SHOES: Inside Out in The Gallery at The Arc, Winchester will be closing its doors on Wednesday 6 March. The exhibition showcases historic shoes and boots from Hampshire Cultural Trust’s nationally important collection with a small selection having been specially X-rayed. These are displayed alongside the corresponding shoe to uncover their construction, developments in design, or reveal an ethereal reminiscence of a life lived.
Hampshire Cultural Trust’s popular exhibition SHOES: Inside Out features footwear from our past, dating as far back as 11 AD to the present. This exhibition explores how shoes have shaped, and have been shaped by, society. From Georgian high society shoes to 1970s platforms and current high-end designer heels to everyday boots there is a shoe to fit all interests.
Containing around 70 pairs of shoes - the majority of which were made in the 19th and 20th centuries – SHOES: Inside Out also features several very early objects, including a bone skate from the Anglo-Saxon period (10th-11th century) that was found in Winchester and a child’s shoe (c1680), discovered in the chimney of a Hampshire home.
The march of high-end designers is acknowledged by a pair of studded Louboutin stilettos and a pair of shoes made by British fashion icon, Mary Quant. Other famous labels featured in the exhibition include John Galliano, Biba and Liberty.
One visitor commented that the exhibition was “Fascinating, surprising, an amazing collection”. While another said that SHOES: Inside Out was “Brilliant, nostalgic and informative.”
SHOES: Inside Out is a free exhibition which is currently open in The Gallery at The Arc until Wednesday 6 March. For more information, please visit https://www.hampshireculture.org.uk/event/shoes-inside-out.