Most civilian footwear became utilitarian and durable as well as rationed. When war spread to all of Europe in 1939, both sides of the conflict refocused manufacturing for military production. He used these materials because traditional shoemaking materials were limited due toItaly’s war with Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in 1935/36. Italian shoemaker Salvatore Ferragamo came to fame in the late 1930s for introducing cork wedge heels, wood platform soles, and non-traditional materials for uppers such as woven and crocheted cellophane. Boots were the perfect compliment to the ever-shrinking skirt of the late 1960s, especially in space age materials like wet-look vinyl and stretch nylon. In 1961 French designer Pierre Cardin launched a low-heeled square toed boot in his Autumn collection, but the style did not meet with success until 1964 when French designer Andre Courrèges paired a similar version with his space-age mini skirt look. Stiletto-heeled shoes were still being made as late as 1968, but their popularity declined after 1963, especially with younger women who were choosing shoes with lower heels and broader toes.1960s fashions in dress and footwear saw womanly glamour displaced by girlish youthfulness. The stiletto also carried hundreds of pounds of pressure per square inch that typically pock-marked linoleum and wooden floors with every step. Although complimenting a shapely calf and narrow ankle, the pointed toe and high heeled shoe was also the cause of numerous foot injuries, from bunions to turned ankles. The highest, thinnest stiletto heels and the pointiest toes possible were the height of fashion in 1960. This decade saw a revolution in shoe design. Punk and Goth went mainstream and even influenced shoe designers like Christian Louboutin and Manolo Blahnik. Fashion now worked in reverse, with ideas borrowed from the street and working their way up to haute couture. Both the platform sole and the stiletto heel had been forecast as “on their way out” by many fashion writers in the mid 1990s, but both are still in fashion today. With the rise of the internet, fashion journalists lost their powers of persuasion. Shoe chains closed, although Aldo and Nine West, for example, survived by modernizing their retail outlets to look like up-market retailers. Retailing shifted as well, with luxury brands now retailing their own products, and cheaper lines being sold through factory outlets, televised home shopping, and E-commerce by the end of the decade. Virtually all high fashion footwear was now being imported from Europe, and mainstream branded shoes and high fashion knock-offs were being made in Southeast Asia. The recession in the early 1990s was particularly devastating to American footwear manufacturers.Companies scrambled after marginal profit forecasts, based on unrealistic futures determined during the economic boom of the late 1980s, failed. In addition to these haute couture lines, the exhibit draws from Caribbean, South American, Asian, and American designs as well.Ī Walk in Her Shoes features 50 pairs from the collection of the Fashion History Museum in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada as well as an extensive selection from ESSE Purse Museum’s own collection. Visitors can expect to see shoes by mid-century greats like Christian Dior, Bally, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Mary Quant, end-of-century stunners by Christian Louboutin, Thierry Mugler, and Yves Saint Laurent, and everything in between. The artifacts on display represent a diverse array of designers and craft origin. The museum hopes it will also raise questions about women’s evolving mobility, social positions, and expressive choices in the public sphere. From restrictive lace-up leather boots and painted silk peep-toe heels to glamorous stiletto pumps and chunky punk scene platforms, the exhibit showcases major trends in women’s shoes in North America and Europe. Beginning at the turn of the twentieth century, the exhibit reflects on the evolving styles, materials, silhouettes, and function in women’s footwear. A Walk In Her Shoes traces the steps of the American woman over the course of 100 years.
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