To All The People Who Responded

to all the people who responded
to the evaluation survey at Vintage at the
Wilderness Festival, completed ‘five
minute curator’ labels and were
interviewed inside The Dream Shoe
Closet
People and organisations learn new things from projects – and
this can change thinking and lead to new ways of working.
Nylon Walnut uses evaluation to listen to people, capture
what they have learned and want to share on film and in text and shape this into on-line learning resources for use within
and across organisations with an interest. Yes, we generate
written evaluation reports for our clients – but we do a bit
more than that. We bring people with expertise in education,
film, photography, web design and marketing together to
discover new and useful ways of sharing learning.
Finbar Lillis is an education researcher, evaluator and film
maker with a track record in education reform in the UK and
in Europe, www.creditworks.org.uk and a background in
community involvement, including arts projects. He has a
particular interest in methods and approaches which support
personalised ways of learning through enquiry and discovery.
Recent work for the museum sector includes evaluation of
Down the Back of the Sofa film and report and the Collections
Learning Hub for the Museums Association.
Doug Smith is a programme director fully conversant with
both film and video. After leaving the Royal College of Art
School of Film & Television he worked as a film editor for four
years before starting to direct. Since then he has worked
extensively in all areas of the industry: broadcast, corporate,
commercials, music promos and the non-broadcast sector of
the industry specialising in business to business
communications and education.
2
there’s exciting fashions going on – you need
to see the shoe collection here to really
inspire you – kind of make it creative and
fun.”
“Northampton Museum and Art Gallery wants
to develop the significant designated shoe
collection that it currently holds. We want
particularly to raise the profile of the
collection among an audience interested in
fashion and design. The Dream Shoe Closet at
Vintage at the Wilderness Festival provided an
opportunity for us to reach this audience. The
Dream Shoe Closet is designed as a pop-up
interactive space that we can take out and use
at other festivals and activities.
Northampton Museum and Art Gallery also
wanted to learn how to have a presence at
festivals. What we have learned can be
applied to other festivals and events we get
involved in and will be useful for future
collaboration. We wanted to create:





Wilderness Festival goer
“I think in time the importance of this
collection will have more and more of a value
as designers are searching out inspiration.
There will be a way of charging, whether it’s
online or whether it’s membership... and I’m
sure that the big shoe companies in time will
want access to this collection and will become
big donors … and the more you hold onto a
collection, the more the value in that respect
grows… “
Wayne Hemingway, Vintage by Hemingway - at the Wilderness
Festival 2012
A space to rest – an oasis during the
day
A place to have your photo taken wearing shoes and clothes from our
handling collection
A space to intervene and interact
A place to dance and let your hair
down
A place that reminds people of their
past ”
Jane Seddon, Shoe Heritage Development Officer,
Northampton Museums and Art Gallery
“I’d say museums have to be more
adventurous. They just need to be just less
over protective - so protective that nothing
ever comes out of the store. We’re the ones
who are paying money or supporting
museums so we need to see these collections
in relevant places like this – a place where
3
1893
385
Of these:
370
321
279
219
87
365
50
The range of the Collection


The shoe collection at Northampton Museums
and Art Gallery is one of the largest and most
significant collections of shoe fashion heritage
in the world and is designated by Arts Council
England as being of national and international
importance. Its strength lies in the collection’s
scope and range.



History of collection at Northampton

Northampton Museum was founded on 9th
Nov 1865. The footwear collection was
started in 1873 by Moses Philip Manfield so
that local workers could see specimens of
boots and shoes made elsewhere in the
world. Since then the collection has grown to
include many examples of
Northamptonshire’s industry.
, more than 12,000 items
ranging from ancient Egyptian to
contemporary design
, including buckles, laces,
shoe horns, trees, spats, leggings and
polish
including lasts
including shop
furniture and fittings and advertising
material
including trade
journals, company catalogues, books
and photographs
including
paintings and prints depicting shoes
and shoemaking

from the Roman
period onwards

hidden in
buildings to bring good luck

The collection is available for viewing by
researchers and designers and indeed many
designers use the collection to get inspiration.
Northampton Museums and Art Gallery is
currently exploring how to develop the
collection and is open to discussion around
projects/exhibitions with individuals,
organisations and companies using the unique
collection.
Contact the museum on 01604 838111 or
[email protected]

Northampton Museum and Art
Gallery has ambitions to develop the
significant designated shoe collection
that they currently hold.
Northampton Museum and Art
Gallery wished to particularly raise the
profile of the collection amongst an
audience interested in fashion and
design.

Delivering activity at fashion related
festivals was an opportunity for
Northampton Museum and Art
Gallery to reach this audience, using
the opportunity to create a pop up
interactive space that could then be
taken out to other festivals/activities
if appropriate.

Northampton Museum and Art
Gallery wanted to learn how to attend
festivals. This learning would then be
applied to other festivals and might
provide an interesting angle for future
collaborative approaches.

Northampton Museum and Art
Gallery wanted develop relationship
with Vintage by Hemingway and other
partners if appropriate.

An opportunity to showcase
Northamptonshire’s high end shoe
making skills
Seddon from Northampton Museum and Art
Gallery and Wayne Hemingway, of Vintage by
Hemingway. Wayne had invited Northampton
Museum and Art Gallery to Vintage at the
Wilderness Festival 2012 after the successful
involvement of the Derby
Museum project, Down the Back of the Sofa,
at Vintage in 2011.
The movie provides a snapshot of the views of
festival goers in the main – and reflects the
main themes that emerged in evaluation of
The Dream Shoe Closet project explored in
this report.
Doug Smith and Finbar Lillis made a short
movie of The Dream Shoe Closet on the
Saturday of the Wilderness Festival,
interviewing around 30 festival goers in
The Dream Shoe Closet as well as Jane
6
This report evaluates The Dream Shoe Closet
( hereafter, ‘The Dream Shoe Closet’, ‘the
project’), looks at whether it achieved what it
set out to do and makes suggestions for
further thought and action.
1. Desk analysis of project proposal,
plans and supporting documentation,
including planning/strategy
documents and any other relevant
data supplied by the partner
organisations, including festival goer
responses to The Dream Shoe Closet
experience.
2. Analysis of ‘5 minute curator’ tags
3. Analysis of completed evaluation
forms
4. Face to face video interviews with
festival goers Northampton Museum
and Art Gallery staff and volunteers
and project partners experiencing the
project at the Wilderness Festival.
5. Production of a film The Dream Shoe
Closet
6. Production of a final report



NOTE: unattributed quotes in this
report are from festival goers
interviewed on film, evaluation
responses or ‘five minute curator’
labels.

7
spaces and that elements could be arranged
and connected for different purposes.
Northampton
Museum and Art
Gallery also wanted
to be able to loan
or hire the set to
other Museums –
to help recoup
costs and to keep
as an asset;
possibly useful in
building
partnerships with a
range of other
organisations in the
museums and
creative sectors.
Built by a festival company
The Dream Shoe Closet set was designed,
made and built by The Umbrella Fair
Organisation - a Northampton company which
runs an annual festival in Northampton, and
who are very experienced in set building –
particularly for open air festivals.
The set is currently available to hire and there
has been some interest from other museums
and there is a plan to exhibit at Northampton
Museum and Art Gallery over the summer of
2014.
The set had to be adaptable. Firstly, the
location of the Vintage festival changed during
2012 – the set was originally designed for an
indoor location and needed to be adapted (as
plans changed) to work inside a marquee in an
outdoor festival setting.
A modular set that can be re-used
A modular design was part of the original plan
– learning from the experience of the Derby
Museum and Art Gallery project – Down the
back of the Sofa – the plan was to build a set
that could be re-used and adapted. A
modular design meant some elements could
be used for exhibiting in smaller and different
Your installation was FAB!! Wayne Hemingway, Vintage
by Hemingway
8
Visitors were encouraged to further interact
with the exhibition by labelling it with
memories of the period or for those younger
their own comments or memories of their
grandparents and parents.
The Dream Shoe Closet combined the fashion
trend of vintage with shoes from one of the
world’s biggest shoe collections from
Northampton Museums and Art Gallery.
‘Look what I discovered’ corner where people
could try on shoes from the handling
collection and have their photo taken.
This interactive exhibition recreated a vintage
late 1970s bedroom and closet with a shoe
twist. Visitors to the exhibition were
encouraged to experience the 70s room set by
putting on records and sitting in the space,
playing games from the period, sitting at the
dressing table or exploring the drawers and
cupboards.
The bedroom set included drawers and
cupboards displaying shoes from one of the
world’s most famous shoe collections. Shoes
were grouped by themes to encourage people
to think about their shoe wearing habits such
as ‘shoes to go out in’, ‘shoes to go to work
in’, ‘shoes to make you cry’, and ‘shoes to
make you smile’.
Walking through the Narnia style wardrobe
brings you into the shoe closet displaying a
rainbow of shoes from the 1920s to the
1980s. There were also shoes to try on - and
visitors could have themselves photographed
in their favourite vintage pair.
9
Northampton Museums and Art Gallery’s
Dream Shoe Closet was effectively part of the
Vintage festival which (though it had been a
stand-alone event in previous years) was
integrated into the Wilderness Festival in
Cornbury, Gloucestershire for summer 2012.
The audience - The Wilderness Festival of
2012 had the usual British summer festival
ingredients and more – and appealed to a
specific ‘demographic’,
‘As sixth-formers excitedly pitched their tent
near mine, it was clear Wilderness was to be a
genteel affair. The Odyssey would be
performed by the lakeside, QI's John
Mitchinson would teach us the meaning of
“haptodysphoria1”, and early risers would
gather in alarmingly high numbers to go “wild
running” through Cornbury Park. With not a
greasy burger van, freaky inflatable, or Herbal
High stall in sight, this two-year old festival
was clearly boutique with a capital B, and
wasn’t ashamed to show it.’2
The first challenge for a Museum attempting
to integrate a participative exhibition into a
festival space is to think hard about which
audience ‘segment’ the festival is designed for
- do the festival organisers' ambitions coincide
with yours? How will this affect your choice of
set design and in this case selection of shoes,
furniture and other items for The Dream Shoe
Closet? The audience were not all ‘pure’
Vintage enthusiasts though there were many
shoe enthusiasts – and the chance to interact
– and not just buy, was welcomed by festival
goers.
1
An unpleasant sensation caused by touching certain
materials like velvet, peaches, or velour.
2
Alice Bloch in http://www.ideastap.com/ideasmag/allarticles/wilderness-festival-2012-review
We chose to come to vintage to explore how
we could work with the kind of audiences that
would be interested in vintage and fashion
and how we could raise the profile of the
museum and the collection with those types of
people…
Jane Seddon, Northampton Museum and Art Gallery
Do you have any control over the location
within the festival? If the Museum is paying
festival fees then of course it will have a say.
However if the site is provided free by the
festival organisers, then the Museum will
need to be able to adapt and change its plans
if necessary – and this can happen quite close
to the festival date.
The Dream Shoe Closet was at the end of the
‘Vintage Market’ a wide and pleasant avenue
of stalls selling vintage goods. There were
some disadvantages to this position – but the
advantage was that it was (relatively) quiet
and as it was at the end of the avenue, an
ideal place to pause and dream.
What are the potential conservation issues?
The organic stability of selected objects (and
shoes in particular) for exhibition in outdoor
festival conditions was a concern and the
effects of heat, light, relative humidity and
rapid changes in these should be a key
consideration for a Museum planning a
project as the Dream Shoe Closet.
For example, what are the likely levels of
relative humidity (RH) and acceptable
tolerances, throughout the exhibition period
and can these be controlled? How long will
the objects be exposed to volatile or variable
levels of light and heat…
The weather was hot, with the hot sun shining
through the marquee creating a hot humid
environment during the day which cooled over
night…This change in temperature was not
particularly good for the shoes from a
conservation perspective.
10
…and can the effects of light heat and changes
in humidity be mitigated or controlled?
The shoes were buffered from the
environments of the cupboards and draws
where they were sealed using acid free tissue
paper. Although we coped with the challenges
of the environment, this was not ideal.
…some shoes were exposed to higher light
levels than we would normally expect however they were only exposed for a short
period of time (duration of the festival)
How will the objects be transported to and
from the site and what conservation issues
are likely to arise in transportation?
Transporting the shoes was also challenging.
Will securing the objects help or exacerbate
climatic conditions that might threaten their
conservation?
Most of the shoes were protected to a certain
extent by the microclimates created by the
Perspex boxes and cupboards and the
furniture…
All the collection shoes were behind Perspex
security screwed and sealed into the furniture.
Some of the shoes were in drawers and
cupboards and were protected from the light…
Outdoor festivals like these are difficult from
a conservation point of view and especially so
for objects composed of less stable organic
material.
From a conservation point of view the festival
environment was very challenging.
There were several climates to deal with, from
transportation to and from the festival and
within the exhibition at the site, including a
series of variable microclimates: outside
conditions, the marquee, exhibition spaces
within the marquee, cupboards, draws and
exhibition cases.
The Dream Shoe Closet lasted one weekend
and so the climatic conditions and effects
were manageable,
Outdoor festivals perhaps present the most
challenging conditions for staging exhibitions
like the Dream Shoe Closet. Conservation risk
analysis, informed by the experience of the
Dream Shoe Closet, should be adapted for use
in further projects. A post hoc conservation
assessment should review the objects after
the event and report on any resulting effects
from, for example, expansion or contraction
due to RH.
How secure will the location be? In a
controlled, secure location – i.e. a building,
there will still be security and insurance
considerations for a Museum but these are
enlarged when festival goers have access to
some objects – even when these are from a
Museum’s handling collection. In a Marquee
there could be further potential issues,
including overnight security. These were
anticipated by Northampton Museum and Art
Gallery and organised festival security is in
any case geared up for support.
The Dream Shoe Closet wanted festival goers
to be able to get close up to some important
items though these were both protected and
secure.
11
All the main collection shoes were behind
Perspex built into the furniture so they could
not be easily accessed.
Jane Seddon, Northampton Museum and Art Gallery
The objective of The Dream Shoe Closet was
to encourage interaction after all and the
presence of staff and volunteers in The Dream
Shoe Closet throughout the festival,
encouraging interaction and dialogue meant
that securing the set and objects could be part
of that interaction.
I just really enjoyed it – something out of the
ordinary something I wasn’t expecting to see
at festival
The vibe – this matters and predicting this is
essential,
Strikingly peaceful and pinch-yourself
beautiful, Wilderness may well be far from
being edgy, political or indeed wild, but you
can't deny that it is downright pleasant and
undeniably relaxing. And there’s certainly a
big something to be said for that.3
The weather – unpredictably beautiful – a
rare weekend in summer 2012 with plenty of
sunshine, no wind, no rain and most
importantly, no mud.
Outdoor festivals present conservation and
security challenges to a project like The
Dream Shoe Closet but if the conditions are
right, festival goers will have a unique and
therefore memorable experience.
The experience of the Umbrella Fair
Organisation staff and volunteers in attending
festivals was crucial to the success of the
project. They advised on how to make the
space more secure… and were aware of how
people in a festival environment would act
and react...
…The closet was based in a workshop area so
we were able to shut it down at night, closing
the door to the closet which was nailed in
position. The marquee was secured and shut
down at 7pm too.
Jane Seddon, Northampton Museum and Art Gallery
3
ibid
12
Large King sized bed
and blankets etc
A walk in giant
wardrobe with:
Dressing Chairs
Shoes to make you smile
Dressing table
Drawer units
Shoes to make you laugh
Cupboards
Shoes to make you cry
Bedside table
Shoes to do sport in
Appropriate pictures
on the walls
Shoes made in Northampton
Strong patterned
wallpaper/fabric on
the walls
Shoes that hurt
Nostalgic shoes (children’s shoes fitted neatly
into low drawers in the bedside cabinets
Ornaments and
bedroom related
items from the 70s
Shoes to go to work in
Carpet/rugs
Shoes to go out in (these were put in the
Dressing table where people might sit to get
ready.
Gramophone player
where people could
play music
Furniture holding
appropriate selection
of shoe music records
from all vintage
fashion decades
Shoes to stay in
Dial telephone
Shoes in our store that were not on display
Fashion Magazines
1970s/80s
Conservation issues – they had to be robust
Games to play
Height and size to fit in drawers – this was
challenging dealing with heels
•
Lighting from lamps
Cupboard spaces
hung with clothes
and shoes
Lots of mirror space
Shoe racks and
clothes and shoes
for people to try on.
Shoes in cupboards
Chairs for people to
sit down in when
trying on shoes
(soft bedroom
chairs). Including
branded
space for
photographs to be
taken.
Storage space to
put away items
from the day time
activity during the
evening.
Lighting from 1970s
lamps
Branded space
where people could
take photos and
upload them onto
Northampton Shoe
Vintage social
media.
A representative sample of our collection
Visually look good e.g. a rainbow of different
colours and styles from each period
Covering men’s, women’s and children’s
shoes
Shoes that might bring back memories
13
If this was a museum and it had been roped
off and we just stood the other side and
looked in, it wouldn’t have been nearly so
satisfying as an experience - so the
interactivity of it has been hugely enjoyable.
I’ve loved it, really loved it.
…we really want to look at how we engage
with our audience, how we make shoes
exciting and different …
Jane Seddon, Northampton Museum and Art Gallery
I think it is amazing to bring the shoes out of a
stuffy museum ( I don’t know if it is a stuffy
museum) but it enables people to feel the
objects and see the objects - it’s interactive it’s really good … it’s nice to try them on as
well…
This is the first time I have come to a festival
and seen a set up like this…
Because it is a festival it is a very different
environment. People expect quirky, fun,
interesting ways of exploring things so we
wanted to display our shoes in a way that was
exciting, contemporary and made people
discover things as well…
Jane Seddon, Northampton Museum and Art Gallery
I didn’t know what to expect … it was the
hidden treasures … so you had to open the
cupboards, look at the shoes and it made it
much more exciting…
Rather than just looking at them behind the
Perspex you had an opportunity to touch them
… there were working shoes and elegant shoes
…and it was a fun thing to do with my
daughter - it is the first thing she has
interacted with in this festival
I think the fact that you could independently
access the shoes … just there available for you
to take part in… there is no pressure…
You can pull the draws out and see the shoes
inside so that’s lovely…
Like the fact that you can open the draws and
get interactive with it… which you can’t
normally do in a museum
Really good to way to display it … really
interesting and interactive… everyone likes
opening things and finding new and
exciting things to look at.
… the vintage thing gets you I the mood…
It was really fun set … to have it in an
actual house kind of setting….really liked
how you could interact… and the dressing
up bit was really fun … to mess around
trying on shoes and pose for the picture…
it was fun great fun
You go through the wardrobe doors… to
where the shoes are… and lots of people
have written stories on labels…
When you get to see a collection like this it
really brings to life all the different stories
and the personalities that all these shoes
and different objects have to tell…
…certain shoes do hold certain memories…
you can see the love in shoes … if you are
a collector of shoes …they always look
kind of perfect, pristine, and they lose the
stories of the person who actually wore
them …
14
we want to particularly collect shoes that
have stories associated with them … so
stories of ordinary (and extraordinary)
people – we saw this as an opportunity to
say we want to do that kind of collecting..
JS
And I think if people are actually
donating... people who have enjoyed
shoes rather than just put them in a box …
you know it’s like collectors of toys ... they
don’t get to play with them they stay in
their boxes … that keeps them perfect …
then it loses its purpose - shoes are meant
to be worn …
I think it’s a really nice idea that you could
donate shoes as a normal person…
I’ve got some 20 year old steel toe-capped
wellies. Do you want those? There is a
hole in them now.
We also want to appeal to people that
don’t know they like shoes! Or aren’t
terribly interested in shoes…
I came to shoes quite late in life… I went
from four pairs to 40 pairs of shoes
overnight….
There are some people out there who love
shoes and will just come and look at
beautiful shoes JS
Just spotted the Christian Dior shoes …
they’re things of beauty … I think
everybody should aspire to own a pair!
General feeling of the colours and all
the patterns … just takes me straight
back to my parents house back in
1976… it feels a very happy place.
I remember having to order the startrite sandals … my feet were so wide.
A leopard skin coat that my
grandmother would have worn back in
the late 60s early 70s… that was quite
strong actually … I hadn’t thought of
her in quite a few months… she was a
lovely woman too…
I’m interested in shoes but I’m not a
real shoeaholic or anything…
…I’ve got a favourite pair down here…
(Pointing) these are from the 60s …a
nice white pair I could imagine
wearing them with this dress.
80s shoes … the kind of shoes we imagine
our parents wearing back in the day…
My mum … occasionally she will go
through a box and go… these are your first
shoes…
15
… You know someone’s kept those,
someone’s mother hasn’t thrown those
shoes away even though they’ve fallen
apart... they’ve kept them in a little box
because they were their child’s first shoes
… that’s kind of nice you know there is
memories associated with them..
Someone’s personally kept those…
i.e. the set we created. The shoes from the
collection were
all placed in
draws and
cupboards which
in effect acted
like museum
cabinets and
cases - but
people did not
think of them as
such. Because
the set itself was
charming and
people felt they could take control of the
viewing experience by choosing which drawers
to open, or where to sit, people felt that it was
‘not’ like a museum display.
Jane Seddon, Northampton Museum and Art Gallery
I think it’s a great idea to bring an important
collection out to a festival… how many people
know that Northampton museum has … one of
the most important shoe collections in the
world.
Wayne Hemingway, Vintage by Hemingway
Northamptonshire was once one of the most
important shoe making centres in the world…
one day we may see shoes as good as these
again being made there…
Wayne Hemingway, Vintage by Hemingway
It is good learn about the whole Northampton
culture of shoes
It is interesting that people felt they were
much closer to the objects on display. The
interactivity was in the non-museum objects
16
Northampton Museum and Art Gallery knows
that there is scope to achieve what Wayne
Hemingway suggests. The active engagement
of shoe designers’ interest in and support for
the collection is now a key objective for those
at Northampton Museum and Art Gallery
responsible for the future of the shoe
collection.
“I think in time the importance of
this collection will have more and
more of a value as designers are
searching out
inspiration. There will
be a way of charging,
whether it’s online or
whether it’s
membership... and I’m
sure that the big shoe
companies in time will
want access to this
collection and will
become big donors … and the more
you hold onto a collection, the more
the value in that respect grows… “
Wayne Hemingway, Vintage by Hemingway
Reaching the goal of securing donations from
the large companies may have to be a quid
pro quo. Northampton Museum and Art
Gallery will have to find out which approach is
best – offering access to the collection will be
of interest to shoe designers but on what
terms? The best way to secure their long term
support and business interest is a question
that Northampton Museums and Art Gallery is
now seeking to answer.
17
Festival goers responded in writing too. The
Five Minute Curator generated completed
(written tags) attached to objects in The
Dream Shoe Closet
The Five minute Curator allowed festival goers
to ‘curate’ their own mini exhibition, tagging
objects with their own labels, observations
and stories. Tags could be attached to objects
or furniture but all were attached to shoe
displays.
At the end of the Festival, the tags were
collected and collated by Northampton
Museums and Art Gallery. Initial analysis of
the tags chimes with themes that emerged in
film interviews and evaluation responses but
also produced more reflective personal
stories.
People were charmed by the set and this
provided and opportunity for people to
explore the shoes and consider them in a
different way, encouraging them to take
control of their experience and feel part of the
exhibition. This enabled people to personally
associate with the shoes.
Jane Seddon, Northampton Museum and Art Gallery
The five minute curator labels are included in
full as Appendix 1
18
The figures speak for themselves. There is no
doubt that The Dream Shoe Closet was very
successful in:

– Vintage at Wilderness was the right
event for reaching people with an
interest in fashion and shoes in
particular

– festival goers
universally
They
loved the
and
enable the Museum to connect others to its
shoe collection in new ways. Personal
responses to objects appear to enhance the
value of the objects themselves (whatever the
provenance). Northampton Museum and Art
Gallery could systematically collect responses
to shoes in the collection from the recent
past, and begin to gather resources for
learning in the future, about the value of such
objects to people alive now. This could help
Northampton Museum and Art Gallery make
choices about what to collect now.
For some the 1970s room setting was initially
of more interest than the shoes, however this
enabled them to interact with and appreciate
the shoes on display in a way that they would
not otherwise have considered.
, the opportunity to
, the chance to
with other
organisations
, play records and
.

Some activities were well placed to
record individual thoughts, emotional
reactions and reminiscences – the five
minute curator was very successful in
that. The Dream Shoe Closet film also
allowed people a little time to reflect
and express their views and feelings.

within the
Northamptonshire community and
and provide access to
networks of contacts and volunteers
The Dream Shoe Closet offers Northampton
Museum and Art Gallery
– of the
370 people that had not visited
Northampton Museum and Art
Gallery 321 said they would now visit.
to reviewing
how other parts of the Northampton Museum
and Art Gallery collection are managed and
curated, and to
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The Dream Shoe Closet worked – in terms of
numbers, positive responses, engagement in
activities, willingness to express views and
opinions about the project and the collection.
There was scope for making more of the
opportunity to run activities within the set.
Theatre, acoustic music and comedy for
example, would have worked well on a small
scale - this was a festival after all and festival
goers expect to be entertained.
…encourage more interaction e.g.
shoemaking, shoe customisation.
There is strong current demand for
hackspaces4 - for people to make, customise
and create – perhaps within the set but also in
an adjacent mini hackspace, or an outside
cobbling workshop that could be viewed as
well as used by festival goers.
The set was small and intimate which people
enjoyed - however future projects could look
at building the exhibition into a bar space
where there are already audiences in a festival
and would continue to be so. This would
however raise security problems.
Any additional activity – including a bar – has
to be considered against the risks and
objectives of the project - would a bar distract
from the project or enhance its appeal?
Sell souvenirs of the collection to generate
income?
Now that is a really great idea…
4
“A Hackspace is a workshop filled with the tools and
infrastructure needed to be able to make or build pretty much
anything you can imagine. We have 70 members who share
their knowledge and experience or just enjoy hanging out or
making things. Anyone can become a member and you can
work on your own or collaborate with others on a larger
project.” Local Hacker.
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Padukas
I am gonna have a go at making a pair of Padukas from
Alder + Yew.
Flip flop
I need some of these now!
Court shoes Distressed leather 1970
Saturday afternoon – star sky + hutch on ITV flared jeans,
men with perms + side burns boiled eggs for tea, then a
ride round the block
Men’s sandals leather 1970-1980 Sunday
What kind of “man” are we talking about here?
Lacewing brown lacer courts
This is my favourite pair
Just seen a debate about whether having “more” brings
you happiness? ... Having more shoes always makes me
happy. I love shoes! Thank you for the many memories. x
Platform shoes snakeskin 1975
I love these!
Platform 1975 cream
These remind me of Candida Doyle from Pulp (?), I wanna
be her LOL
Albert slippers wool 1940-1949
As a child (early 70’s) I remember my granddad shuffling
around his house in slippers – just like these! 
Platform lace shoe leather Lawrence knight
Similar to my best shoes while at comprehensive school
1775
73-79
Danat 1955-60
My sister and I inherited Nan’s dancing shoes’ when she
stopped going dancing.0 I wore her green satin court
shoes with my new plastic trousers (burgundy) and
asymmetric pink one-strapped vest to my first proper teen
pouty circa1981
Calf bulls leather 1980
Ain’t nobody go time to do dat
Pixie boots suede 1985-1990
My grandma had a pair just like these 
Fetish shoe
Car to bar shoes!
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Pixie boots
I remembered my favourite pair of shoes “pixie books”
also loved having my feet measured as a hid.
Children shoes
These are so cute. X
Hockey boots
I had a pair of the canvas hockey boots in secondary
school. Not waterproof one little bit! But I thought they
were the best…
T. Bar sandal. Charles ltd street 1960
I used to have a pair just like these
Court shoes distressed leather 1977
Mui Mui ? Amazing!!
Co-respondent shoes 1955-1965
SICK!
Silver ladies shoes without label
My grandmother had a pair like these, kept from when
she was younger hidden in her wardrobe. When I hidden
in her remember wondering how such a fail old woman
had ever such a glamorous lady. Thinking of you Nana
Olive ([email protected])
I love the CLOWN shoes! 
I thought a mule was a cross between a horse + a donkey.
My school shoes were like this 
It possible I would like to know something about the
wearer of the shoes – on what occasions they
bought/wore then etc.
Black patent leather in third drawer down
My first school shoes lucky 
Shoes drawers
I am inspired by the shoes drawer
…Sling back shoes leather + carl True Form
1970’s platforms… my first “grown-up” shoes (not
Clarke’s!)
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