The Pleasure and Pain of Fabulous Footwear
On the heels of the Brooklyn Museum’s stiletto-centric show last fall, London’s Victoria & Albert Museum is offering its own exploration of footwear, “Shoes: Pleasure and Pain.” Rather than staggering heights, the V&A’s show focuses on the unique fetishism of shoes from both a historical and a contemporary standpoint. The more than 250 pairs of shoes on display include everything from ancient Egyptian sandals to the sky-high heels worn by famed footwear-fanatics like Daphne Guinness and Sarah Jessica Parker. The show opens this weekend—run don’t walk. Here, a few highlights.
Shoes: Pleasure and Pain is on view starting June 13th at the Victoria & Albert Museum, vam.ac.uk.
Photos: The Pleasure and Pain of Fabulous Footwear
Evening shoe, beaded silk and leather, France. Roger Vivier (1907–98) for Christian Dior (1905–1957), 1958-60.
Photo © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
One sandal, gilded and incised leather and papyrus, Egypt, c30 BCE-300 CE.
Photo © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
‘Parakeet’ shoes by Caroline Groves, England, 2014.
Photo by Dan Lowe.
Wedding toe-knob paduka, silver and gold over wood, India, 1800s.
Photo © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Chopines, Punched kid leather over carved pine, Venice, Italy, c 1600s.
Photo © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
InvisibleNakedVersion by Andreia Chaves, 2011.
Photo by Andrew Bradley.
Mens’ shoes, gilded and marbled leather, Northamptonshire, England, 1925.
Photo © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Desert boots, light brown suede, Clarks, Great Britain, 1994.
Photo © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
