Pleasure and Pain…Could you imagine your wardrobe without heels? – I couldn’t. They became such an essential piece and a must in every women’s closet a long time ago long before the Louboutin’s reached it’s high.
I know I’ve shared a lot reviews with you guys lately, but that’s because London has so many exciting exhibitions to offer. From LV Series 3 to LFW at Saatchi Gallery I was impressed by all of them, but none of them could beat a huge shoewear collection of heels at Victorian & Albert Museum – It’s all about Pleasure & Pain girls!
“Extreme” would be the word to describe the shoes. V&A Museum presented around 200 pairs of different shoes ranging from ancient pairs decorated in pure gold leaf to Alexander McQueen’s legendary shoes worn and provided by Lady Gaga. Extremes in fashion weren’t new to me and heels in common are the perfect example to the statement “You have to suffer to be beautiful”. I wouldn’t say no to heels but I’m a befriend of the perfect height – not everyone was born to master the 10 inches, neither was I. (Naomi would have agreed with me). If you can easily walk in those killers for at least 1 hour it should work for the rest of the night.
To not keep you so on tenterhooks: The ground floor was divided in three dark rooms and showcased the complete shoe collection providing Alexander McQueen and as well as ancient Egypt and Asian shoewear designs. Each shoe pair was rich in detail and offered a short introduction: who wore it and about the design itself. I spent most of the time on the ground floor, because I was drawn in by every each of them. Especially for those who have a high interest in detailed art, it’s a must.
The upper floor displayed rather more a smaller range of shoes and provided visitors with shoewear tutorials and interviews with Christian Louboutin, Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo. Very interesting for me, as I always wanted to know more about the people behind the brand and the handicraft. All in all I can recommend the Pleasure and Pain exhibition to any fashion student and of course to everyone else who has an eye for fashion. Although I was never really the girl who liked exhibitions a lot, I became more and more interested in the fashion ones all over London.
xx Bella