A Closer Look at Shoes

Here in the Texas Hill Country the shoes most often on my feet are Keen lightweight ankle boots for hiking. Their extreme comfort and ruggedness stand up to the 40 step trek to the second tier of our land and beyond, over ledges and loose rocks and ripples. Still, there are moments when it’s time to don something with another type of flair. In this post we’ll take a closer look at shoes; so much more than covers for the feet.

These are black suede mules with a kitten heel tied with a bit of raspberry red grosgrain ribbon. They will be perfect for winter dinner parties and holiday gatherings. Below them is my journal with a sketch of a mule tied with a ribbon. One day, while having a cortado in a local coffee shop my attention was caught by a woman wearing black mules with blue jeans. The mules looked like something that would have been worn in the 18^th century and the contrast with the blue jeans was striking. This gave me the idea to try mules and further, to tie them with ribbon on special occasions.

(www.theoliverpess.es)

(www.2luxury2.com)

This is Manolo Blahnik; some say the greatest shoemaker in the 20^th and 21^st century. If you enjoy design and documentaries about design, you might like Manolo: The Boy Who Made Shoes for Lizards. Watching the film prompted a memory of me standing outside a tiny shoe shop in Georgetown, in the District of Columbia, gazing through the window at a pair of navy blue and black shoes he had created; thinking they were absolutely, undeniably exquisite.

When Manolo Blahnik makes an appearance at a book signing for Manolo Blahnik: Fleeting Gestures and Obsessions people wait in line with shoes they have purchased, asking him to sign the soles of their shoes. Of course, you couldn’t wear them afterwards…

(www.hippopx.com)

Watching the documentary, we learn he finds the feet of ancient statues beautiful.

He loves gardens and gardening and embellishes many of his designs with aspects of nature.

(Las floreras o La Primavera, collection Museo del Prado)

During visits to the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain he studies the shoes in the paintings and lets his imagination alter them for the people of today.  As you can see when looking at paintings in museums shoes of the past were fashion statements and objects of desire as they are today,

(www.gogmsite.net)

When film director Sofia Coppola asked Manolo Blahnik to design the shoes for her film, Marie Antoinette, he looked at shoes once belonging to Marie Antoinette for inspiration. The second photo is one of his concept drawings.

The shoes he designed for the Marie Antoinette film would appeal to many of us today!

During the documentary, Manolo Blahnik says, “I enjoy every day. I enjoy every second!”

Hearing this made me happy as it is what we always aspire to do. Thinking about the documentary made me want to reflect on and share some happy shoe moments.

The drawing above is from one of my mother’s childhood books and one of our favorites as children, Snipp, Snapp, and Snurr and the Red Shoes by Swedish author, Maj Lindman. The boys go to great lengths to earn money to pay a shoemaker to create the red shoes their mother longs to have. Hearing this story read aloud is one of my earliest shoe memories.

Today is not the first time we have worn platform shoes! This is a little sketch of the purple scallop edged suede platform shoes I wore in high school! My father made me scuff the bottoms by dragging my feet up and down the driveway and then to practice walking in my first pair of “heels”!

These are my beloved John Fluevog shoes, purchased on a Black Friday in Georgetown, just outside Washington, D.C. where we used to spend our Thanksgiving holidays. My husband was waiting to have lunch with me and having a coffee outside a café. My excitement over these beautiful black shoes with straps made of leather strips of different textures and silver buckles covered in flowers had no bounds. He looked at me, puzzled, reached out and held a shoe in his hand, remarking, “Leigh, these shoes are a bit more edgy than you might have thought. Those aren’t flowers on the buckles, they are skulls!” Well, the shoes are still my favorites and they do get a laugh out of those who know me and notice the skulls.

Do you remember having black velvet Mary Jane flats for dress up? These high heeled Mary Janes were purchased at a Saks Fifth Off Store during a day of shopping with my sister; a day filled with laughter and joy. They make me happy every time I wear them and though purchased a few years ago, appear to be in style today!

The olive green suede lace up ballet flats were an online purchase. To me, they look like something from a time long ago. Imagine my surprise when reading a new book by Hilary Davidson, Jane Austen’s Wardrobe, to see a photograph of a similar pair of pink shoes belonging to Jane herself! She wrote about the shoes in a letter, “The Pink Shoes are not particularly beautiful, but they fit me very well…” Well, to me, they are beautiful as are my olive green suede shoes which also fit me very well. 

These blue suede ballet flats were purchased to go with a taffeta skirt I made myself.  The inside of the shoes wasn’t very pretty, so a bit of the leftover fabric cut and glued to the insert seemed like a good idea. As did the rhinestone shoe buckles purchased in a vintage shop in the Texas Hill Country.

Here is a photo of one of the red shoes Snipp, Snapp, and Snurr had made for their mother; similar to those made in a collaboration of shoe designers, John Fluevog and Jan Jansen called The Esoteric Temptation. Here’s to shoes and to enjoying every moment of every day!