Category Archives: Shoes

Standing Tall – new menswear exhibition

HistoricalMenswear is excited about a new exhibition focused on menswear!

Exhibition “Standing Tall: The Curious History of Men in Heels”

Bata Shoe Museum (Toronto, Canada)

May 8th, 2015 – May 2016.

Bata

Standing Tall will challenge preconceived notions about who wears heels and why. From privileged rulers to hyper-sexualized rock stars this provocative exhibition will explore the history of men in heels from the early 1600s to today, delving into the use and meanings of heeled footwear in men’s dress over the last four hundred years.

Offering rare examples of men’s heeled footwear from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, mid-nineteenth century military boots, 1930s cowboy boots and 1940s biker boots, visitors also have the opportunity to view John Lennon’s original 1960s Beatle boot, platforms worn by Elton John in the 1970s, and recent heels from haute couture collections, all from the Museum’s own holdings.

bata2

For more exhibitions focused on menswear, check out our archive in the menus above

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more clogs

Speaking of clogs (or pattens, if you prefer,) here’s another good example, with an interesting cross-piece under the instep. And some nice demy pantouffles on the gent on the left.

Panel from an alterpiece showing the Marriage of the Virgin by Master of the Tiburtine Sibyl, c.1475. At the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Panel from an alterpiece showing the Marriage of the Virgin by Master of the Tiburtine Sibyl, c.1475. At the Philadelphia Museum of Art

 

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16th century clogs

Don’t his shoes look super contemporary? Bonus, he seems to have a spoon in his hat. From Fragments of a Nativity Scene, attributed to Hieronymus Bosch, early 16th century, Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Bosch

clogs

Today’s versions: Alexander Wang, Jil Sander, and No. 6. In case you’re feeling a little Boschy.

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