God Save my Shoes

The Bata Shoe Museum hosted a preview of God Save My Shoes, a documentary film about women's passionate and often obsessive relationship with shoes. The film features top shoe designers Christian Louboutin, Manolo Blahink,  and Bruno Frisoni, as well as women shoe lovers/collectors from New York, Los Angeles, Paris and Milan, including Dita von Teese and Fergie. Experts, including Dr. Valerie Steele, Director and Curator of the FIT Museum, and Elizabeth Semmelhack, Senior Curator of the Bata Shoe Museum, give thought-provoking interviews on women's obsession with high heel shoes.

Roger Vivier at the Bata Shoe Museum and other Must-see Exhibitions for 2012

Roger Vivier at the Bata Shoe Museum, photo by Ron Wood, copyright of the Bata Shoe Museum

The explosion of fashion exhibitions in museums has made it virtually impossible to see everything that there is to see. Discerning the extraordinary from the run-of-the-mill show takes work and this is my list of top choices for 2012.

1. Roger Vivier: Process to Perfection at the Bata Shoe Museum beginning May 10, 2012
The Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto never disappoints. This jewel of a museum is headed by curator Elizabeth Semmelhack and she knows how to put on a good show.  In Process to Perfection, the exquisite work of Roger Vivier, known for bejewelled and elegantly sculptural shoes and one of the 20th century's most important master shoemakers,  will be displayed for the first time in North America. Loans from museums around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, will make this show into a shoe-aholic's dream display.

2. Schiaperelli and Prada: On Fashion at the Metropolitan Museum of Art beginning May 10, 2012
This exhibition at the Costume Institute of the Met in New York will explore the affinities between Elsa Schiaparelli and Miucca Prada who come from two different eras. Curated by Harold Koda and Andrew Bolton, the title of the exhibition is based on Umberto Eco's books on the philosophy of aesthetics - On Beauty and On Ugliness  and organized according to the book's outline by topics such as "On Art," "On Politics," "On Women," "On Creativity". The exhibition will run until August 19, 2012.

3. Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs at Musee des Arts Decoratifs beginning March 9, 2012
This exhibition tells the stories of two men of fashion, separated by a century, Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs, and will highlight their contributions to the fashion world. Designed to be an analysis rather than a retrospective, this parallel Vuitton-Jacobs comparison is intended to provide new insight into the fashion system during its pivotal periods, beginning with its industrialisation and ending with its globalisation, focussing also on its artistic professions and crafts, technological advances, stylistic creations and artistic collaborations.

I chose these exhibitions because they are about fashion game-changers. Each one - Vivier, Schiaparelli, Prada, Vuitton and Jacobs - brought a unique vision to the world of fashion. Plus, the curators behind these exhibitions are the best of the best....

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All text and images on this blog are the copyright of Ingrid Mida, unless otherwise noted. The copying of posts, images and/or text without proper attribution is violation of copyright and legal action will be pursued.

The Roaring Twenties at the Bata Shoe Museum

Between sips of cocktails and entertainment by jazz legend Liberty Silver, everyone was talking about heels, hemlines and high spirits last night at the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto. It was the opening night party for The Roaring Twenties exhibition curated by Elizabeth Semmelhack.

Beaded 1920s dresses at the Bata Shoe Museum
Photo by Ingrid Mida 2011

The 1920s was a period of post-war exuberance and women stepped away from their domestic duties and into the public sphere. These social changes were mirrored by a revolution in fashion. Not only did women forgo their corsets, they cut their hair, raised their hemlines, and began playing sports, driving cars, and kicking up their heels while they danced. In fact, the T-strap shoe was designed to keep women's shoes on their feet while doing the Charleston!

Now on display at the Bata Shoe Museum are a gorgeous selection of beautiful 1920s women's shoes along with film clips and a selection of dresses and accessories. Seeing these shoes made me want to dance!

1920s Shoes at the Bata Shoe Museum
Photo by Ingrid Mida 2011

Without exception, all the 1920s shoes on display are beautiful and wearable. I had to wonder why I cannot find shoes like this today instead of only ankle-breaker heels or paper thin flats. I'm hoping that a few shoe designers might just make their way into this tightly edited show and give us a pretty shoe that we can actually dance in!

Boshevik Revolution Inspired 1920s shoes at the Bata Shoe Museum
Photo by Ingrid Mida 2011

Menswear inspired oxford style 1920s shoes at the Bata Shoe Museum
Photo by Ingrid Mida 2011

Shoes in Art

Installation shot of Art in Shoes in Art, Photo by Ingrid Mida 2010

This enchanting piece is the first thing you see when you step through the gallery doors into the Art in Shoes in Art exhibition which opened at the Bata Shoe Museum on October 2, 2010. This enlargement of the famous engraving called Habit de Cordonnier by Gerard Valck from 1690 depicts a shoemaker with shoes and tools used to construct his outfit, and his hat is comprised of fashionable men's and women's shoes. The original engraving is displayed in a cabinet around the corner and is one of the many shoe themed artworks and shoemaker's artifacts from the collection of the Bata Shoe Museum.

On a private tour of the exhibition with curator Elizabeth Semmelhack, I learned that Sonja Bata, founder of the museum, selected her favourite pieces from among the 13000 artifacts in storage to create this exhibition. Besides shoes, the museum's collection includes prints, sculptures, drawings, photographs, shoemaker's tools, shoemaker's artifacts and documents, and other forms of footwear. The exhibition is designed to showcase artworks and where possible, to pair the artwork with actual examples of the shoes or tools shown in the artwork.

For example, in the French lithograph Apprêts du Marriage by Vallon de Villeneuve and printed by Charles Etienne (1820), a bride is shown donning creamy white bridal slippers with red laces that match the red accents of her dress. Displayed alongside the lithograph is a pair of ribboned slippers from 1830 from the Bata Shoe Museum collection that are similar in style to those shown in the artwork.

Apprets du Marriage, Collection of the Bata Shoe Museum

                   

P97.0063 Ribboned slippers, possibly Spanish
Collection of the Bata Shoe Museum

Other highlights include two astonishingly life-like wooden sculptures of the shoemaking saints, an exquisite ivory shoehorn, and a number of intricate prints and lithographs dating back as far as 1505.

In the alcove to the side, there are selected works by contemporary artists who use shoes as an inspiration for their work, including Marilyn Levine, Domenique Bordenowe, Paul Wunderlich, Allen James, Jules Stauber and others. One of the most surprising pieces is a ceramic sculpture of a pair of steel-toe work boots by Canadian artist Marilyn Levine. Look closely at the photo below. Don't they seem real?

P98.0032 Steel Toe Boots #2
Marilyn Levine 1971
Collection of the Bata Shoe Museum

The Bata Shoe Museum is one of my favourite museums anywhere and always worth a visit.
For hours and location information, visit their website with this link: Bata Shoe Museum.

Photo credits: All photos are subject to copyright and not to be used without permission.

On a Pedestal at the Bata Shoe Museum (Part II)

The shift from chopines to high heels that occurred in the 16th century is also an important part of the exhibition On a Pedestal at the Bata Shoe Museum.  In the 1590s, the heel was adopted in Western dress and worn by men during riding to help secure the foot in the stirrup. How this fashion spread to women is somewhat unclear.

Copyright of Museum of Fine Arts Boston 2010

During this period, some of the shoes appear to be an odd combination of a small platform and a heel. I asked curator Elizabeth Semmelhack to explain how these slap-soled shoes came to be:

Copyright of the Royal Ontario Museum 2010

"When heels were first introduced into Western dress from the Near East their original purpose was embraced.  Heels kept the foot in the stirrup when horse back riding.  However, when the rider dismounted, his high heels would sink into the mud. So in the early 17th century, men began to slip their high heeled shoes or boots into a pair of flat-soled mules to prevent their heels from sinking into the mud.  The wearing of mule with shoes or boots did prevent the heel from sinking into the mud but when the wearer attempted to walk a loud slapping sound could be heard made by the sole of the mule slapping against the heel of the shoe or boots---similar to the noise that flip flops make I would guess. Women’s fashion followed men’s in the early 17th century so they too began to wear slap-soles but women’s slap-soles often feature the heel secured to the mule sole so that they did not make noise when they walked.  This was okay for women’s footwear because women had no need to separate their high heeled shoes from their mules as they were not going to go horseback riding." 

Copyright of the Bata Shoe Museum 2010

I was particularly taken with this lovely boy's shoe (shown below) with jaunty ribbons and a painted red sole which conveyed socio-political status and privilege. (Note: Christian Louboutin was not the first shoemaker to paint the soles red!).

Copyright of the Bata Shoe Museum 2010

Visit the Bata Shoe Museum before September 20, 2010 to see this unique exhibition On a Pedestal. The beautifully written and lavishly photographed exhibition catalogue On a Pedestal, From Renaissance Chopines to Baroque Heels by Elizabeth Semmelhack is available at the museum gift-store (416-979-7799 for phone orders) and also on-line from this art books website.

On a Pedestal at the Bata Shoe Museum (Part I)

To step inside the On a Pedestal exhibit at the Bata Shoe Museum is like stepping back in time. The dim lighting,  the Renaissance inspired decor, the reproductions of period paintings hanging in ornate frames and even the period music evoke a time long ago when elegant dress for upper-class women and courtesans was defined by the wearing of tall, pedestal-like shoes.

Velvet covered wooden platforms ornamented with silver lace and silk tassel

Italian 1580-1620

Copyright of Bata Shoe Museum 2010, Toronto, Canada

The history of elevated footwear goes all the way back to ancient Greece and Rome when they were linked to "oriental adornment and concepts of the exotic". During medieval times, elevating footwear was a gender and religious identifier. In the 16th century, such footwear reflected cultural influences, familial status and standards of feminine beauty. At the end of the 16th century, the heel was introduced from the Near East and chopines were eclipsed by the mule and slap sole shoe (which I will discuss in an upcoming post).

Curator Elizabeth Semmelhack guides us through these developments with exquisite examples of such highly provocative footwear including this pair of red velvet chopines from the 16th century which are part of the Bata Shoe Museum collection. Adding much to the understanding of the women that wore such elevated footwear are the reproductions of paintings which illustrate chopines in context. Particularly amusing is the fact that the women in the paintings are often in a state of undress, having kicked off their chopines to luxuriate in comfort!

Italian 16th century red velvet chopines

Copyright of Bata Shoe Museum 2010, Toronto, Canada

Although I've seen chopines before, it never occurred to me that chopines were hidden underneath women's billowing skirts. In fact, the wearing of tall chopines meant that skirt lengths had to be substantially lengthened and necessitated a significant increase in the amount of expensive cloth needed to make such skirts.  Furthermore, since a woman could not walk far on such pedestals, servants were also necessary. Thus, the wearing of tall chopines was symbolic of a family's wealth and status.

There were many more facts about chopines that I could reveal here, but I'd rather encourage you to go to the exhibition and see it for yourself. Exceptional examples of Renaissance and Baroque footwear have been brought in on loan from museums such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Museo Bardini, Florence; Castello Sforzesco, Milan,; Museum Palazzo and Mueo Correr, both Venice; Ambras Castle, Austria, and the Boston Museum of Fine Art. Although there are a few pairs of very fragile chopines that will go off display on May 5th, they will be replaced with other interesting examples of elevated footwear. The exhibition On a Pedestal continues until September 20, 2010.

The Bata Shoe Museum
327 Bloor Street West (at St. George subway)
Toronto, Ontario Canada
416-979-7799