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Weathervane Newsletter Winter 2001
Upcoming Exhibits: Her Best Foot Forward: Womens Shoes in America, 1765-1930
Recently, Historic Northampton's substantial footwear collection was organized into an in-house catalog and computer database, making research and exhibition easier than ever. Coinciding with the completion of this project is the publication of a major study: A History of Women's Shoes (Kent State University Press) by Nancy Rexford, a costume and textiles scholar and former curator at Historic Northampton. With the assistance of Caroline Pratt, a UMass graduate student in American Studies, Ms. Rexford will curate an exhibit at Historic Northampton entitled Her Best Foot Forward: Women's Shoes in America, 1765-1930.
Opening this spring, Her Best Foot Forward will tell at least two stories about women's footwear. First, it will focus on the daily lives of Northampton women over a period of two centuries by examining the etiquette of footwear. Here, it will feature evening, walking, sporting, and protective footwear along with indoor and boudoir footwear to reveal the various roles women stepped into during different historical periods. The second major theme will address the issue of gender identity and footwear. It will show how changing attitudes about women and their "place" in society are directly reflected in the footwear that both was validated as fashionable and claimed as necessary for the changing demands in their lives. Lectures and public programs will accompany the exhibit. It will draw heavily on fashion magazine quotations, fashion photography and plates, and Historic Northampton's own collection of local advertisements and images. In addition, to these two major narratives, the exhibit will showcase some of Historic Northampton's extensive collection of children's and wedding shoes.
Contents Historic Northampton.