My review of the Pleasure and pain exhibition at
the Victoria and Albert museum.
Whether its famous football boots to feather trimmed heels,to red feather mules the pleasure and pain exhibition at the V and A has it all!. The name of the exhibition “pleasure and pain” reflects greatly with the shoes that are on show because with every pair of new shoes you experience either pleasure or pain.
One pair of shoes that are sure enough to catch your eyes are the Yves Saint Laurent “stripper heels” that were showcased in the seduction area of the exhibition. The glint of the black patent shine from the shoes are drastic enough to make you stop straight in your tracks. The gold stitching of the Yves Saint Laurent logo contrasts towards the black shoe. “stripper heels” have been worn by Beyonce and definitely bring the erotic and provocative look to any lady as well as the exhibition. These euphoric heels are named “stripper heels” because the height and thickness of the heel allows for great friction and stability when gliding along a poll, it also gives the lady wearing them more height, making her more seductive and “stripper like”. These shoes also have connotations of pain that are the underlying message, for one the brutality and agony that must come with the wearing of these heels but also the job in which these heels have to be worn for.
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| Unfortunately photography within the exhibition was forbidden! |
Another scorchingly hot shoes from the seduction are a pair of heels formally worn by the definition of sexiness Marilyn Monroe herself. When visiting the exhibition the information given to the public about these shoes suggest that back in the midst of Marilyn's career many thought that she would tamper with her heels (so make one heel shorter than the other) so that it would enhance her walk to make her “assets” wiggle more. Along with the creators of the exhibition and the 2nd year students, studying History of design MA later found out when expecting the heels that in actual fact the heels were never tampered with in anyway. Meaning that her infamous walk was well….. . How she walked!. So maybe it was the way in which the heels made her feel that gave her that sultry walk. It has been said before that a simple garment or shoe can change your whole perspective and outlook, meaning that these simple red mules could have made her feel like the sexiest person alive at that moment. The height,the colour are all components that could have made Marilyn feel like a sex goddess when walking around in them,meaning this would shine through in not only the way she presents herself but her walk also.
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| Me, Chloé and Saf at the exhibition |
Among all the pairs of extravagant,eye candy of heels and boots are a pair of mens tasselled loathers. This particular pair of shoes may seem monotonous compared to the pony skin fur mules by karl Lagerfeld or the football boots worn by David Beckham,but these particular shoes have a heart warming past and part of a vast collection. This pair of shoes comes under the obsession within the exhibition, and they show three normal everyday people and their obsessions with their shoes. The tasselled loathers are part of Valeria’s collection,she says “the process of selecting pair of shoes was very exciting”although these loathers were not hers but her fathers. These loathers were made in Italy around 1980-1989 and they obviously remind her of the fantastic memories and life experiences she shared with her father. By her having these particular shoes on showcase it shows that one of her most collectable or most loved possessions is not a pair of dazzling stilettos from Christian Louboutin or a feather trimmed sandal from prada but a practical and stable leather loafer in which she will admire and cherish for the rest of her life.
The people who have featured in obsession have never seen themselves as shoe collectors, they just have a passion for wearing and buying multiple pair of shoes. For example “Katie”has all of her shoes on display within her home and loves each individual shoe so much that she names them. A quote from the exhibition says “An obsession occurs when you buy a pair of shoes simply because you don't have them in that certain shade or shape” meaning that although you may have 10 pairs of brown boots you would need this other pair because it has a different coloured buckle to the other 10 pairs. The public who visit this exhibition really get to understand the pleasures that come with owning normal or extraordinary pairs of shoes. They are able to get an insight into the lives of an extreme shoe lover and this why the exhibition had to be named “pleasure and pain”.
A lot of the shoes within the exhibition are about showcasing wealth and luxury and that is not far from the shoes designed by Roger Vivier for Christian Dior in the 1950s. The exhibition stated that only the wealthiest members of society would be able to afford and wear these shoes. These shoes are under the theme of status, the higher, the more glamorous and more sparkly the shoes are the higher the status of the person. The greek platform shoes allowed the royalty and important people of Greece to literally stand one the lower status people making them feel like nothing and there able to feel like gods with all of the power.
The pleasure and pain exhibition is located at the Victoria and Albert museum and is open to the public until the 31st of January. The price of admission is £12.00 without a donation to the museum.
Thank you for reading my blog post!
Lots of Love Mol xxx
