This is pair of “Kasut Manek”, the literal meaning being “beaded shoes”. The slipper face is covered with bead embroidery or threading. This is a technique where coloured seed beads are stitched onto a base fabric using needle and thread. More specifically, petit point beadwork is used here. The needle worker uses coloured beads to stitch out patterns drawn onto square paper. Such bead embroidery was usually done on velvet or plain weave cotton and required the use of a frame or ‘pidangan’. The seed beads used here could be “Rocaille beads” or beads made of coloured glass. These are usually spheroidal in shape (compressed at the sides). The decorative motifs on this piece are flower designs of varying sizes and colours. The colours include orange, blue, green and red. The attention to detail can be seen as the centre of each flower has a different colour or a different shade of the same colour from the petals. This is set against a background of white seed beads which contrasts well with the vibrancy of colours in the floral motifs.
