Pumped: The Art & Craft of Shoemaking at Charlotte, NC's Mint Museum

Back in June I was in Charlotte and was able to see Pumped: The Art & Craft of Shoemaking, an exhibit on the art of shoe making at The Mint Museum.

The exhibit ran from May to August, so unfortunately it is no longer open. Still you can enjoy my pictures and what I learned.

These are silk shoes from the early 1700s. Like other shoes from the time, they were made so that each foot was identical.

These are silk boots from the mid-1800s. They are beautiful, but seem very unpractical, like they would get filth the minute you walked outside.

These are some of the tools used in shoe making. It reminds me of visiting the shoe making shop in Colonial Williamsburg. 

These shoes are from the 1860s and represent a return to embellished shoes. Hooped-skirts were becoming popular and allowed glimpses of the wearer's shoes.

These are slippers from the 1890s but both remind me of more modern styles.

These shoes which include clear plastic are from the 1940-60s but remind me of newer shoes, including Cinderella's glass slipper being re-imagined. 

If you thought heelless shoes were a thing of modern times, these are from 1955-1960.

And one of m favorite displays, the shoe on the left are Yves Saint Laurent haute couture while those on the right are a knock-off. While the look similar, the knock-off is slightly different to avoid copyright infringement. The original is made of leather and the punches are done by hand. The knock off is made of man-made materials and the punching was done by machine.

Update: Killer Heels Coming to a Museum Near You

Killer heels at the @brooklynmuseum see more at throughthesole.blogspot.com #killerheels #highheels #shoes

A photo posted by Through the Sole: A Shoe Blog (@throughthesole) on Feb 22, 2015 at 8:17pm PST

Yesterday, I wrote about Killer Heels, an exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum on the art and history of high-heels. However, I realize many of my readers are not in the New York City area.

Good news! The exhibit is hitting the road.

Here are the tour dates and locations (according to the Brooklyn Museum):

• Albuquerque Museum, New Mexico, May 30–August 9, 2015
• Palm Springs Art Museum, California, September 4, 2015–January 3, 2016
• Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire, February 5–May 15, 2016
• Frick Art & Historical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, June 10–September 4, 2016

Killer Heels: Art and Shoes Collide at the Brooklyn Museum

The perfect shoes are a pair of art and today and I got to see Killer Heels: The Art of the High-Heeled Shoe at the Brooklyn Museum,

Here is the museum's take on the exhibit:

When you first get into the area of the exhibit, the first thing you notice is a large sign saying Killer Heels. Perhaps it is because the exhibit ends March 1, but I also noticed a large crowd today.

When entering, you are greeted by a short film. Unfortunately, given the large crowd it was hard to watch as the security guard kept telling people not to block the entrance.

The next hallway of the exhibit traces trends and inspiration from the being of heels hundreds of years ago to today. It is amazing how Rococo style and Louis the IV heels have gone in and out of fashion many times.

From there, the exhibit goes into many architectural shoes, which may be hard to walk in, but are gorgeous to view. Some shoes even challenge traditional thinking of what a shoe is.  Here are a few of my favorites:

From afar, these look like classic t-straps, but the front of the t is actually a woman in an evening gown.