two kitties

Ghana: African Gold Shoes and Crown

As you know, I've been looking closely at carving as I experiment with figurative work in the painting studio. I recently visited Houston and saw an exhibit from the Glassell Collection, "African Gold." 

I fell a little bit in love with these wooden shoes from Ghana, carved and finished with gold leaf. 

The sandals and this crown were both made in the part of the early 20th century. You can imagine how the lines of each figure in this crown could translate to a painting. Truly beautiful work.

Now popularized, Kente cloth was originally the fabric of Ghanian kings, woven by the Akan people on a treadle loom. The type of loom is significant. Most West African weavers were using the stripweave method.

Legend has it that two men stumbled upon a spider weaving a web in the forest, and came back with the technique that led to the kente cloth. The colors used in the weave are significant. You can read about them in this wikipedia article.

Yes, the security guards did ask me not to take photos. My immediate thought was, YOU DON'T OWN AFRICA.

I can understand the need to protect the intellectual property of a living artist (sort of), but in the age of museum 2.0, the no-photo policy seems slightly out of whack. Particularly in a gallery of ceremonial objects, produced by an unknown, unacknowledged artist, displayed a million miles from home.

Nina Simon wrote a good blog post about photo policies in museums in the digital age. What is your opinion? Should visitors be allowed to take photos of the objects on display, if conservation is not an issue?

 

Beauty Pumps Louis Vuitton 2010.

I'm in love. And only the red velvet/glitter heel will do.

Comfortable Shoes: NAOT, Privo, and Platform Heels Of Any Kind.

Every time I purchase on a pair of comfortable shoes, I throw up a little bit in my mouth. As far as I'm concerned, shoes with a rounded toe box and arch support are one credit card swipe closer to death. I'm just not that kind of woman. My kind of woman wears shoes like these:

 

Or these:

Picking out flat shoes to wear with jeans? Baffles me. Platform heels go with jeans. Platform heels go with everything.

But, quite frankly, if you're going to wear leopard platform heels in Montana you're going to look like a fool. So, the last couple of years, I've tried to shoot for the middle with some Via Spiga platform clogs and a pair of lug sole Michael Kors high heel penny loafers for the cold months and flip flops of all varieties and prices in summer. If people are making fun of me they are doing it behind my back.

But since I ruptured my tendon everything is different. I'm supposed to wear special things in my shoes. And even though my doctor said they would fit 80 percent of my shoes, they only fit in my running shoes. The dirty pair that I brought to the fitting appointment. And if I don't wear them my foot really hurts, which I've figured out the hard way.

So, today, I bit the bullet and googled, "comfortable shoes for custom orthotic inserts." Whoa. No! I think one of the things that bothered me the most was that the comfortable shoes all have little names: "Sassy"; "Delores"; "Adele"...Note to Marketers: Naming shoes with old lady names? Is A Total Turnoff.

Several hours of searching later, I had purchased three pairs.

NAOT's platform "Admire" wedge - maybe it looks like Robert Cleregie if you get drunk enough?

And then two pairs of Privo - a little T-strap called "Walk"; and a sneaker-y type thing called "Pateo."

Please, God. Sometimes, that's the only prayer you can make, you know?

Vintage Ferragamo Pumps or, How to Find Bargains at Thrift Stores.

I just bought a perfect, never-been-worn pair of vintage Ferragamo pumps at my local Goodwill for $12.  At a department store, these shoes would retail for $350 or more.

I hesitated - vintage Ferragamo is for old ladies - but when I tried them on? They actually looked pretty cute.  I'm not going to get all emotional and age-crazy on you, right now, going on and on about how I'm now old enough to wear old lady shoes. There are plenty of other posts on that theme in the "What's On My Mind" section, if you're in the mood.

Instead, I want to share some of my thrift store wisdom with you. Because I'm so good, that people follow me at Douglas Gardens to see what I'm putting in my cart. You think I'm joking, but I'm not.

Now, the first thing I want you to do is to put two fingers up and make the "peace" sign. Now turn those fingers and point them straight at your eyeballs. That's the way I want you to approach thrifting. Like a hawk, circling in on a kill.

Next. Start in your favorite section. For me? It's shoes. I love shoes. I scan the terrain like a hawk, to see what I can see. I look at every pair, in every size. Why?

Because people don't take things to thrift stores one item at a time. They take them in boxes and bags. . So my theory is, if you find one precious jewel, chances are that there are other items in the store that day that are worth searching for. When that happens, it's like a thrift detector antenna automatically extends itself from the top of my head, boop boop boop-ing until I lock and load on my treasure. 

Por ejemplo, the day I found a pair of perfect, vintage 1950's pumps, I also found four perfect, vintage 1950's cashmere swing coats from glamour Chicago department store I. Magnin. Some woman dies, and her best clothing falls into the hands of someone who doesn't see its value. The things she loved, saved, and protected all of her years wound up in a thrift store in rural Montana. But it all works out o.k., because it was obviously God's plan that I give all these vintage coats a home. I think I have about 30 vintage coats in my collection. 

Shop at regular department stores and know your brands. Today I saw worn t-shirts from Old Navy selling for $5. Why would I pay $5 for a used Old Navy T-shirt when I can get a brand new one for $5? A pair of wool Nanette Lepore trousers in perfect condition? Worth $6.  A blue silk blouse by Worthington? Nope. Worthington is JC Penney. Not worth $9 to me.

Know your fabrics. I can identify cashmere just by looking at it, can you?

Don't be afraid to buy something for "re-purpose" purposes. A friend bought a great suit jacket just for it's vintage bakelite buttons. Today I found a gorgeous men's Scottish cashmere sweater with a tiny hole in it. I don't care about the hole because I'm going to use the cashmere. I plan to make myself a gorgeous "Origami" wrap from this free pattern that I saw on Creative Kismet.

Before you check out, go through your cart and sort it again. Is it rare? Do you have a place in your house or an immediate purpose for the item? If you leave it here, and it's gone tomorrow, will you regret not buying it? If it's clothing, does it fit you? Will you wear it? If you won't wear it, is it worth keeping as a 'museum' piece? If not? Put it back.

What's your best thrift score of all time?

Rollasole Shoes

Rollasoles are roll-upp-able ballet flats for sale in vending machines installed in a select group of nightclubs in England. For those nights when you're too drunk to find your shoes, I guess.

Prada, Montana.

Today, two worlds collided.

 

Beyonce's Shoe Choice: 2009 BET Awards.

These shoes are a kind of tribute to Stevie Wonder's hair, doncha think?

Sigerson Morrison Huarache Boots

Fall 2009 is all about the boot. Whether it is combat, wedge, or stiletto, it has to be hiiiiiiiiigh.

Jessica Simpson Shoes

I just bought these Jessica Simpson shoes. I never would have picked these out - my wardrobe consultant at Trunk Club did - but I love them with jeans. I'm their first woman client and I'm keeping them busy. Not much shopping here in Montana.

Ugly Marc Jacobs Sandals

This blog is a little bit of everything - a little art, a little craft, a little fashion. I've been thinking about a SHOE category - but it wasn't until I saw these that I realized how truly needed the SHOE category might be. The  Marc Jacobs' sandals (above) are a NO. Do not wear these.  I cannot imagine an outfit - unless it was an outfit designed by Stevie Nicks - that would make this shoe an appropriate or attractive choice. It's like Grapes of Wrath on crack. Do NOT buy the Forever 21 knock offs:

Your calves and ankles will look like ham hocks all trussed up and ready for Sunday dinner. Are we clear?

Mummified Barbies of Yves Saint Laurent and E. V. Day

Last month, I went to see the Yves Saint Laurent retrospective at San Francisco's De Young Museum. Like these "tribute" shoes, the YSL exhibit seemed hastily organized. The clothing on display was pulled from the Fondation Pierre Berge, an organization dedicated to the collection and preservation of exceptional haute couture. I might have taken another year to negotiate with the ladies; mixing the Fondation's holdings with borrowed pieces from YSL's clientele. 

I did love this wedding dress, knit by Yves Saint Laurent dressmakers in 1965. Here we have a white wool mummy on the cusp of the sexual revolution. Consider the simple, phallic shape of the thing. The way it covers every part of her body and keeps the alluring - hair, breasts, waist, legs - from view though her hands and mouth are exposed.  The dress is probably very, very hot and heavy to wear. She is wrapped and tied with ribbons, forcing her groom to have patience in his steady, slow progress to unwrap her cocoon.

The dress is knit in a variation of the Aran style fisherman's sweater. The stitches knit into the dress have significance to me. In Aran patterns, the honeycomb is a symbol of the hard-working bee. In the Hebrew Bible, honey is a spiritual food. In the case of the the knitted wedding dress, it is also, most certainly, a reference to the wearer's sexuality. She is a flower, awaiting pollination.

The basket weave stitch is said to represent the fisherman's basket, and hopes for a plentiful catch. Aran sweaters are traditionally made of untreated wool which retains natural lanolin. The lanolin gives the sweater a degree of water resistance. This wedding dress is a form of protection.

Not on the museum label - just my own observations about the dress.  And maybe that's what was missing from the DeYoung show for me - some kind of acknowledgment of the depth and complexity behind the couture of Yves Saint Laurent. These are not just pretty clothes. 

A series of Mummified Barbies by the artist E. V. Day recalls the power of the bee and the potent sexuality of this troubled icon of femininity. Day wraps Barbie in twine and dips her in hot beeswax, leaving only the eyes and, occasionally, the feet, as a conduit for experience. 

What did your wedding dress look like?

NO.

And I mean just say NO. Uuuuuuuuuuggggggly. There is no imaginably good reason for you to wear an amphibious high heel.