] Speaking of footwear, I have been wondering if men changed shoes when they arrived indoors for a ball or other refined occasion. Boots outdoors and pumps on the carpets? Ladies were often carried or..?? How did their silk slippers survive?

They didn't, is the short answer. The shoes´were often so thin they'd only last one evening (source is N. Waugh's "Cut of Women's Clothing). My guesstimate is that they'd (men and women) wear boots in the carriage to the ball, and change shoes at the venue.