Stepping Out: Three Centuries of Shoes [Paperback]

Louise Mitchell (Author), Lindie Ward (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2000

This work takes an in-depth look at the development of the shoe from the early 1700s. Virtually every conceivable style of footwear is examined and put into context, from the beautifully crafted shoes of brocaded silk and embroidered linen of the early 18th century to the wacky and futuristic designs of the late 20th century. The book traces the changes that have occurred both in manufacturing and design techniques, as well as considering the changing styles and fashions.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Louise Mitchell was a curator of decorative arts and design at the Powerhouse Museum from 1984 to 2007 and is now a freelance curator. She has curated many exhibitions and contributed to a variety of publications including Christian Dior: The Magic of Fashion, 1994 and The Cutting Edge: Fashion from Japan, 2005.Lindie Ward began her career as a fashion designer in London and Montreal and later specialized in historical costume for the theatre. Lindie works as an assistant curator of decorative arts and design at the Powerhouse Museum and frequently advises museums and galleries on the display methods for historical costume. Christina Sumner is a principal curator at the Powerhouse Museum. Her specialist field is traditional textiles and textiles technology. She has curated numerous exhibitions at the Museum and co-authored their associated publications including Arts of Southeast Asia, 2001 and Bright Flowers: Textiles and Ceramics of Central Asia, 2004. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (June 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1863170650
• ISBN-13: 978-1863170659
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.6 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,982,469 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gorgeous catalog of an Australian exhibit., May 18, 2006

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Elizabeth A. Root (Laurel, MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Stepping Out: Three Centuries of Shoes (Paperback)

This is a slim but beautiful catalog of part of the collection of the Powerhouse Museum in Australia. The shoes themselves are all in color and clearly photographed, the pictures ranging from a couple of inches to an entire page. A few of the smaller ones were a trifle hard to see and would have benefited from being enlarged.

There are also a number of historic photographs, mostly black and white, as well as color reproductions of paintings and advertisements to add historical context.

The introductory matter explains the history of the collection and gives an explanation of shoe-making. The shoes are mainly arranged chronologically with a few introductory paragraphs relative to the period. All the shoes are labelled, but details are give in a Shoe-List section in the back. Of particular interest is the section on Australian shoes which is a valuable supplement to more general histories of shoes. There is also a list of further reading.