credit: Getty Images

A pair of shoes that once belonged to Marie Antoinette sold for more than $82,000 at auction last week in Paris. The shoes are believed to have been a gift from Alexandre-Bernard Ju-Des-Rets in 1775. The auction was held the day after the anniversary of her beheading: October 16. 1793.

Last May, a different pair of shoes sold at auction for $57,000. Before we scoff that the tri-color mules were a steal, they were only expected to sell for between $6,000 and $13,000.

credit: AFP 2012

The pair pictured above are believed to be from the 1790s, when the tri-color was style. It’s not that I was expecting to find a pair of Dr. Scholl’s inserts, but EGAD they did not have arch support back then! Unlike her dress size (unreleased!) the last Queen of France was a approximately a “US size” 6, a 36 if you’re shopping on the Continent.

Naturally, the big question is, if you had eighty large to spend on shoes which pair would you pick? The green-striped heeled slippers or the tricolor mules?

Would you stash them in a display case or would you cave to the temptation to wear them like the second owner of her court dress now on display at the Royal Ontario Museum?