Long before Jimmy Choo and Christian Louboutin, Beth Levine had been designing shoes that had been considered objects of desire and even lust. This collection of full-color photos of Levine's creations displays her shoes as touchstones of glamour and, ultimately, works of art.

One of the most important shoe designers of the mid- to late-twentieth century, Arsho Baghsarian spent more than four decades working behind the scenes for prestigious companies with men's names on the label, including Christian Dior, Andrew Geller, I. Miller, and Stuart Weitzman. Her creative genius is illustrated in this photographic collection of full-page sketches, prototypes, and production pairs that she donated to the Fashion Institute of Technology. Known for her sculptural heels and the use of exotic materials such as snakeskin, crystal, and Lucite, Baghsarian's extraordinary journey spans from a childhood in Turkey to prolific partnerships with major American shoe labels and the international factories that produced her designs. Connoisseurs of high-fashion footwear will be fascinated by the story of Baghsarian's pioneering career and inspirations, which ranged from Mexican art and the Philippine jungle to the passing of time.

Includes shoes by Birkenstock, Camilla Skovgaard, Camper, Charles Jourdan, Charlotte Olympia, Christian Louboutin, Church's, Clarks, Converse, Gil Carvalho, Gina, Giuseppe Zanotti, Havaianas, Jimmy Choo, Kurt Geiger, Manolo Blahnik, Melissa, Natacha Marro, Nicholas Kirkwood, Pierre Hardy, Pretty Balerinas, Repetto, Robert Clergerie, Roger Vivier, Rupert Sanderson, Salvatore Ferragamo, Swedish Hasbeens, Terry de Havilland, Tod's, and UGG. Features: Surrealism, Collectors, Subcultures, Trainer Freaks, Sex and the City and Chanel.

Social meets fashion history in the tantalizing story of the boot from the Roaring Twenties and Prohibition to online shopping and fashion blogs. Weaving together such unlikely elements as Glam Rock, the martyrdom of Joan of Arc, and the Iran-Contra scandal, it shows how the modern fashion boot plays with our ideas of gender, straddling the line between practical and stylish, between fashion and fetish. Peake, author of the popular Made for Walking blog, includes thought-provoking photos and graphs that look deeply into what boots do, and what we make them do. In the words of renowned designer Beth Levine, "Boots moved into prominence the same time The Pill did. Both were symbols of a woman's new freedom and emancipation." Whether you're a student of fashion history, a collector of vintage clothes, or someone who feels "five hundred times more dashing" wearing boots, this book is for you.

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, 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.

The last two decades have seen an explosion of creativity in footwear design. Sexy laced-up sandals, sky-high platform heels, and outrageously decorated shoes are seen on fashionable women everywhere, from the catwalk to the street.

Colourful illustrations of all kinds of footwear from many different countries, from many different time periods and of different ethnic origins.