All that Glitters
Making Do
Objects of Desire
Polished
The New Leisure
Co-Eds
Techni-color
Co-Respondents
Exoticism
Stoking Desire
Novelty
Wedge
Classical Revival
Future Footwear
War
Many of the most innovative shoe designs in the history of Western fashion were created during this decade of want. Famed shoe designers Salvatore Ferragamo, André Perugia, and Steven Arpad played with the architecture of footwear creating uplifting platforms and wedges and as well as futuristic novelty heels and revealing peep toes that reflected escapist Hollywood glamour and well as new conceptions of fashionable femininity.
Duldarn Mending Kit with Twelve Balls of Rayon, 1930s. Collection of the Bata Shoe Museum.
Credit: Edward Steichen, Vogue © Condé Nast
Credit: Babs Rawlings, Vogue © Condé Nast
Toronto: Bata Shoe Museum Foundation, 2023