A Fashionable Limp...

While it might seem outlandish, a popular trend in Victorian London was for women to fake a limp. Called the “Alexandra limp,” it was named after Alexandra, Princess of Wales, who was married to Queen Victoria‘s son, King Edward VII. Alexandra developed a limp after suffering from a bout of rheumatic fever. Given the popularity of the royal family, women were eager to copy the princess. This was accomplished by wearing mismatched shoes, and the trend became so popular shoemakers started to produce footwear with this purpose in mind.