Abstract: Traditional opera costume is gorgeous and exquisite, and considered as an important part of Chinese costume culture. Not only does traditional opera costume have rich material characteristics, but also contains valuable spiritual connotation. This paper started with the introduction of the connection between traditional opera costume and modern shoes design. The artistic expressions of patterns, styles, colors, fabrics, opera shoes and other elements of traditional opera costume were then elaborated in detail in the modern shoe design. Finally, this paper described the application methods through cases in order to drive designers to dig deeply into opera elements and integrate them into the design of modern shoes and boots, as well as promote the development of modern shoes and boots design industry.