Shoes: Pleasure and Pain

When the V&A announced they were to be hosting a shoe exhibition there was no doubt in my mind that I would be making a visit. The exhibition, titled Shoes: Pleasure and Pain aimed to present onlookers with a global variety of shoes spanning from the ancient Egyptians to modern day.

When I arrived in the exhibition, I was extremely overwhelmed with one of the first shoes on display. In the section titled Transformation was none other than Cinderellas' glass slipper. The beautiful shoe was worn by Lily James for her Cinderella role, I can't even begin to imagine how paranoid I'd feel to walk in such a delicate and fragile shoe, and to walk confidently in it, that is.

As I made my way to the next section titled Status I couldn't help but stare at a pair of Gold Yves Saint Laurent boots, I didn't need to look at the date alongside them because they were quite clearly from the 1970s! Also in this section were a pair of 50s pink jeweled evening shoes designed by Roger Vivier for Christian Dior worn by Mrs Floria Guiness. These Dior shoes were absolutely stunning and I would quite happily own a pair! Also on display were a pair of strappy heels designed by Pierre Harding and worn by Kylie Minogue.

Moving on from Status came the All Eyes On Me section. What really stood out for me in this section were a pair of absolutely gorgeous Jimmy Choo heels. In a vibrant refreshing emerald green colour, these leather and feather heels well and truly grabbed my attention, especially with the sparkle caused by the various crystals upon them. These 'Lovebird' sandals were from Jimmy Choo's 2013 collection.

The next section was titled Seduction and boy was it seductive. It was interesting to see a pair of Japanese Geta Lacquer velvet, straw and wooden flipflops. They were quite simply crazy! However, the most striking shoe had to be film director David Lynch and Christian Louboutin's fetish range of shoes. An 'impossibly angled' shoe was on display consisting of a transparent bottom which reveals the wearers heel. These 'Sous le Pied' shoes were created in 2007. Also on display in Seduction were a pair of Salvatore Ferragamo stiletto pumps worn by Marilyn Monroe in 1956.

Moving onto the next section and I was greeted by an unbelievably tall pair of mens 90s clubbing boots. Designed by Fleur Oakes, the wearer of these shoes was certainly not to be messed with. Standing alongside an array of various dance shoes, I was understandingly now in The Way You Move section. Also in this section were a pair of crystal studded black boots designed by Alexander McQueen which featured a zip and consisted of leather, suede, glass and metal. More interestingly there were some Northern Indian sitting down shoes made of pointed leather, velvet, metal, thread, embroidery and brass. However, the highlight of this section was seeing the notorious super elevated gillie heels designed by Vivienne Westwood and worn by Naomi Campbell in 1993. The 21cm heels even caused Naomi to take a slight tumble when wearing them during a catwalk show!

Inside the next section titled Follow Me were a pair of angel winged booties designed by Alexander McQueen. The killer boots were worn by pop-singer Lady Gaga in 2010. A classis pair of Bigalle Christian Louboutin pumps were also on display, made of black patent leather. A pair of Chanel two tone sling back heels were also sitting pretty in the exhibition. Made of cotton, leather and of course some pearls! These Chanel beauties were one of the more recent pairs of shows on display, dated 2015. Jenny espadrilles by Tabitha Simmons and 1930s beach shoes designed by Raffia showed off the more quirky style of shoes. Another pair of shoes worn by Kylie Minogue were also on display, these were a pair of Prada tail light sandals, and were pretty unforgettable!

After Follow Me, the next section was titled High Society. This section consisted of some quite simply bizarre looking shoes! A heelless shoe worn by Daphne Guiness was on display, made of leather and wood from Japan 2010. A pair of 1988 mens rocking horse shoes were quite astounding, made of wood and velvet. One of the more antique items was a 'Qavaqib', a pair of ancient Egyptian platforms. However, the most shocking pair of shoes on display were a pair of womens 'Paduka' shoes. These shoes were a traditional Indian woman's wedding gift in the 1800s.

As I made my way upstairs to the second half of the exhibition, I was greeted by the next section of shoes, referred to as Craft and Construction. This section educated viewers on various feet books, revealing bunions and electric taste in footwear. On display were various wooden lasts, including Princess Diana, the Queen Mother and Dita Von Teese. A Manolo Blahnik dissembled shoe was on display showing the stages of construction for a particular shoe.

Explore and Experiment was the next section and included a variety of different genre shoes, shall we say. It showed the range of shoes from the sci-fi influence, to comfortable, to 3D printed shoes and Bespoke tailored shoes.

The last display of the exhibition was called Obsession and consisted of various shoe collectors and their marvelous shoes. Socialite, Rita de Acosta Lydih from New York 1914 had a shoe trunk displaying 20 pairs of shoes. Also on display were evening shoes in acrylic boxes designed by Roger Vivier for Christian Dior in 1957. Lionel Ernest Bessey collected shoes from 1914 until his death in 1969 and a small selection of his collection was on display. Katie Porter also had a display of modern high-street shoes on display. Robert Brookes, a huge fan of Adidas trainers also had a display dedicated to his 800 pairs of Adidas trainers, of course only a few were on display. Brooks had been collecting since 1975! Valeria had a display which held a pair of furry flip flops designed by Christian Louboutin in 1998. The last display case was dedicated to Imelda Marcos who had a pair of 1987 Italian Beltrami sling back leather, textile and glass shoes.

Before heading for the stairs to leave the exhibition, I came face to face with a quote from Cinderella which stated 'One shoe can change your life', and with that in mind I made my way through the exhibition, satisfied with my ever-growing collection of shoes. The V&A Shoes: Pleasure and Pain exhibition was truly an eye-opener and it was nice to see an exhibition dedicated to footwear on it's own. The exhibition is definitively a must-see for any shoe-fanatic.