A Shoeaholic's Fantasy: The Bata Shoe Museum

The Bata Shoe Museum is a shoeaholic's fantasy. Although I am more partial to beautiful clothing (is there such a thing as a dress-aholic?), I was enchanted from the moment I walked into the building.

From the basement level to the third floor, there is an incredible variety of shoes on display, including:
* exquisitely beaded moccasins
* delicate silk Chinese slippers for bound lotus feet
* 16th century Venetian chopines with 5 inch velvet covered platforms
* delicate 18th century brocaded slippers

While studying their extensive collection, it struck me that some of the seemingly outrageous shoes of this season and seasons past are not really innovations, but simply reinterpretations of the past. Is anything really new in fashion anymore?

Also on display were a selection of shoes from famous feet including:
* robin's egg blue pumps from Diana, Princess of Wales
* zebra print boots belonging to Picasso
* a pair of Roger Federer's tennis shoes from the French Open
And who knew that prim and proper Winston Churchill wore casual boots? Or that Pierre Elliot Trudeau wore hippy sandals?

One fact that made me laugh out loud was that one famous English dandy Beau Brummel took five hours to dress and that his boots were polished with champagne. Granted his 19th century boots were very beautifully polished and in superb condition, but frankly I'd rather drink champagne than polish my boots with it!

I spent several hours in this delightful museum getting my fashion fix. I left wishing that the Royal Ontario Museum had give more space to their enormous fashion collection instead of confining it to a single room on the fourth floor. For a very modest entry fee of $12, the Bata Shoe Museum is full of inspiration for shoeaholics, fashionistas, artists, students and just regular folk.

The Bata Shoe Museum
327 Bloor Street West, Toronto
416-979-7799 www.batashoemuseum.ca

The Patricia Harris Textile and Costume Gallery at the ROM

After thirty years in storage, the Royal Ontario Museum has a designated space to showcase their 50,000 piece collection of costumes and textiles. The Patricia Harris Gallery of Textiles and Costume is set into a corner of the fourth floor with the jagged windows of the redesign blacked out to protect the fragile fabrics on display.

The items on display are glorious and include the following fabulous dresses:





I could not make much sense of how the gallery was organized, but given the odd shape of the small room, perhaps that is no surprise. Even so, the ROM Costume and Textile Gallery is worth a visit for fashion lovers of all ages.

Royal Ontario Museum
100 Queen's Park, Toronto
416-586-5700
www.rom.on.ca

Red is Best!

Working Woman #5, Acrylic on Paper, 8x10, 2003 by Ingrid Mida

I love red! And given that it is Valentine's Day today, it has to be the day to discuss red. Red is the colour of passion and life. Wear a red dress and you will be noticed!!!

In 2003-2004, I created a series of paintings of women wearing red dresses. I did not paint the heads or limbs to allow a woman to imagine herself wearing the dress. It was probably my most original idea and sold well at Wagner Rosenbaum Gallery and Arts on King. The prestigious Toronto law firm bought "Working Woman #5" for their art collection.

Red is a lucky colour for Chinese brides and was once a popular choice for European brides up until the 19th century. In Russian, the word "krasnoi" means both "red" and "beautiful". What a lovely way to sum up the power of red!!

Fashion is my Muse.

Since I was a little girl, I have been intruiged and fascinated by fashion. I started making clothes for my dolls and later made clothes for myself. Inspiration came to me from Vogue magazine and I saved babysitting money for fabric purchases. I can still recall my mother once adding up the cost of the huge stack of Vogue magazines in my bedroom and harshly criticizing me for "wasting" my money. I did my own fashion "illustrations" including the one above (scratched out at age 12).

To some people (like my mother), fashion is a frivilous affair. But to me, it is a tool allowing me to dress for the role I chose to play on any particular day (ie., goth princess, boho artist, glamourous socialite, plain vanilla mom, sexy secretary....). The whimsy and fragility of fashion is to me endlessly fascinating.

Fashion is my muse.