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Funworld February 2012
by James Careless More shoes than were owned by Imelda Marcos: That’s a simple way to understand the breadth and depth of the Bata Shoe Museum’s collection. At present, this downtown Toronto museum has about 13,000 examples of shoes (pairs or singles) in its collection; the wife of the former Philippines dictator had only 1,500 pairs. More important, the Bata Shoe Museum’s collection houses shoes dating back 4,500 years. In contrast, Imelda Marcos’ shoes were 20th century newbies. All kidding aside, Toronto’s Bata Shoe Museum is an unusual and compelling attraction. Founded by Sonja Bata of the family-owned Bata Shoe Company, the museum reflects mankind’s social and economic beliefs through time, as reflected in the footwear it produced. “Unlike pieces of art, footwear was made to be used as soon as it was created,” explains museum curator Elizabeth Semmelhack. “As a result, the items are snapshots of the societies that created them. You can see their beliefs about function, status, and the role of gender as expressed by the practicality—or lack thereof—in the shoes they wore. “More important, shoes have a direct, tangible link to history,” she adds. “When you look at an ancient Egyptian sandal, you know an actual human being wore and worked in that shoe. It was in contact with all the elements of their world that have since vanished. Very few artifacts offer such a visceral, real-life link to the past and the people who live in it.” Why a Shoe Museum? “Ironically, what the local people wanted was European-styled shoes,” says Semmelhack. “But by the point Sonja Bata realized this, she had become intrigued by the history and diversity of footwear. So she kept collecting shoes, adding historical pieces and artwork related to footwear, as well. Eventually her collection got so big that she decided to found a museum to hold it and make it available to the public.” To this very day, Sonja Bata is still collecting shoes.
Shoes, Shoes, and More Shoes
From men’s 18th century yellow damask silk shoes with buckles to 19th century tall women’s buttoned boots and disco-era purple platform shoes, the Bata Shoe Museum’s collection truly tells the story of human fashion and foibles through the ages. Studding the collections are items from celebrities old and new, including Queen Victoria’s ballroom slippers, Elvis Presley’s blue patent loafers, and John Lennon’s Beatle boot. More recent, the museum has acquired a pair of purple sneakers from Justin Bieber. “It is important to stay current,” says Semmelhack.
“The space allows us to profile shoes in thematic exhibitions and put them in context by using period artwork and other artifacts,” Semmelhack says. “However, we only show about 1,000 items from our collection at any one time; both to preserve the shoes as best we can and not to overload our 120,000 annual visitors’ minds. The other 12,000 items are safely in storage—generally in shoeboxes inside climate-controlled vaults.” Keeping Shoes Fresh “People tend to think that if they’ve seen the shoe museum one time, they’ve seen it all,” says Semmelhack. “This is why we hold back the majority of our collection: If you really want to see it all, you will have to come back to the museum repeatedly.” Generating repeat visits isn’t just about items; it also relates to the context in which they are displayed. The simple truth is that a pair of red leather stilettos worn by Marilyn Monroe (which the museum does own, by the way) will lend themselves to exhibitions on Hollywood, 20th century fashion, the changing role of women, and whatever themes make historical sense. This is why the Bata Shoe Museums mounts temporary exhibitions, in addition to permanent displays. For instance, its current exhibition entitled “The Roaring Twenties: Heels, Hemlines and High Spirits” reflects how the social rules governing women changed after World War 1.
At press time, the museum was also highlighting 40 years of the JUNO Awards (Canada’s Grammys) with Paul Anka’s sleek brown leather loafers, Bryan Adams’ functional black leather motorcycle boots, and Nelly Furtado’s anything-but-functional knee-high black patent leather stiletto-heeled boots. “We keep mixing things up, to keep our displays fresh and people motivated to come back,” Semmelhack says. “Add the fact that we rent our spaces for public and private functions, and the Bata Shoe Museum does succeed in keeping Torontonians’ attention.” As for the future? The Bata Shoe Museum will keep collecting new and unusual shoes, through both the efforts of founder Sonja Bata and its own staff. It will also persist in finding new and different ways to showcase its collection, so that its many shoes don’t become “old hat.” This said, Semmelhack does have one pair of shoes she would like to display above all others. “I would really love to be able to exhibit Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers from ‘The Wizard of Oz,’” she confides. “I know that they belong to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.—but maybe they could loan them to us via a travelling exhibition!” James Careless is an experienced freelance writer with credits at Business Week, NBC News, and NPR. He has seen the Ruby Slippers mentioned above, and they are actually covered in red sequins, not rubies.
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From the 15th century, you’ll find pointed, hinged metal German Gothic sabatons; the last word in knightly footwear (one must have something that matches the armor). Then there’s the 16th century Venetian chopine—platform shoes as tall as 22 inches and meant to be worn by women under long flowing dresses. To say the least, chopines were not practical, but they were never meant to be. In the 16th century, Venetian merchants displayed their wealth by dressing their women in the longest and costliest fabrics they could afford. The “taller” the woman, the longer her dress, the more status was accrued to the males in her family. So what if she needed help to walk?
The Big Shoe Box
To make the point, the exhibit features staid Lady Luxury button boots (1914-1917; the height of propriety), winged red rubber women’s swimming shoes (a tad risque; late 1920s), and heeled super-dressy Starburst shoes (1922-1925; styled in bold colors with flappers definitely in mind). As the museum’s website puts it, the exhibition focuses on the wardrobe and widening horizons of the “New Woman” and looks at how the myriad influences of the period such as cinema, jazz clubs, and world travel influenced the shape of fashionable footwear.”