“Shoes: Pleasure and Pain” at Victoria & Albert Museum

“Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world.” said Marilyn Monroe.

Shoes play an important role in common imagery: they talk about the wearer’s social role and attitudes. They also rouse people fancy as an object of desire, a symbol of power and feminine seduction. Fairy tales and folklore talks about shoes as a magic object with special qualities in fast travelling or social climbing, as we learned from Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” and in Cinderella’s story.

"Invisible Naked Version" von Andreia Chaves, 2011 Photograph by Andrew Bradley © Courtesy of Victoria & Albert Museum

Europeana Fashion partner Victoria and Albert Museum hosts the exhibition “Shoes: Pleasure and Pain” from 13th June 2015 to 31st January 2016. The display looks at the extremes of footwear from around the globe, presenting around 200 pairs of shoes, some of which have never been showed before. Through several guidelines this exclusive set inspects shoes history and meanings, celebrating the craftsmanship behind the development of the production process from handmade to mass-produced. The collection includes examples from famous shoe wearers and collectors, that are shown alongside a dazzling range of historic pieces.

A wide preview of the exhibit is available on V&A’s website, that offers interactive multimedia contents. Take a look at “Cinderella’s Shoes” a short animation that explores the well-loved story of Cinderella as it has been told across the globe for Centuries. You can also find an interactive shoes time-line or have a look inside the exhibition.

For more information, please visit Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Browse on Europeana Fashion our amazing collection of historical and contemporary shoes.

A admission essay writing by www.topadmissionessay.com major concern schools will face as they implement this kind of technology will be how they protect the privacy of students