Cinderella's Glass Slipper

'Well if the shoe fits' - the Glass slipper featured in the new Cinderella movie

The Glass Slipper designed in honour of the new Cinderella Movie

As a little girl the idea of a glass slipper being handed to me by some talk, dark, handsome Prince charming seemed every bit as realistic as becoming a fairy or a princess. Obviously between then and now, reality sets in, you find a real career, shoes and clothes shopping are the only thing that make you happy and if you’re lucky enough your own prince charming comes with and untold amount of lavish dinner dates, holidays and gifts (I haven't received any glass slippers yet but I’m working on it!) So when I recently saw an Instagram post about Vogue commissioning 9 footwear designers to reinvent their take on Cinderella’s Glass Slipper, immediately I thought three things all at once; 1) how did my shoe radar not know this was going on and what designers are involved?!?!, 2) Where the hell do I buy them from?! and  3) the most important question of all; how will I convince my boyfriend, mum or sister to buy them for me?!**

I hurried home to check out what designers were part of the commission and what styles were available, I was happy to see some of my favourite designers.  Designers included were; Jimmy Choo, (a given) Paul Andrew (a new favourite designer of mine since last year), Jerome C. Rousseau, Stuart Weitzmen, Alexandre Birman, Nicholas Kirkwood, Salvatore Ferragamo (a classic), Charlotte Olympia and Rene Caovilla. The illustrations alone were amazing so you can imagine what the actual shoe looked like....

** My persuasive skills are abysmal so I’ve started saving for this small but worth while (I’m convincing myself) splurge. 

Jimmy Choo

£2,995

Salvatore Ferragamo

£1,395

Paul Andrew

£1,245

Alexandre Birman

£595

Rene Caovilla

£885

Nicholas Kirkwood

£1,795

Jerome C. Rousseau

£545

Stuart Weitzman

£2,950

Charlotte Olympia

£1,895

Stockists UK

Harrods
(made to order)

I spoke to a lovely man by the name of Simon at Harrods customer services (he was very helpful and polite) to find out the prices of these shoes. He informed me of the made to order requirement and also mentioned that they do not have the Charlotte Olympia Cinderella Slipper exhibited or stocked in the store. The shoes displayed in Harrods are unfortunately for display purposes only. (I tried my luck to)

Exhibition

Women. Fashion. Power.

Design Museum

'An unprecedented look at how princesses, models, CEOs, Dames and designers have used fashion to define and enhance their position in the world.'

Now it's no secret - I absolutely love the Design Museum, it takes me back to my school days when I used to go on day trips with my Art,  Design & Technology classes. I regularly visit their website, which has been improved in recent months making it much easier to scroll through (compared to the old layout they had) to check what exhibitions are being held. So naturally, as soon as I saw the Women Fashion Power Exhibition I couldn't resist another visit. 

The exhibition itself covered one floor, which made going through it super easy and concise (I managed to get through the whole exhibition in 90 minutes) Now the shoes - a small but rare collection from different eras. The fashion just as inspiring and  powerful as the shoes. The exhibition reflects how  taking pride in your clothing can be truly inspirational, especially in today's society where women are equally aspirational and ambitious as their male competitors and counterparts. Amongst some of the examples of power-dressers were Dame Zaha Hadid (an idol of mine simply for her innovation and ambition in a male dominated industry - and the designer of this very exhibition) Natalie Massenet (founder of Net-a-porter), Charlotte Olympia (a pair of her shoes are on my splurge shopping list) and of course who I imagine as the matriarch and a great influence in this exhibition - Dame Vivienne Westwood.

The highlight however for me - a Manolo Blahnik illustration that I have only seen in a shoe book. Now, Blahnik I have always admired because of his very imaginative and elaborate sketches and illustrations. I would like to hope that in the future (with lots of practice) my shoe illustrations could be just as full of character. Fortunately the museum allowed for pictures so I jumped at the opportunity at documenting the shoes. Some of them were real jems, with an air of sophistication from the 20’s/30’s and others from a modern age of which we are more familiar with now, the red bottoms - Louboutin. 

Manolo Blahnik Illustration

If you have a spare 90 minutes laying around and you are twiddling your thumbs with nothing to do take a visit, definitely worth your while for budding fashionistas and would suggest going with a girlfriend. Its location make its all the more easier with lots of cute coffee shops dotted around, including one within the museum its self called the Blueprint. Make sure you check out the gift shop to, there are some great nifty items that you can pick up all with a cool modern element to them.

Time

 90 Minutes

Price 

£11.25 per Adult 

Ticket includes entry to other exhibitions in the Museum. You can also buy the tickets online if you are super organised.

Curators

 Collin McDowell 

Donna Loveday