Linda O'Keeffe

The pictures are amazing and the concept is unique, but the author and contributors didn't actually have 200 pages worth of interesting things to say on the topic, so it ended up being very repetitive.

Here's a pocket book celebrating shoes. It's not bad. It's just more of a 'visual extravaganza' than an informative take on the subject.

From everyday wears to the dancefloors, the bedroom, and, even, as pieces of artwork, practical or frivol, stylish, luscious, sexy, sophisticated, glamorous, daring, simple, romantic and more, 'Shoes' is packed with hundreds of pictures of footwears dating back from the Antiquity to modern days; all very simply displayed in their skillful craftsmanship, show more glories, and creative designs. Flicking through it all is dazzling and titillating at the same time (well, from a man's perspective...!). Thing is, that's pretty much it.

Yes, there are snippets on influential designers (Ferragamo, Vivier, Blahnik, Westwood, Cox...) and, yes, there also are snippets on some iconic shoes (stiletto, marabou mule, Mary Jane...). Here and there are also some footnotes containing fun facts about shoes. But the informations given are very light! If you are after an informative book on the topic, I am sure there are other alternatives out there (High Heel Heaven: The glamour and seduction of fabulous shoes brilliantly does that for heels...).

A feast for the eyes for sure, but that could have been more instructive. show less

The Marabou Mule. The Chanel toe. Jackie O's pump. Marilyn's stiletto. And lotus shoes and fetish shoes, shoes made for coronations and inaugurations, Cinderella's slipper, shoes of tulle, brocade, rhinestone, python, fish scales, and feathers, and much, much, more, including the two-foot-high wooden chopines of the 16th century and their resurgence as the platform shoes of the 1960s and 1970s.

Shoes, now with over 357,000 copies in print, is an obsessive, over-the-top extravaganza-chunky, show more full-color, and irresistible, it contains page after page of seductive photographs and information about women's shoes.

Created for the woman who's a passionate shoe lover-and what woman isn't?--Shoes features over 1,000 glorious photographs, most of them taken for the book. Includes Footnotes (fascinating facts about shoes); Foot Soldiers (profiles of master shoemakers from David Little to Andrea Pfister); and The Shoe that Left an Imprint, focusing on one shoe that changed history-remember Courrage's futuristic go-go boot? Shoes is, as they say, to die for. show less

This book provides interesting information about the history of different styles of women's shoes. It talks about the creators, materials and designs, when they first appeared in common use, and people's reactions to the styles.

But is this really important? No - the best thing about this little book, and indeed the true focus of the book are the pictures. They're glorious. It features one pair of shoes to a page, with a small annotation about the designer and the year.

Anyone who loves shoes show more is going to enjoy flicking through this book, over and over again. show less