Chinese-Style Slippers
, c. 1892 to 1980s
Footwear
This pair of Chinese-style slippers demonstrates how first-generation Chinese Canadian women used Chinese clothing accessories to teach their Canadian-born children or grandchildren about cultural pride. The shoes are from the private collection of the Vancouver-based artist Jeanette Lee. Growing up as a third-generation Chinese Canadian, Lee remembered her grandmother Wong Shee made each grandchild a pair of Chinese-style slippers as a gift every year. Wong used recyclable materials such as vinyl or plastic, velvet, and the inside of purses to make these slippers. It is a common practice used by first-generation elders to highlight one’s ethnic identities, pass on their cultural knowledge and blessings to later generations.