163 illustrations, 125 in full color 132 pages • 10 x 9" • Paper ISBN 1-55859-324-1 • $24.95

Some of the world's greatest designers, too, have found in the form of the shoe a source of extraordinary inspiration. Yantourney, Ferragamo, Vivier, and Perugia; Charles Jourdan, Manolo Blahnik, and Maud Frizon: all have devoted their richly creative imaginations to shoe design, an enterprise Vivier describes as "a sculptural problem in which the center is always a void."

Elegant, fanciful, and quirky, Heavenly Soles puts twentieth-century design's best foot forward, introducing us to some of the most luxurious and imaginative shoes ever created—from the magnificent wonders Yantourney handcrafted in the teens using antique laces and velvets, to the supremely comfortable yet stunningly elegant platforms offered by Ferragamo during the forties, to a recent collection of handmade shoes by Vivier, richly embroidered with pearls, feathers, and crystal beads.

But the history of contemporary shoes is not just the story of beautifully designed objects. Perhaps because feet and footwear have held such a strangely exalted position in so many cultures, Heavenly Soles also tells us a startling amount about the changing position of women in the twentieth-century—the first era in which it has been fashionable for women to walk, freely and comfortably, and the first in which shoes have been perfected for fit and balance. The juicily detailed text, illustrated with a wealth of specially commissioned photography and updated for this new edition, intelligently teases out the political content of such developments as the sexy and crippling stiletto heel so popular in the fifties. It also provides fascinating insights into the larger fashion context of the times and presents a great deal of previously unpublished information about influential modern designers who have heretofore gone unrecognized. Organized as an historical survey of the finest European and American women's shoes, this beautifully designed book concludes with an international compendium of the best of late twentieth-century models.

Mary Trasko is a writer who specializes in architecture, design, and fashion history. She attended the Architectural Association in London and now works with rare books and drawings on the subjects of architecture and the decorative arts. Trasko's shoe collection, modest by Imelda's standards, all but fills her New York apartment, even the china cabinet.

Black satin evening evening pumps by Vivier for Dior, 1953-55, with rhinestone-ball of almost stiletto narrowness— a style worm worn by Marlene Dietrich. (Katell le Bourhis, New York.)

Faded ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz, designed by Hollywood costume designer Gilbert Adrian, 1938. His first Arabian-style test pair was deemed too exotic for Dorothy (Private collection.)