Not Just Textiles

...sometimes I also think about shoes.

While in Toronto, Lucy and I were recommended to visit the Bata Shoe Museum, whose motto is "For the curious".  How could we resist?  

We loved it: world history as told through shoes.  Lucy has been studying the Renaissance and not really enjoying.  I know, I know, how can you not like the Renaissance?  Her contention that it is too heavy on men who believe that they knew how to do things better than anyone else does have the ring of truth to it but, still, it might be a little harsh to sum up the entire era that way.  Fortunately, a crack of light broke through her dark assessment when she spied these:

Shoes from the Renaissance!  Very groovy shoes from the Renaissance!  Oh, thank you Bata Shoe Museum.  Suddenly the Renaissance was not so stuffy and patriarchal...I mean, check out that funky velvet platform number on the stand.  Sometimes you just need to get a foot in the door (har, har) and things will open up.  And so it was with Lucy and the Renaissance.

Zen Buddhist shoes from Japan in a section on shoes from world religions.  The Buddhist shoes were among the most dull, except for the Tibetan ones (of course).  Let's face it, if you are looking for visual excitement, Zen probably isn't the place for you.  Even as I write that, I am proving myself wrong in my head, but in the shoe department at least, it is true.

And speaking of Tibetans...the museum also boasts a collection of famous people's shoes, all of which were donated by the celebrities themselves.  From Justin Beiber to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, they have their shoes.  We were both delighted that HHtDL's contribution was a pair of very worn flip-flops.  Just when you thought you couldn't love him more....