Linda OKeeffe - Shoes: A Celebration of Pumps, Sandals, Slippers & More

SHOES

A CELEBRATION OF PUMPS, SANDALS, SLIPPERS & MORE

By Linda OKeeffe
Featuring photography by Andreas Bleckmann

Copyright 1996 by Linda OKeeffe.
Photographs by Andreas Bleckmann, copyright 1996 by Workman Publishing Company, Inc.,
unless otherwise indicated in the credits list on page , which constitutes an extension of this copyright notice.

Lets Dance, , by David Bowie, 1983 Jones Music America. Reprinted by permission. You Needed Me, p. 394,
by Randy Goodrum, 1975, 1978 Chappell & Co. (ASCAP) and Ironside Music (ASCAP). All rights administered
by Chappell & Co. All rights reserved. Used by permission, Warner Bros. Publications U.S. Inc., Miami, FL 33014.

Special thanks to The Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto, Canada.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproducedmechanically, electronically,
or by any other means, including photocopyingwithout written permission from the publisher.
Published simultaneously in Canada by Thomas Allen & Son, Limited.

Library of Congress Cataloging-In-Publication Data
OKeeffe, Linda
Shoes: A Celebration of Pumps, Sandals, Slippers & More
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7611-0114-7
1. Shoes. I. Title.
GT2130.054 1996 96-20755 391.413dc20 CIP

Art Director: Paul Gamarello / Designer: Janet Vicario

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Workman Publishing Company, Inc., 225 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014-4381

Manufactured in China
First printing October 1996

30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22

To Maggie Linehan
& James OKeeffe

T hanks to all the shoe designers whose limitless imaginations and craftsmanship made this book possible.

Ruth Sullivan, my editor, deserves special thanks. Her vision, guidance and tireless work brought this book to fruition. Thanks to Janet Vicario for her inspired design; to Joni Miller for her expertise, creative editing and writing; to Diane Botnick and Anita Dickhuth for their support and help; and to Andreas Bleckmann who painstakingly shot hundreds of shoes for the bookhis expert photography shows off each shoe in its best light.

My gratitude to the following collectors who kindly let us photograph their shoes: Allan & Suzi, Sharlot Battin, Diane Blell, Ellen Carey, Deluxe Junk, Anne Fortescue, Henny Garfunkel, Cora Ginsberg Inc., Kim Hastreiter, Jane Starr Antiques, Katy K., Sandra Long, William Ivey Long, Barbara Melser-Lieberman, Anne Ogden, Carlo Pompeii, Angel Resnick, Sarajo, Azy Schecter, Schwarz & Benjamin, Screaming Mimis, Joan Vass, Sara Vass and William Doyle Galleries.

I am indebted to the following for contributing their time, materials and information: James Arpad, Barneys New York, Charles Bricker, Billy Cole, Stella Dallas, Frank De Caro, Joe Dolce, Anne Fegent, Robert Forest, Stephen Gray, Harrys Shoes, Dylan Landis, Michael Lassell, Cathy Laycock, Beth Levine, Harriet Lyons, Anne McDonnell, Sigerson Morrison, Cynthia Oliver, Andrea Rosen, Raimunda Salazar, Sterling Last Company, E. Vogel, Inc. and Donna Warner.

Warm appreciation to Melissa Evins and Reed Evins for generously sharing their vast collection and their knowledge of the shoe world; to Mary Trasko for extending her openhanded professionalism; and to Glenn Roberts for his valuable advice and for entrusting us with his remarkable Lotus shoe collection.

And thanks to the following institutions: Bally Shoe Museum, The Bata Shoe Museum, Bavarian National Museum, Charles Jourdan Museum, Cordwainers College, The Fashion Institute of Technology, Footwear News, French Footwear Manufacturers Association, Italian Trade Commission, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Muse de la Chaussure, Museo Salvatore Ferragamo and Northampton Museums and Art Gallery.

A fresh start, a promise of romance and excitementall little girls grow up believing the Cinderella myth that shoes can magically transform their lives. Every woman has a conscious or subconscious desire to feel romantic, says shoe designer Stuart Weitzman.

Shoes are a force for change, a means of shedding the past and buying into the future. For much of history womens shoes were kept in the dark, concealed beneath a froth of petticoats or a ballooning crinoline. But while they were one of the most closeted parts of a womans attire, ironically they were and are one of the most revealing. Eyes may be the windows to the soul, but shoes are the gateway to the psyche.

Susan Bennis Warren Edwards, 1995

Psychologists have vigorously explored the hidden meaning of shoes from phallic symbols to secret vessels. Some say that the woman who collects shoes is a frustrated traveler; others suggest she is symbolically searching for enlightenment. A pair of new shoes might not cure a broken heart or soothe a tension headache, writes fashion critic Holly Brubach, but they will relieve the symptoms and chase away the blues. Even the least vain among us has been known to blow an entire weeks salary on an irresistible new pair.

Paul Mayer, 1984

In fact, the average American woman owns at least 30 pairs of shoes; the passionate collector owns in the hundreds. A woman with a standing order for each new variation of her favorite shoe style is simply putting into practice what every footwear fancier knowswhen you find a shoe you love, buy it in every color. For if your body lets you down, your feet will still lift your spirits. Feet dont gain or lose weight, observed Sara Vass, a collector who lives with more than 500 pairs of shoes. You might not be able to wear your favorite pair of pants if you gain a few pounds, but you can always wear your favorite pairs of shoes. However, the charismatic qualities of shoes have more to do with possession than with use. Its the reason women continue buying shoes even though they wear only a few of the many they own. Its why an adored shoe is rarely discarded, even if it is unwearable.