Julie, you explain and/or greatly enhance our reading pleasure so VERY much; thank you!

I am struck again (since I did a bit of link-exploring some time back, thanks to you!) by how FLIMSY the shoes appear! I assume these are evening slippers; is that correct? Do you know anything about the life-expectancy of such delicate articles? If they are truly as flimsy as they appear, how did any ever survive to be photographed? (I had an acquaintance who was a ballerina, and she said her toe shoes would only last for a matter of hours, perhaps only one performance!) If they are sturdier than they apppear, it makes sense that the Bennets would be very interested in getting new "roses" to make them appear to be different shoes.