Shoe view

Can you imagine the devastation when planning to visit an important event and you literally can’t get in? Yes, I’m talking about my recent situation when I tried to catch the very last moments of Alexander McQueen’s Savage Beauty At Victoria And Albert Museum. Arriving there I experienced the greatest disappointment in years when tickets were sold out – admittedly, I underestimated how popular the exhibition was. Anyway, trying to get calm and not to be overwhelmed by jealousness of those lucky ones who booked their tickets month ahead, I thought that VA surely would offer something interesting …

And I found my spot almost straight away. The photo of Nadia Auermann, wearing skyscraper heels and at the same time supporting herself with two crutches and two gentlemen grabbed my attention. Another fabulous exhibition Shoes: Pleasure and Pain was my timesaving destination.

And of course not to mention that getting into this exhibition is like plunging into magical world of shoes.

A matter of fact the way they are changing her gait has really something mesmerizing and special

First thing that make you stop and stare at is a short film, where you can see a girl (actually you can see only her legs) who is running around a big mansion and changing 3 types of shoes – ballet flats, heeled sandals and wedges. As a matter of fact the way they are changing her gait has really something mesmerizing and special.

In a moment a whole history of shoemaking is in front of you. But more importantly, you see the role of shoes in our everyday life in different epochs. Starting with ancient Egypt sandals and Chinese lotus shoes and getting to modern Jimmy Choos.

Being not allowed to take picture and make sketches, I tried to put this whole range of shoe “information” in an arrangement in my head. So, the exhibition was divided into several sections:

• Transformation: the way shoes can uplift and transform your look and inner state at once. As an Illustration remember Hans Christian Andersen’s The Red Shoe fairy tale and Karen’s red shoes and her obsession with them, especially their magical power for forcing her to dance. Not forgetting also about the Cinderella story.
• Status: when wearing a certain kind of shoe makes you feel privileged. From ancient times, even when the shoes were quite similar for different social levels; they were made from different materials and had variety of decoration for the purpose of social distinction.
• Seduction: feminine shoes always have to make women’s feet look smaller. I remember one beautifully crafted leather knee high boots, amongst other showpieces, reminding me of Christian Louboutin’s Supre Fifre Corset boots, while equally fascinated by another pair by Christian Louboutin transparent soul fetish shoes. With this intention the wearer is unable to walk but crawl and for the purpose of even more seductive appeal this pair has transparent soles.
• Movement: the most compelling evidence is one pair that comes to my mind, the white pumps by Salvatore Ferragamo which were worn by Marilyn Monroe. With attention to her famous gait, it is believed that the difference in heel height was a reason for this. Although this may be true, I haven’t noticed this difference. I think there is no secret that perfectly fit shoes make you fly, especially when at the same time they are beautiful.

For me, further exploration of the exhibition turned out to be very fascinating by discovering Andre Perugia’s Hairy ankle boots for Elsa Schiaparelli from 1938, which reminded me of Saint Laurent’s Patti goat hair boots. Actually, Andre Perugia’s shoes, as the world’s first shoe designer were amongst the most interesting showpieces there.

Also it was good to hear from world’s leading shoe designers such as Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo’s creative director Sandra Choi and Christian Louboutin about the mystery of shoemaking. Eventually, I was lucky to see ‘every day’s’ shoe collections there, and was stunned by some of them. The way of choosing and mixing different pairs of shoes, can say a lot about the owner. Under those circumstances I would be braver and would probably be able to see “my pair of shoes” more quickly when buying another one for myself.