Toronto Guide
Toronto
Bata Shoe Museum
Address: 327 Bloor St W at St George Street; subway: St George
Opening time: Tues– Sat 10am–5pm, Thurs until 8pm, & Sun noon–5pm
Price: $8
Website: www.batashoemuseum.ca
The Bata Shoe Museum was built for Sonja Bata, of the Bata shoe manufacturing family, to house the extraordinary assortment of footwear she has spent a lifetime collecting. A leaflet issued at reception steers visitors around the museum, starting with an introductory section entitled "All About Shoes" on Level B1, which presents an overview on the evolution of footwear. Among the more interesting exhibits in this section are pointed shoes from medieval Europe, where different social classes were allowed different lengths of toe, and tiny Chinese silk shoes used by women whose feet had been bound. Banned by the Communists when they came to power in 1949, foot binding was common practice for over a thousand years, and the "ideal" length of a woman's foot was a hobbling three inches. A small adjoining section is devoted to specialist footwear, including French chestnut-crushing clogs from the nineteenth century and inlaid Ottoman platforms designed to keep aristocratic feet well away from the mud.
Level G features a large glass cabinet showcasing all sorts of celebrity footwear. The exhibits are rotated regularly, but look out for Buddy Holly's loafers, Marilyn Monroe's stilettos, Princess Diana's red court shoes, Shaquille O'Neal's colossal Reebok trainers and Elton John's platforms. Level 2 and Level 3 are used for temporary exhibitions – some of which are very good indeed.