Ann, I'm sure that if you were going to a very ton-ish party in London or Bath, and your carriage dropped you at the door, then you'd have no need of wearing sturdy shoes, and bringing your dancing slippers separately. Ditto the gentlemen.

But in the country, well, things were different. One walked a great deal from house to house for parties. I can think of one delightful sketch from the sketchbook of Diana Sperling (I think I'm massacring the title!) where she and her sister and her brother are depicting tripping gingerly down a very muddy country lane to a house party, holding their skirts high and carrying a spare pair of shoes in their hands. And I'm sure that her brother Henry had recourse to a wiping cloth to clean off his boots by the time he arrived as well!

Louisa
Mistress of the Garderobe