last week, lei ann and i bared the elements, driving over an hour and a half in the wind
and whipping rain, to attend the opening preview of the peabody essex museum's latest exhibition
shoes: pleasure and pain, which opened to the public november 19-march 12, 2017.
although it was sort of a pain to run in heels over cobblestone puddles in the chilly dark to get
to the museum, it was an absolute pleasure to be taken on tour of eight rooms and over 300 pairs
of shoes (70% of which are women's) that span from ancient egyptians to modern day louboutins.
deputy director and self-proclaimed shoe lover, linda rosco hartigan, guided a merry group through
each unique room, offering historical tidbits and highlighting a favorite shoe with a colorful
anecdote. i actually banged my head off the window trying to get a closer look to the chinese
foot binding shoes- which was both embarrassing and hilarious!
some of my favorites were new york-based artist sebastian errazuriz's twelve shoes for twelve lovers,
3D-printed thermoplastic polymer heels with cheeky names like "the gold digger," "cry baby,"
"ice queen" and "heartbreaker."
some of the sebastian's shoes were actually produced in collaboration with melissa.
you can buy them here!
i also loved to see the personal effects of local fashion icons, marilyn riseman, and iris apfel,
whose clothing and personal style transcends age and balks trends in everything- including footwear.
lei ann and i were tickled pink to discover that we had somehow managed to pull off coordinating
blush & black outfits without ever discussing what we were going to wear! the mirrors around
the exhibition allowed for taking simultaneous pictures of the display shoes as well as
our own feet, and one of the rooms was in the same tone of pink as well! love!
if you have a passion for shoes, and an interest in the history behind and the future ahead of
one of the most coveted fashion staples in a woman's closet, then i suggest you don't walk
but-run (in heels!) to the peabody essex museum for this fabulous exhibit!
