If the Shoe Fits…

My suggestion recently for an outing to the Bata Shoe Museum did not meet with Peter’s approval. I have loved shoes since I was a kid, but Peter is not interested, as you can see below:

Peter’s shoes:

Museum Shoes:

The Bata Shoe Museum is a unique structure. The shoe collection started as a hobby for Sonja Bata, wife of shoe magnet Thomas J Bata. When her collection became too big for their house, they hired architect Raymond Moriyama to design a building.

Moriyama was born in BC and created his first structure at the age of 12: a treehouse where he imagined he could hide from the Canadian Government’s plan for internment of Japanese immigrants during WW II. Since then he has designed several masterpieces including the Toronto Reference Library and the Ontario Science Centre. Perhaps fortunately, he died in September of this year, so he won’t have to witness the possible demolition of the Science Centre.

But I digress…

The Shoe Museum, completed in 1995, features elements of Moriyama’s style: lots of light and lots of wood. The new exhibit, Dressed To Impress: Footwear and Consumerism In the 1980’s, grabbed my attention. According to the introduction, ( and my foggy memory), the 80’s are known in the fashion world for an emergence of new styles: bright colours, stiletto heels, and high-status sneakers. This was a decade that encouraged fashion as a way to promote one’s individual style. Fashion advertising became common. You may remember music videos, Jane Fonda workout shows, other TV shows and movies that promoted fashion shamelessly.

One of the displays, Let’s Get Physical, features athletic footwear. Here you can see several kinds of sneakers: Reeboks, Adidas, comfy sneakers designed for women who were now commuting to work. Another 1980’s trend, technology, is represented in “computer shoes” which contain a chip to record running distance and time, similar to today’s Fitbit. The famous Air Jordan takes centre stage in this exhibit; and how about a shoe for Jordan’s girlfriend?

During the 1980’s, famous people promoted specific styles. In the Museum you can see cowboy boots belonging to Robert Redford, and black boots worn by Molly Ringwald in The Breakfast Club. Princess Diana sported a pair of low-heeled shoes fashioned after men’s saddle shoes of the 1950’s. Diahann Carroll wore these shoes befitting the “filthy rich.”

Other new styles of the 80’s included deck shoes for yachters, jelly shoes for young teen girls, and high-fashion shoes for celebrity actors like Madonna. Devotees of punk found footwear to their liking too: stilettos decorated with studs for goth girls, and these “brothel creepers’ for the guys. Notice the thick rubber sole, perfect for sneaking around:

By the end of the 1980’s, footwear was a defining element for every well-dressed man and woman. Who better to represent them than the Queen of Shoes who owned over 3,000 pairs? Presenting:

So grab your best sneakers and run on down to the Bata Shoe Museum for a nostalgic glimpse into the past.

Sue