Every Shoe Tells A Story

As an introduction into BA Fashion Marketing I visited Northampton Museum and Art Gallery along with my course members and tutors. The aim of the day was to get an insight into the history of shoes across the globe as well as the shoes that originated from Northampton.

The range of individual shoes present in the museum, right from the first ever shoe through to shoes worn today, I felt there was a key component that linked them all together. Each shoe had a story to tell. The shoes spoke of gender, ethnicity, profession, politics and religion. It was fascinating.

One of my favourite shoes from the museum were Queen Victorias wedding shoes from the 1840's. The shoes were made of white satin trimmed with bands of ribbon. The shoes also had ribbon ties fastened around the ankles which held the shoes in place. The size of the shoe was so tiny it was amazing to see. I feel the way in which the museum presented the wedding shoes spoke so much volume in itself portraying an important moment in British history. The Queens boot makers Gundry and Son had made the shoes for the special occasion.

Not only did the Northampton Museum reveal a great deal on British history and it's shoes but also how beauty was portrayed through footwear and the extremes people would go to wear the perfect shoe. The museum revealed an ancient practice called foot binding. The practice would seem cruel and painful however it was a very popular method of attracting a man as they found small feet very beautiful in a woman. The process of foot binding began at an early age (4-7). They would break every toe other then the big toe and the foot would then be wrapped with binding cloth. This custom was rich with tradition and it was believed to give the family of the daughter a higher social status. 

The wedding shoes and the Chinese foot binding portray beauty in very different ways. Both of them tell a story. A moment in British history and a custom and lifestyle of Chinese women.

The way in which footwear has changed over time is fascinating and the way in which the museum documented this was fantastic. It enabled me to see these changes chronologically giving me a better understanding of the footwear and from which decade. I found the visit to the museum was so helpful in giving an understanding of how designers today have been inspired from shoes of the past. It has also given me a better understanding of the development of shoes over a long period of time.