A girl's best friend

I went to see this exhibition today in Norwich castle. I've been meaning to go for ages but finally got around to it this afternoon. I have a bit of an obsession with shoes (who doesn't?) so the chance to see examples from all over the world, throughout history, and by the best designers and artists was too good to pass up! If anyone is in Norwich before the middle of january I strongly recommend this exhibition!
They wouldn't let me take pictures in there so these are postcards that I bought. As you go through the rooms the displays told the story of the history of shoes, beginning with why people wear shoes in the first place. Then there were sections on what shoes can say about the person wearing them, branding, style, the associations with sex, and fantastical shoes. There were also interesting exhibits on chinese foot binding and designers who put comfort before style in their shoes.

My favourite part was actually in the children's room at the back! It was about stories and fairy tales and featured shoes inspired by them. As part of my art A-level I did a project about the significance of shoes in fairy tales so I found this really interesting. I looked at stories from "Red shoes" by Hans Christian Anderson to Puss in Boots to Cinderella. I was fascinated by how they could represent good or evil, and freedom or restriction and suffering. My final piece was a pair of tissue aper shoes, one of which stood for all the good aspects of the stories, and the other all the bad. It was a really fun project. They're still at my parents' house so I'll try and remember to take a picture of them to post on here when I go home for Christmas.