by Peter Young” which gives a brief history of each of the amazing venues that you could have danced at between the 1920s to 1960’s in Ontario, Canada. Some places still exist and some are long gone 🙁

As a Lindy Hopper and a lover of Big Band Music and 1950’s Rock and Roll I know so much about the history of Harlem dance halls (like the Savoy, Cotton Club), that it was nice to be able to find a book written about the dance scene in my own backyard and so I was excited to learn all that I could from this little gem over my Christmas Holidays.

The book….is AWESOME! and as I was reading it, I started to get an urge to:

A) Want to visit these places, existing or non existing;

B) Share some of the history with my readers and with the Ontario Lindy Hop dance scene as well.

So I thought I would do a blog series in the New Year where I would visit locations and then do a little write-up about the venue I just visited (with help from Peters book).

Here is a taste of where I plan to visit first:

Palace Pier-Toronto, Ontario (March 18th, 2022 Update…HERE IS THE POST)

SERIOUSLY???? WOW!!!!!! Sigh…Yikes!!! Man oh Man I would have given anything to have been able to have danced a swing out or two on this famous dance floor but it sadly would never be as it burnt down in the 1960’s. However there is a plaque I can visit so this is where I will start the first of the series. In the mean time if you can’t wait for my blog posts, you can purchase Peters book on Amazon right now.

Other ‘Lets Dance Posts’: Kenwick on the Lake, CNE Tent, Port Dover Summer Gardens

Liz

Tag: Lindy Hop

Vintage Fashion: “Kedettes”-Keds Stylish Women’s Shoe Division

“Kedettes”-Keds Stylish Women’s Shoe Division

The Vintage Advertising

“Let’s Dance” Vintage Dance Halls in Ontario-A New Blog Post Series