Walk This Way Exhibit; Shoes include a Manolo, a pair of slap-sole shoes and a pair worn by Marilyn Monroe
In 2007, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts held an exhibit in which "visitors might find a pair of Venetian chopines next to a painting of the city by Canaletto, a woman's shoe from the late 1790s embroidered with neoclassical scrolling grape vines exhibited with an ancient statue of the Greek god Dionysus, or a pair of contemporary wedges with rococo carved heels from MIU MIU's most recent collection alongside eighteenth-century carved and gilt furniture."
"Famously difficult to find, Manolo Blahnik's Mary Janes were declared an 'urban shoe myth' by Carrie Bradshaw in an episode of Sex and the City. (She found a pair hiding in a closet at Vogue magazine.) The episode captured perfectly how shoes are powerful objects of desire. Shoes' relative affordability compared to fine clothing, as well as their luxurious materials and evocative shapes, have made owning the right pair not only an obsession, but a sensual pleasure."
Man's shoe possibly Italian, 1650–60, Italy (possibly); Overall: 15 x 8.5 x 22 cm (5 7/8 x 3 3/8 x 8 11/16 in.), Other (heel): 8cm (3 1/8in.), Leather, silk cord and tassels. Classification: Costumes, The Elizabeth Day McCormick Collection
"Men and women wore the same shoe styles for much of the seventeenth century. The square-toed shoes that peek out from the bottom of Margaret Gibbs' apron, as seen in a portrait in the MFA's collection, were probably close in style to the man's shoe shown here. Made of leather that was treated with alum to produce a white surface, this shoe features fashionable red heels and soles, and elongated, forked toes. The overhang of the toes can be seen in the Gibbs portrait as well. The latchets would typically have been tied with a silk ribbon or fancy rosettes. This shoe is slightly earlier than the one in the portrait, for, despite Margaret's visible affluence, fashions in the Colonies lagged behind those in Europe."
A pair of women's "slap-sole" shoes: "White leather upper, toe and instep covered with salmon silk embroidered with silver yarns, wires and spangles in conventional motif; narrow lappets with white and salmon silk ties with tassels cross behind and tie through pointed tongue; silver bobbin lace across instep, at top, lappets; butted side, back seams; salmon silk stitching on quarters, heel. Square toe. White leather covered wood Louis heel. Brown leather sole. Attached clog with brown leather top, white leather sides; felt at front, heel. Brown leather insole, white leather lining." 44.521a-b, Provenance/Ownership History: Former Coll. Simonetti (Rome)
"In 1712 the playwright John Gay wrote of housewives "clinking" through the wet London streets on pattens. These overshoes were made of wooden soles with leather straps and then mounted on heavy forged iron rings that lifted the wearer off the street. Worn by both men and women, pattens were generally associated with the working classes and were worn for centuries with little change in design. By contrast, affluent women preferred fine leather overshoes embellished with fabric, called clogs, to cover their fancy shoes, though these offered little protection from the damp and muck.Dark brown leather straps buckle over instep; leather quarters. Square toe. Wood sole mounted on iron ring."
Delman, New York, United States; Suede, Classification: Costumes. Accession number: L-SE 1071.2.1, Nina Footwear: "This pair of sandals by Delman, a venerable American company that also made shoes for Marlene Dietrich and Jacqueline Onassis, was owned by Marilyn Monroe. It is quite similar to the pair she wore with a William Travilla white dress for a famous scene in The Seven Year Itch (1955). A still from that movie, showing Monroe's skirt billowing up in the breeze from a subway grate, appeared as a fifty-foot billboard in Times Square when the film was released; it has since become one of the best-known celebrity images of the twentieth century. Beige suede sandal with ankle strap."