2009
Acrylic, ink and 23 ¾ Carat Gold leaf on paper
42 x 29.7 cm
Foot binding is believed to have started in the late Tang dynasty. It was a custom practised by only Han women in China. It was not meant to cripple women but to enhance their grace. Women with bound feet swayed when they walked and could only take small steps. This was considered most elegant, graceful and ladylike.
2009
Acrylic, ink and 23 ¾ Carat Gold leaf on paper
42 x 29.7 cm
The performing art of Nautch arose in India in the later Mughal period. A Nautch girl, rather than wearing shoes would decorate her bare feet with henna and anklets, and literally bedeck herself from head to toe in the most lavish jewellery. Initially they were only to been found in the Imperial courts and for the privilege of the very highest echelons of society but eventually filtered down into mainstream culture.
2009
Acrylic, ink and 23 ¾ Carat Gold leaf on paper
42 x 29.7 cm
Geta, like these, were only worn by Oiran, celebrated courtesans of the highest rank. They were respected enough to be able to choose their own clients and only the wealthiest and the most powerful could patronise them. When an Oiran was called a parade would be made around the pleasure quarter (a walled district for brothels) to escort her guest. She would move with a distinctive gait in her tall platform sandals, layers of flamboyant kimono and her obi worn in the front. The Geta were so high and dangerous to walk in that the Oiran would have to be accompanied by servants to help her balance.
2009
Acrylic, ink and 23 ¾ Carat Gold leaf on paper
42 x 29.7 cm
Chopines were platform shoes popularly worn by aristocratic women and courtesans in Renaissance Venice. Some Chopines were up to 50 cm tall. The height of the platform symbolised the status of the wearer, and allowed her to tower over others. Some historians believe that women could even, with practice, dance in tall Chopines.
2009
Acrylic and ink on paper
42 x 29.7 cm
The French Revolution marked a new era in French politics and society. The old monarchy was abolished and the new republic was born, but it was a bloody birth and countless people were guillotined. The 1790s became a time of neoclassicism, with French Republicans drawing inspiration from the democracy of the classical world. Naturally fashion was influenced by politics and footwear designs were inspired by Greek and Roman sandals of the romantic ancient times. So, as wearing open-toed sandals to show one’s bare feet was scandalous, closed shoes with straps were invented to give an illusion of wearing sandals, but remaining decent for modern society.
2009
Acrylic, ink and 23 ¾ Carat Gold leaf on paper
42 x 29.7 cm
Han women had been practising foot binding for centuries. Several emperors attempted to ban the practice but failed. At the turn of the last century European styles started creeping in to Chinese fashion due to the recent increase of Western power. Modern women in major cities began to adopt European styled accessories. The introduction of European styled Lotus shoes was truly revolutionary and this East meets West blend reflected the country’s transition into a commercialised eurocentric era. In 1911, after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the government of the new Republic of China made foot binding illegal but of course a lot of women continued to practise the tradition in secret. The communist takeover in 1949 finally put an end to this thousand-year-old custom.
2009
Acrylic, ink and 23 ¾ Carat Gold leaf on paper
42 x 29.7 cm
Art Deco brought a forward-thinking modern and opulent glamour to 1930s America. Super tall skyscrapers were being built despite the recession and Hollywood captured the romantic modernity of the Machine Age giving audiences hope for a brighter future. Fashion was mathematical, its geometric designs were influenced by both modern technology and the romance of ancient civilisations. Architecturally constructed decoration was frequently an innovative characteristic of 1930s shoes, replacing the ornate embroidered designs of the 1920s.
2009
Acrylic, ink and 23 ¾ Carat Gold leaf on paper
42 x 29.7 cm
Due to WWII, 1940s Britain lacked materials and resources, but this meant that people had to be imaginative and inventive. Old clothes and accessories were given a new life and were used to create new items of clothing, which also meant that conventional rules were broken.
2009
Acrylic and ink on paper
42 x 29.7 cm
For centuries, French fashion had been leading fashion and style. But at this time of youth culture, French fashion seemed expensive, and rather tired and out of touch. The popularisation of youth cultures meant that French fashion houses had to reinvent themselves. They took their inspiration from the streets, but at the same time maintained a sense of chic exclusivity. The launch of Courrèges’s 1965 “space-age” collection really put French fashion back on the map.
