Maginel Wright Barney Shoes

Maginela Wright Barney's Maganela Flats:
In my first post here, I wanted to share a really cool find from a collection in New Jersey. I had never seen a pair of shoes by Maginel Wright Barney, so when I came across a pair marked with a simple tag inside reading Maganela I was perplexed. After some research including the participation of vintage fashion guilders- I was led to her name and history. Maginel was Frank Lloyd Wright's sister and a known illustrator in her own right. However, she became a successful designer as well. Her first attempts at fashion came when she started crafting fleece-lined felt slippers all handmade for relatives or friends. In New York around the 1940's-50's she started using the tag Maganela and embellishing Capezio shoes herself.

I will be blogging in depth about her history and citing some interesting articles on her later on my blog. However, I wanted to give everyone some interesting info in case they ever see that tag and an exclusive sneak preview of the shoes here. I will be putting them for sale at the Sarara Vintage shop and possibly at the Manhattan Vintage Show in April. See the link to the shop and blog above by clicking on the Blog title.