In yesterday's post we looked at the design of a shoe store, so let's continue the thread, but let's look at architectural shoes instead an in particular at architectural vintage footwear.
The digital collections of the FIT Library's Special Collections and College Archives (SPAC) offer quite a few ideas, among the others some sketches of Jerrold "Jerry" Miller's shoes from the '50s.
The first sketch in this post refers to a tortoiseshell sandal with Turkish toe, contoured strap and gold and black insole lining; the second features instead a white platform, black insole lining and a blue calfskin strap. Both the sandals are similar for their shape and their minimal straps, but the soles are different and also the configuration of the straps. Both look timeless and move from minimalist principles as the designer stripped the shoe of any decorative element in favour of a streamlined and timeless style.
If, rather than strictly architectural styles, you want to get inspired by interior design and in particular by modular interior design pieces, check out Miller's modular "Saddle Up" ponyskin flat. The peculiarity of this shoe was the fact that it featured an interchangeable element that allowed the wearer to change the saddle for different occasions and times of the day, from the morning to the evening.
The sketches come on Margaret Clark's headed paper: Clark, who worked for I. Miller (a shoe manufacturing firm established in the late 1800's) in 1946 and was a top designer for Bally and Capezio among the others, was the wife of Jerry Miller (grandson of I. Miller's founder). Together, the couple created the Margaret Jerrold, Inc. brand in 1954, producing shoes characterised by high style and fine workmanship. The sketches in this post are part of a collection comprising around 5,000 sketches donated by Jerry Miller to the Fashion Institute of Technology of New York.
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