Friday, January 29, 2016

1946 | LIFE IS A NEW PAIR OF SHOES

Werfel, a 6-year old Austrian orphan, beams with unbounded joy as he clasps a new pair of shoes presented to him by the American Red Cross. 
LIFE magazine | Original caption
December 30, 1946

6-year-old Austrian Hans Werfel defines JOY
Photograph: Gerald Waller
Source: LIFE magazine December 30, 1946

Almost five years later the same photograph reappeared in LIFE thanks to a reader: 

This is Werfel, six-year-old Austrian orphan, hugging a new pair of shoes from America. For nearly five years LIFE reader Mrs. Richard Henry Wehmeyer kept this picture as a visual object lesson. "Every time I heard some petty complaint," she says, she told friends about the little boy with the new shoes, un unfolded the clipping to shoe them. 
As Mrs. Wehmeyer said in her letter "This picture of a child's ecstasy over a pair of shoes has meant something personal to me for a long time." It is a special attribute of the photograph that it lasts so long - in a treasured clipping, and in the memory. 
LIFE magazine
September 24, 1951
LIFE goes on
Photograph: Gerald Waller
Source: LIFE magazine September 24, 1951


Since then, the photograph has been used both in & out of context; Squibb & Sons (1952) exploited it to make clear their products - like American aids - go around the world to heal and preserve; the Pretenders (1979) used it - without credit - for their debut single "Stop Your Sobbing", a weak rendition of a Kinks song from 1964. And finally, Bad Religion altogether restored the photograph's meaning (fully credited) - with their bizarre yet amusing "Christmas Songs", 2013.



1952 | Squibb & Sons advertisement
Pretenders "Stop Your Sobbing" 7" (1979, Real Records)


THEHISTORIALIST
on instagram


The mighty Bad Religion
"Christmas Songs" - Epitaph Records, 2013

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

JANUARY 27, 2016 | HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY

We must polish our shoes, not because the regulation states it, but for dignity and propriety. We must walk erect, without dragging our feet, not in homage to Prussian discipline but to remain alive, not to begin to die. 
Primo Levi
[From: If This Is A Man (Survival in Auschwitz), 1958]


"Der Erste Schuh" [The First Shoe]

Pair of well worn toddler's shoes inscribed "Der Erste Schuh" [The First Shoe] brought with 3 year old Susanna Gibian and her father Otto when they fled Vienna, Austria, for the United States in September 1938.
The infant's shoes were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1994 by Jill Shellow, executor for the Estate of Irene Rosenthal Gibian, the stepmother of Susanna Gibian. 
Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum



TO REMEMBER

PRIMO LEVI [1919-1987]
SURVIVAL IN AUSCHWITZ

1991 | SUSANNA PIERATZKI
BIRTH

2005 | GYULA PAUER & CAN TOGAY
SHOES ON THE DANUBE PROMENADE

THE FOOTPRINTS FOR HOPE

Monday, January 25, 2016

A LA RECHERCHE DU HELLSTERN PERDU

Hellstern was name-checked in the novels of both Nancy Mitford and F. Scott Fitzgerald and if a flapper had money to burn, this particular shoe emporium was where she would go to salivate over their silver kid slippers and blood-red suede bar shoes. 
Caroline Cox
Vintage Shoes (Carlton Books, 2008)

1948 | Hellstern & Sons patent
Source: INPI (Institute National de la Propriété Industrielle - France)


Nancy Mitford and Francis Scott Fitzgerald? COOL!

Only it's not true. On both counts, we checked. Now, why everyone would write such things?

- too many pictures and not enough text?

- hearsay?

- crosschecking is waste of time?

- all of the above?

Decline of Western civilization.



1922 | Hellstern & Sons patent
Source: INPI (Institute National de la Propriété Industrielle - France)


And then some:

Their premises were in the Place Vendome and their clientele included society women, stage performers and royalty. They are mentioned in Proust's novel. 
Source: Fine Arts Museums Of San Francisco

A fit description for Hellstern & Sons, but it goes without saying that dear old Proust didn't mention them. Ever. You know the end is near if even museums fail you.

There are however a few novels that mention Hellstern and Sons like "The Shoe Queen" by Anna Davis (but they - the Hellstern shoes - are mentioned in passing as the queen shoes are Perugias); or "Man In A Hurry", a 1914 French classic by Paul Morand.

1920 - 1928 | Hellstern And Sons
© Romans; Musée international de la Chaussure
Photograph Christophe Villard


Noteworthy is the biography of Gerald and Sarah Murphy:

She (Sarah Murphy) told the Hemingways that she was pining to go to Paris in September: 
I want new clothes & new ideas (in order named) & Hellstern shoes & perfumery & trick hats, & linge [underwear], not to mention the eve. dress & to sit hours with Léger & his friends in cafés, & haunt rue la Boétie, & see every good new play & all music if any, & be back here in about three days & eleven hrs. twenty-seven mins. . . .  
Amanda Vaill
Everybody Was So Young: Gerald and Sara Murphy, A Lost Generation Love Story

The Murphys were a wealthy couple of American expats in Paris whose circle of friends included John Dos Passos, Ferdinand Léger, Hemingway, Picasso (who even portrayed Sara Murphy - true story) and Francis Scott Fitzgerald who used a fictionalized portrait of the Murphys in the novel "Tender Is The Night".

And that is the only link between Hellstern and Francis Scott Fitzgerald.


Hellstern & Sons | Insole label
© Romans; Musée international de la Chaussure

Saturday, January 23, 2016

1967 - 1968 | UNKNOWN | TO CATCH A WHITEMAN BY HIS MANIFESTO

1967 - 1968 | Unknown | To Catch a Whiteman by His Manifesto
Colour screenprint 49,1 X 48,1

Object history note 
'To Catch a Whiteman by His Manifesto' is a portfolio containing experimental typography and concrete poetry made by Dom Sylvester Houedard and his students from Bath Academy of Art. The names of the ten students involved are; Stephen Lowndes, Sue Hudson, Liz Kelly, Jenny Osborne, Angus Davis, Erica Grice, Noelle Stewart, Alan Hext, Paul Ansell and Melody Craig.
Published by Openings Press, Corsham, Wiltshire, 1967-1968 


SHOES & ART

Thursday, January 21, 2016

1965 - 1966 | PARVITAK FOR ROGER VIVIER | THE HOOK HEEL

A.K.A. THE HOOK
This invention relates to a shoe heel.
According to the invention, a shoe heel includes a tapering stem portion terminating in a curved resiliently displaceable bent-over portion providing a floor-engaging wearing surface. 
From: Complete Specification | GB Patent 1,065,931

1965 - 1966 | Roger Vivier [1]
The Hook heel


Not the most acclaimed Vivier heel, nonetheless one of the most striking. It was patented in South Africa (September 1965), France (January 1966) and Great Britain (April 1967) by a South African company called Parvitak Limited from Pretoria.

Also worth of note:

"… the bent over portion (of the heel) may be replaceably attached to the stem portion, for example by means of a spigot and socket connection or by being keyed into the stem portion. 
From: Complete Specification | GB Patent 1,065,931


1967 | Parvitak Limited | Shoe Heel
Patent granted in Great Britain April 19, 1967
Source: Google Patents


The company Parvitak remains shrouded in mystery and it is unclear how the relationship with the shoe designer worked out. On the other hand it wasn't the first time for a "Vivier heel" to be assigned to someone else, the Choc heel being the most noteworthy [2].



2013 | The Hook Heel at Palais Tokyo
Exhibition Virgule, Etc.
Source: Le Modalogue



HELLSTORY

1955 | ROGER VIVIER



FOOTNOTES

[1]

The Palais Galliera and the Musée De Arts Décoratifs both date 1964 this Vivier shoe, not too far off. The former called the hook heel "talon escargot".

[2]

The French patent of the Choc heel (1959) is assigned to Christian Dior, while the US patent to Vivier himself.



1947 | URIC magazine
Forerunner of the Hook heel

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

1973-1974 | ALVO | BOLOGNA | PART 2

Calzaturificio ALVO by Luciano Volta
Bologna

1973 | Shoes by Alvo (Luciano Volta), Bologna
Dresses by Noni Sport
Source: Ars Sutoria
1973 | Shoes by Alvo (Luciano Volta), Bologna
Dresses by Noni Sport
Source: Ars Sutoria

ALVO'S LUCIANO VOLTA:

THE MASTER ARTISAN FROM VIGEVANO
CARLO CACCIOLA | THE SHOE MAKER WALTEA

1973 - 1974 | ALVO
PART 1




Sunday, January 17, 2016

1928 - 1955 | I. MILLER FOR ANDY WARHOL

Although the I. Miller ad in TC21 is not by Warhol, the fact that he saved it in a Time Capsule indicates its significance to him. In 1955, Andy Warhol received one of the biggest breaks of his commercial career when he landed the I.Miller Shoe account and became the regular illustrator for their ads in the New York Times … 
Source: Warhol.org

1928 | I.Miller advertisement from Harper's Bazaar
Source: Warhol.org

Torn from a magazine and filed away in a Time Capsule, BUT before that the I.Miller shoe on the left made an appearance in the series "A La Recerche Du Shoe Perdu", a fact unnoticed even by the Warhol Museum. For now. It can also be seen as the Sza Sza Gabor shoe (with a few embellishments) from the Gold Slippers feature in LIFE magazine.


CA. 1955 | Andy Warhol
Shoe Bright, Shoe Light ... 
From: A La Recerche Du Shoe Perdu
Source: MoMA

ANDY WARHOL
POP-ARTISAN

I.MILLER DE LUXE SHOES
I N D E X



From: Warhol.org | Detail
Related Artwork & Other resources
1957 | Andy Warhol | I. Miller shoe for Sza Sza Gabor
From: Crazy Golden Slippers | January 21, 1957 LIFE magazine
Source: LIFE magazine

CA. 1955 | Andy Warhol
offset lithograph and watercolor on paper 
Source: Christie's

This unique hand colored print was most likely a test for the cover of the portfolio inspired by Marcel Proust's famous memoir, Remembrance of Thing's Past. Warhol mixed and matched shoes from different eras for these works that served as promotional gifts for some of the leading figures of the fashion field ... 
Source: Christie's

Friday, January 15, 2016

1980 | DAVID BOWIE | PIERROT WITH THE SILVER SHOE

1980 | David Bowie
Ashes To Ashes 12" (Disco Remix) - RCA Victor

David was a man of his word. He actually wrote songs in the interim, real songs! When I heard him sing the lyrics to ‘Ashes To Ashes’ I got goose bumps. It was the character of Major Tom from ‘Space Oddity’ brought up to the present. 
Tony Visconty
The Autobiography: Bowie, Bolan and the Brooklyn Boy (Harper Collins)


1980 | Three sleeves for the 7" single "Ashes to Ashes", the fourth is the US release
Below: detail of the silver shoe

1980 | David Bowie as Pierrot
Photograph: Brian Duffy
© Duffy Archive & The David Bowie Archive
Source: Art Blart


DAVID BOWIE
1947 - 2016

1973 | KANSAI YAMAMOTO & MASAYOSHI SUKITA
FOR DAVID BOWIE


Pierrot costume
Designed by Natasha Kornilof
Courtesy of the David Bowie Archive/Victoria & Albert Museum
Source: Slate


Wednesday, January 13, 2016

1973 | KANSAI YAMAMOTO & MASAYOSHI SUKITA FOR DAVID BOWIE

These high-heeled clogs are modeled after traditional Japanese okobo, worn during the summer by apprentice geisha; black lacquered platform geta with red straps. 
Source: Philadelphia Museum of Art

1973 | Kansai Yamamoto | Clogs
Source: Philadelphia Museum of Art

“The Ziggy hairstyle was taken lock, stock and barrel from a Kansai (Yamamoto) display in Harpers. He was using a kabuki lion’s wig on his models which was brilliant red. And I thought it was the most dynamic colour, so we tried to get mine as near as possible ... I got it to stand up with lots of blow-drying and this dreadful, early lacquer.” 
David Bowie
(From: The Complete David Bowie - Nicholas Pegg, Titan Books, 2011)


1973 | David Bowie
Photograph: Masayoshi Sukita
Source: Mossgreen


When I photographed Bowie, I would hardly ever approach magazines and so on in order to make money out of the work. When we caught up in London or Japan every now and then, we’d do a session, then I’d circle my ten or twenty favorites on a contact sheet and show it to him. He always gave me his approval for every single one. Then I would use them in the media in Japan as I fancied, while Bowie would give me a call whenever he needed a certain photo to use in America or the UK. That’s the way things were for years. 
Masayoshi Sukita
Sopurce: Mossgreen


1973 | David Bowie | detail
Photograph: Masayoshi Sukita
Source: Mossgreen


DAVID BOWIE
1 9 4 7 - 2 0 1 6

1980 | DAVID BOWIE
PIERROT WITH THE SILVER SHOE



FOOTNOTE

2015 | Marni | Detail
No, they didn't say it was inspired by

2015 | Yamamoto-inspired clogs by Marni

Monday, January 11, 2016

1947 - 2016 | DAVID BOWIE

Let's dance. Put on your red shoes and dance the blues. 
David Bowie
"Let's Dance" opening line (1983)

David Bowie
Still frame from the video "Let's Dance", 1983

“The red shoes are a found symbol, and it seemed à propos for this particular video (Let's Dance). They are the simplicity of the capitalist society – luxury goods, red leather shoes. Also they’re a sort of striving for success – black music is all about ‘Put on your red shoes, baby’. Those two qualities were right for the song and the video.” 
David Bowie
(From: The Complete David Bowie - Nicholas Pegg, Titan Books, 2011)


Let's Dance

Three thoughts. I first heard them while sitting behind a console in a studio — probably at some ungodly hour. They sum up my life. 
‘Life’s a gas.’ Marc Bolan 
‘Life is a pigsty.’ Morrissey 
‘We could be heroes.’ David Bowie 
Tony Visconti
The Autobiography: Bowie, Bolan and the Brooklyn Boy
(Harper Collins, 2007)

1980 | DAVID BOWIE
PIERROT WITH THE SILVER SHOE

1973 | KANSAI YAMAMOTO & MASAYOSHI SUKITA


1978 | David Bowie self-portrait
© The David Bowie Archive 2012

Sunday, January 10, 2016

1993 | MIMMO ROTELLA | THE ANKLE BOOT

1993 | Mimmo Rotella | Detail
Lo Stivaletto (The Ankle Boot)

1993 | Mimmo Rotella
Lo Stivaletto (The Ankle Boot)

SHOES & ART
1 8 3 2 - 2 0 0 9



1993 | Mimmo Rotella
Lo Stivaletto (The Ankle Boot) | back

Friday, January 8, 2016

1957 | ANDRE PERUGIA FOR I.MILLER | SPECTATORS SUMMER '57

1957 | André Perugia for I.Miller
Instep-strapped, stripped with navy calf
Source: SONS (Shoes Or No Shoes)

Spectators: Summer, '57.
See how fineboned, how fastidiously groomed this kind of shoe can be! Immaculate as your most serene linen shirt dress or silk tweed suit, these variations on a great American theme were designed by André Perugia and made by I.Miller in grainy white calf … pump, stripped with brown, navy or black patent, 31,95. Instep-strapped, stripped with black patent or red calf, 31,95. T-strapped with brown or navy, 31,95. From the Summer Collection at I.Miller. 
I.Miller advertisement
May, 1957


1957 | André Perugia for I.Miller
Source: The Philadelphia Enquirer - May 1957


______________

ANDRE PERUGIA
D O S S I E R
______________


Wednesday, January 6, 2016

1922 | ANDRE PERUGIA INCOGNITO IN LES MODES


1923 | André Perugia Incognito | Shoe detail
Source: Les Modes magazine
Photo: Henry Manuel

December 1923

The French magazine Les Modes presents Mme Dastange wearing an outfit designed by Paul Poiret. It is the model “Gris-Gris », a dress in "gray velvet, with embroidered ribbon in old pink, dark blue and silver colors, trimmed with gray hare".

They forgot to mention THE shoe designer. Silly of them.




1923 | André Perugia models
Top center shoe: "Tips lined with golden leather and curved at their extremity give personality to a glossy brown shoe kid"
Bottom left shoe is the model Athenien
Source: Vogue

__________________

ANDRE PERUGIA
D O S S I E R
__________________



1923 | Mme Dastange wearing a Paul Poiret outfit
Shoes by André Perugia
Photograph: Henry Manuel
Source: Les Modes magazine

Monday, January 4, 2016

1938 | ANDRE' PERUGIA | THE DRAPED HEEL

November 23, 1938 - Paris

A few days after the dramatic Kristallnacht - the night of terror unleashed by Goebbels against the German Jews - the front page of the French newspaper Paris Soir enthusiastically celebrated the Munich agreement with Hitler, which allowed Sudetenland's takeover while Europe turned a blind eye to the German domestic affairs.


Saturday, January 2, 2016

1878 | EDGAR DEGAS | ETUDES DES PIEDS ET BOTTINES

1878 | Edgar Degas
Danseur Vu Depuis Derrière Et Trois Des Etudes Des Pieds
Source: Wahoooart

Edgar Degas
Six études de bottines de femme
Musée du Louvre département des Arts graphiques

Edgar Degas
Etude de la jambe droite d'une danseuse
Musée du Louvre département des Arts graphiques


SHOES & ART
1 8 3 2 - 2 0 0 9


Edgar Degas
Danseuse espagnole et etude de jambes
Musée d'Orsay