It’s time to talk about what Shireen loves more than her shower caps, her co-host, or her perfect skin, and that’s shoes. There’s a new...
It’s time to talk about what Shireen loves more than her shower caps, her co-host, or her perfect skin, and that’s shoes. There’s a new exhibit at a SoFlo museum that’s letting you step into the world of footwear and its history in a unique way.
Every shoe has a sole, and every pair tells a story.
From iconic, fairytale slippers to music’s funkiest accessory.
As the saying goes, if the shoe fits, wear it, and head over to the Wolfsonian FIU in Miami Beach.
The museum is stepping it up with its new exhibit.
Danielle Charlap: “The exhibition is called Foot Notes: Shoes, Symbolism, and Society, and it’s really footnotes, little vignettes about interesting facts about shoes in the first half of the 20th century.”
Think of it as a different kind of look into the history of shoes.
Danielle Charlap: “The exhibition starts with symbolic shoes before you even enter, with a section on Cinderella. I came across an X-ray shoe fluoroscope, which was used for trying on shoes and making sure they fit. We have these amazing posters that have the symbol of shoes. This piece here hasn’t been shown for 40 years. It’s by this artist Ann Slavit.”
Danielle Charlap: “She also really sees it as a personal biographical piece that speaks to her experience and many women artists in the 1970s who were waiting to enter museums and told in one way or another that they didn’t really fit in.”
Wait, what about, you know…
Danielle Charlap: “We have lots of shoes as well. The shoe exhibit does have shoes. We have dozens of shoes on display. We have, I believe, 36, and that’s counting high fashion pumps, heels, boots.”
Boots, you say?
Danielle Charlap: “We have two case studies, and one of them is Beth Levine. She was a groundbreaking American designer. She made the boots that Nancy Sinatra wore while promoting her song ‘These Boots Are Made for Walking.’ And we actually have the actual blueprint patterns with her leg measurements. We have the very iconic Ferragamo rainbow shoe named for Judy Garland, who has just recently starred as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.”
Say no more, I’m head over heels.
Danielle Charlap: “I think everyone’s gonna find something they relate to. We all wear shoes, but we all have a different relationship to them.”
Foot Notes: Shoes, Symbolism, and Society will be on display through next February. Admission is free for Florida residents.
FOR MORE INFO:
The Wolfsonian–Florida International University
1001 Washington Avenue
Miami Beach, FL 33139
Website
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