[Bergstein’s] entertaining book wears its research as lightly as a pair of strappy sandals.
An entertaining journey through the social history of shoes and the people who have worn them....Well-written and well-referenced….Recommended to all fashion followers as well as those who enjoy the ankle-down approach to studying our high-end material culture.
Engaging….A charmingly interwoven story of the past 100 years, detailing a bit of the psychology behind different styles as well as the fame that drives the fates of a variety of soles and heels.
Engaging….A charmingly interwoven story of the past 100 years, detailing a bit of the psychology behind different styles as well as the fame that drives the fates of a variety of soles and heels.
The evolution of women’s shoes since WWII becomes the story of women’s self-empowerment in this engaging, toe-to-heel study by editorial consultant Bergstein. Aside from some fluffy conclusions about shoes offering women the requisite “incomparable opportunity for self-expression,” Bergstein takes some iconic styles over the decades, such as Salvatore Ferragamo’s cork-soled wartime wedgie, and provides minibios and fascinating informational tidbits: e.g., Ferragamo’s 1938 sandal ingeniously employed material readily available on the eve of war, such as foil and cork, combined with a style dating back to ancient Greece, to create a shoe that was wonderfully comfortable and modern-feeling for new women on the go. Shoes can help women achieve their dreams, or so Dorothy Gale via Judy Garland learned in The Wizard of Oz by clicking thrice her bowed ruby slippers (changed from silver in the book), while Wonder Woman, first appearing in her own comic book in 1942, wore high-heeled red boots designed to be assertive yet still feminine. Or shoes seduce, like Barbara Stanwyck’s pom-pom satin pumps in Double Indemnity. From flats à la Audrey Hepburn, Keds and white go-go boots, Tommy-era platforms, and Jane Fonda’s Rebok Freestyles, to Sex and the City’s pricey Manolo Blahniks and Jimmy Choo’s, Bergstein ably runs the gamut of styles over the decades, high and low, and women’s eager embrace of “personal agency.” (June)
A fleet-footed social history.” — Liesl Schillinger, New York Times
“A lively look at the history of stilettos, sneakers and sundry other leather- and rubber-soled objects of swoon.” — Olivia Barker, USA Today
“If style defines the woman, and shoes a woman’s style, then ooh la la, here’s the definitive history and guide—everything from Chinese bound feet to Ferragamo, from Hollywood favorites to running up one’s credit card on the sine qua non of fashion.” — Mireille Guiliano, author of French Women Don't Get Fat
“If you could glimpse the passing parade of the last hundred years or so from behind a slightly raised curtain, you’d have a pretty good idea of what’s going on in this richly anecdotal history of shoes.” — Amanda Lovell, More Magazine
“Every woman who loves her shoes should read this book—hell—every man who loves women’s shoes should read this book….Informative, interesting, and just plain fun.” — New York Journal of Books
“[Bergstein’s] entertaining book wears its research as lightly as a pair of strappy sandals.” — Tricia Springstubb, Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Fun.” — Susannah Calahan, New York Post
“At last someone has dared to probe one of the most mystifying phenomena in our culture: what’s the deal with women and shoes? Rachelle Bergstein starts from the ground up and tells us—with wit and brio—a lot about society from an unusual and original perspective.” — Ron Rosenbaum, author The Shakespeare Wars and How the End Begins:The Road to a Nuclear World War III
“As a woman who walks, I’ve often wondered why I don’t wear more sensible shoes. Now I know. Rachelle Bergstein has written a compulsively readable history: it won’t keep you from buying an absurdly uncomfortable and expensive pair, but it will make you understand why you’re doing it.” — Ruth Reichl, author of Garlic and Sapphires
“[An] engaging, toe-to-heel study....From flats a la Audrey Hepburn, Keds and white go-go- boots, Tommy-era platforms, and Jane Fonda’s Reebok Freestyles, to Sex and the City’s pricey Manolo Blahniks and Jimmy Choo’s, Bergstein ably runs the gamut of styles over the decades…” — Publishers Weekly
“An illuminating study of the history of women’s shoes in the 20th century….Wickedly provocative.” — Kirkus
“An entertaining journey through the social history of shoes and the people who have worn them....Well-written and well-referenced….Recommended to all fashion followers as well as those who enjoy the ankle-down approach to studying our high-end material culture.” — Holly Hebert, Library Journal
“Engaging….A charmingly interwoven story of the past 100 years, detailing a bit of the psychology behind different styles as well as the fame that drives the fates of a variety of soles and heels.” — Booklist
If you could glimpse the passing parade of the last hundred years or so from behind a slightly raised curtain, you’d have a pretty good idea of what’s going on in this richly anecdotal history of shoes.
At last someone has dared to probe one of the most mystifying phenomena in our culture: what’s the deal with women and shoes? Rachelle Bergstein starts from the ground up and tells us—with wit and brio—a lot about society from an unusual and original perspective.
Fun.
A fleet-footed social history.
If style defines the woman, and shoes a woman’s style, then ooh la la, here’s the definitive history and guide—everything from Chinese bound feet to Ferragamo, from Hollywood favorites to running up one’s credit card on the sine qua non of fashion.
As a woman who walks, I’ve often wondered why I don’t wear more sensible shoes. Now I know. Rachelle Bergstein has written a compulsively readable history: it won’t keep you from buying an absurdly uncomfortable and expensive pair, but it will make you understand why you’re doing it.
A lively look at the history of stilettos, sneakers and sundry other leather- and rubber-soled objects of swoon.
An illuminating study of the history of women's shoes in the 20th century. In her debut, Bergstein examines the fascinating and surprisingly complex relationship between women and their shoes--"the average woman owns upward of ten, twenty, fifty pairs of shoes, some of which have very little practical use and languish in the back of the closet until just the right occasion arises." Bergstein traces the origins of this modern-day mania to Salvatore Ferragamo, who, by the 1930s, had "put Italy on the footwear map" by becoming shoemaker to Hollywood stars like Carmen Miranda and Lana Turner. Ordinary women who were used to more mundane styles suddenly became aware of the allure and erotic potential of a pair of beautiful, well-crafted shoes. After the privations of World War II, the fashion industry emphasized abundance through a greater diversity of styles, including stilettos, which "were meant to be decadent, not useful." As haute couture fell out of favor in the '60s, popular designers like Mary Quant made the footwear-buying public aware of new possibilities that included shoes and boots made of disposable materials like Corfam and vinyl. "[F]antasy and self indulgence" became the watchwords of the '70s, when women and men took to the streets and discotheques in gender-bending platform shoes. The gains that feminism made for women during this decade eventually translated into a desire for high-end footwear by such contemporary designers as Manolo Blahnik and Christian Louboutin. Bergstein concludes by suggesting that greater social and economic mobility among women has ultimately created "the age of great variety, when shoes are as diverse as the women who wear them." Like Dorothy's ruby red slippers, modern shoes are a way for women to express their hopes and dreams, but without "question, fear or apology." Wickedly provocative.