Women from the Ankle Down: The Story of Shoes and How They Define Us

Women from the Ankle Down: The Story of Shoes and How They Define Us

by Rachelle Bergstein
Women from the Ankle Down: The Story of Shoes and How They Define Us

Women from the Ankle Down: The Story of Shoes and How They Define Us

by Rachelle Bergstein

Paperback(Reprint)

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Overview

Rachelle Bergstein brings readers along on a unique and delightful romp through the history of shoes, the women who wear them, and the profound impact they have on our lives.

Women from the Ankle Down includes interviews and cameos with influential figures ranging from Lisa Mayock of Vena Cava to Oscar Award–winning costume designer Patrizia van Brandenstein, from Doc Martens historian Martin Roach to Fashion Institute of Technology museum director Valerie Steele; from Marilyn Monroe and Jane Fonda to Salvador Ferragamo and Christian Dior; from Judy Garland to Wonder Woman.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780061969683
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication date: 06/04/2013
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 284
Product dimensions: 5.30(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Rachelle Bergstein, the author of Women from the Ankle Down, works at a literary agency in New York. She lives with her husband and their son in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

1 Ferragamo and the Wartime Wedge (1900-1938) 1

2 MGM, the Great Depression, and Pulling Yourself Up by Your Ruby Slippers (1936-1939) 23

3 Back to the Drawing Board (1937-1943) 39

4 The Femme Fatale and the Original Power Pump (1944-1948) 55

5 The Stiletto (1950-1954) 67

6 The Feminine Balancing Act (1953-1959) 73

7 Flats, or Some Like It Not (1957-1959) 85

8 From Dolly Birds to Birkenstocks (1961-1966) 93

9 These Boots Are Made for the Valkyrie (1965-1969) 105

10 Props, Platforms, and Porno (1970-1974) 121

11 The Lord of the Gender-Bending Dance (1977-1979) 135

12 Manolo, Molloy, and the New Power Shoes (1975-1982) 151

13 The Workout Is Not a Spectator Sport (1982-1988) 161

14 The Cool Kid Trinity Vans, Chuck Taylors, and Doc Martens (1982-1994) 177

15 Girl Power and Mary Janes (1994-1999) 191

16 Shoes and the Single Girl (1998-2008) 203

17 The Search for Ruby Slippers (2000-present) 221

Authors Note 239

Acknowledgments 245

Notes 249

List of Illustrations 273

Index 275

What People are Saying About This

Susannah Calahan

“Fun.”

Holly Hebert

“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.”

Amanda Lovell

“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.”

Ruth Reichl

“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.”

Liesl Schillinger

“A fleet-footed social history.”

Mireille Guiliano

“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.”

Ron Rosenbaum

“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.”

Tricia Springstubb

“[Bergstein’s] entertaining book wears its research as lightly as a pair of strappy sandals.”

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