Buckled shoes began to replace tied shoes in the mid-17th century:
Samuel Pepys wrote in his
Diary for 22 January 1660 "This day I began to put on buckles to my shoes, which I have bought yesterday of Mr. Wotton." The fashion at first remained uncommon enough though that even in 1693 a writer to a newspaper complained of the new fashion of buckles replacing ribbons for fastening shoes and
knee bands. Separate buckles remained fashionable until they were abandoned along with
high-heeled footwear and other
aristocratic fashions in the years after the
French Revolution, although they were retained as part of ceremonial and
court dress until well into the 20th century. In Britain in 1791 an attempt was made by buckle manufactures to stop the change in fashion by appealing to the then Prince of Wales
Prince George. == Knee buckle ==