1. Stephanie Scherr
Exhibition Review of Shoes: Pleasure and Pain
Have you ever worn a pair of shoes and felt like you could go out and change the world?
Well, Roger Vivier once said, “to wear dreams on one’s feet is to begin to give a reality to one’s
dreams.” This quote was found on the wall at the Victoria and Albert Museum’s newest
exhibition, “Shoes: Pleasure and Pain.” Vivier’s statement is the best way to encompass the
ideas that the exhibition was trying to get across.
When walking into this exhibit, you are greeted by neon lights, which gives a sense that
this not going to be an ordinary museum exhibition. One of the first things that is on display
once inside is a giant screen showing an old film clip that is presenting how different a woman
feels when wearing a certain pair of shoes. This theme of dreams and the feeling of change
from a pair of shoes is fluid throughout this exhibition.
The bottom floor of the exhibit is dark with rich, deep purple walls that gives a sense of
luxury. Whereas the top floor was bright,airy, and less serious. This separation can be an
intentional way of displaying the difference between pain and pleasure. Throughout the
exhibition there was an array of different shoes from all over the world and throughout time.
However, the shoes also showed how many different types of dreams or goals that are out
there.
The first pair of shoes shown in the exhibition, are a pair of football superstar, David
Beckham’s football boots from the Manchester United Museum. Beckham wore these boots
during the 2000­2001 season while playing for the team. While wearing these boots, Beckham
was living out a dream of playing professional football. While these are not an everyday,
traditional pair of shoes, this pair was worn by a person who was living out his dreams.
While, David Beckham’s football boots are not the most traditional pair of shoes, just a
few pedestals down in the same display might be one of the most famous pair of shoes of all
time. Sitting in the largest part of the display is Cinderella’s glass slippers. The story of
Cinderella is the epitome of a pair of shoes being apart of making someone’s dream come true.
The glass slippers were sitting on a velvet pillow and were eye­catching from anyone who
walked by. They were sparkling and just as beautiful as any little girl would have imagined.
While these shoes in the same case are very opposite, they both embrace this idea of how a
pair of shoes can help accomplish a dream.
When walking up the stairs to the next floor, the transition from dark to light or pain to
pleasure becomes quite clear. The displays become more informative and less about looking at
the shoes themselves. In an alcove on the floor, there is a large screen displaying some of the
most famous shoe designers such as, Christian Louboutin, who is discussing his process when
creating a shoe. Along with Louboutin, other designers and shoemakers gave forth advice about
the creation of shoes and the idea of shoes themselves.
The last display of the exhibition was of five different shoe collectors and the story of
their collections. These collections ranged from vintage Chanel and Dior to an array of every
different type of trainer. This display was a nice way of ending the exhibition and was able to
show that an everyday person can wear and own these outlandish or sometimes unattainable
shoes.

2. This idea of dreams was weaved throughout the exhibition. It does not matter whether
you are wearing a pair of diamond encrusted YSL shoes or a pair of Chinese slippers, anyone
can accomplish or work on making their dreams come true. This exhibit is a genuine collection
of shoes worn by people from all over the world and different periods of time. No matter if they
were worn for pleasure or pain, they were all apart of someone’s journey in life.