Spats are, as any good Victorianist (or neo-Victorianist) knows, an lovely addition to one’s wardrobe, for reasons beginning with “rows of buttons” and ending with “style and panache.” A few tutorials on how to make your own are floating around the æther, including one in Steampunk Magazine Issue 3, page 38, which has a pattern, which is ever-so-helpful. Of course, each set of spats should be made for the individual legs, so if you do venture cutting out your own, measure, make a mock-up, and fit it to you.

However, if you don’t feel up to creating them yourself, I cannot recommend a pair more covet-worthy than this leather pair with delicate cut-outs by Les Frivolites. Simply stunning just to look at, let alone wear, and they have lovely detailing like ribbons lacing up the back, which you can see here. Excuse me while I sit and stare…