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Shoes: Pleasure and Pain, opens at the V&A in London next week for summer 2015. This new offering from the Victoria and Albert Museum will send shoe lovers head-over-heels. Featuring 200 pairs of historic and contemporary shoes from around the world, curator Helen Persson has rummaged-through the V&A’s shoe collection, international collections and the wardrobes of private individuals to bring together this extraordinary exhibition.

Shoe-whores can get their fix with a selection of exceptional offerings from Manolo Blahnik, Christian Louboutin and Jimmy Choo. Ever wondered what shoes Marilyn Monroe and Queen Victoria liked to wear? Now you can find out. They say that to understand a woman’s life you need to walk-a-mile-in-her-shoes. The lives of women from over 2000 years ago up to the present day are represented in this eye-opening collection. You may just think twice before complaining about sore feet after a night-out in high heels after a look at the shoes women from years gone by had to cope with. Painful-looking lotus shoes made for bound feet and 16th-century chopines, silk mules with vertiginous platforms designed to lift skirts above the muddy streets are on display.

3._Caroline_Groves_b.1959_Parakeet_shoes_Photography_by_Dan_Lowe‘Parakeet’ shoes by Caroline Groves (1959). Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The themes of transformation, status and seduction are explored, and the exhibition delves-deep into the Cinderella-story and the myths and folklore surrounding shoes. A collection of animations and films dissect the processes involved in designing and creating footwear and pay homage to the extraordinary craftsmanship that goes into making shoes.

Coxton Shoe Co. Ltd (active in early 20th century), Men’s shoes Gilded and marbled leather Northamptonshire, England, c.1925 V&A: T.52:1+2—1996 © Victoria and Albert Museum, LondonCoxton Shoe Co. Ltd (active in early 20th century), Men’s shoes Gilded and marbled leather Northamptonshire, England, Victoria and Albert Museum, London

“Shoes are one of the most telling aspects of dress. Beautiful, sculptural objects, they are also powerful indicators of gender, status, identity, taste and even sexual preference. Our choice in shoes can help project an image of who we want to be.” – Helen Persson, Curator of Shoes: Pleasure and Pain at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Ilana Leonard

Shoes Pleasure and Pain is on from the 13th June 2015 – 31st January 2016 at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Tickets are £12 (concessions available).Visit the website or call 0800 912 6961 to book tickets.