BohoLove: June 2012

Entrance at the shoe museum.

The first part of the exhibition was shoes from different cultures, starting from the earliest kinds of shoes and going through all the continents. I took way too many pictures and in all honesty can not remember all of their descriptions. So here are a few good educational ones.

The first three pictures are of the what are believed to be the first kinds of shoes. They were made of Yucca plant by the Anasazi in the Southwestern U.S.

India

Paduka, Indian sandals

Ghana

China

The small shoe of the Chinese bound Lotus foot.

Chinese platform shoes.

For tiny bound lotus feet that worked in the field!

Sabatons from the Gothic period. Part of a complete suit of armour.

From the Tudor era!

Buckles first started being used in the 17th century, but they were considered scandalous. However, they were quickly embraced and became a form of shoe jewelry.

Islam! It is believed these shoes were eventually made with the back folded in to make them easier to be removed for prayer.

Mongolia

Red velvet shoes belonging to Pope Benedict XV. In Rome, wearing red shoes is Papal Prerogative.

In Judaism when a man dies and leaves his wife childless it is his brothers duty to marry the widow. If the brother refuses to to marry his brothers widow, the "halizah" shoe (which is owned by the community), is placed on the man's foot. In front of witnesses the widow unties the laces and removes the shoe therefore, releasing him from the obligation of marriage.

Spiritual footwear from Australia made of feathers and human hair :S

Worn by a Kachina. A masked dancer from American SouthWest (the homeland of the Hopi). The Kachina embodies a spirit during religious ceremonies. The flaps represent tongues hanging down with thirst.

chestnut crushing clogs, France

I remember these booties were for the snow. I cannot remember from where exactly, but they were too cute to not put up.

Space boots :)

original model of diving boots.

Ice skates. The shoe was bound to this platform which contains the skate...

Stirrups! How uncomfortable. So these were for horsebackriding. They would hang from the saddle and you would stick your leg in them... cannot imagine how uncomfortable this was (this actually looks like it was for the horse itself)!

Sumo Shoes :D

Designer shoes from the "roaring 20's" by Perugia. Rude de la Paix-Paris.

Button Boots by Miller. American designer.

Old School Gucci's

Polly Pocket's shoes...

Pooches need shoes too! These belong to a pampered Parisian poodle from the 1950's.

These bejewelled tiny shoes were a prototype created for the queen mother for her 1937 coronation. It was made by Montreal designer Eric Reynolds. Sadly, the shoe was never made because royal protocol prevented the queen from accepting it.

Teeny Tiny Japanese shoes <3

Cinderella glass slipper. They had various shoes from Cinderella versions from all over the world.

Clearly Margaret Atwood had serious Fashion Sense :)

Terry Fox: Canadian Athelet who lost his right leg to cancer. He wore this running shoe on his cross-country journey in 1981 (which he did on only his right leg).