What's On 2024

Exhibit A

Exhibit A

Sleuth out the complex role of footwear in crime, policing, and the judiciary. Opens April 18.

Dramatic Soles

Dramatic Soles

Learn how to write a theatrical play! Explore the writing process as inspired by footwear and crime on April 27.

Dressed To Impress

Dressed To Impress

Take a step back to the 1980s and experience the nostalgia and excess of the times. Now on view.

In Bloom

In Bloom

A celebration of how nature has provided meaning and material for shoemaking across both time and place.

Obsessed

Obsessed

Discover how society became obsessed with shoes. Closes March 31.

All About Shoes

All About Shoes

Take a walk through the the fascinating history of footwear.

Media Room

Media Room

Find our latest press releases and more information on media images and interview requests.

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We`ll be OPEN the entire long weekend! Check out our hours below before planning your trip and we will see you soon 👋🏼

Friday March 29: 10am to 5pm
Saturday March 30: 10am to 5pm
Sunday March 31: 12pm to 5pm
Monday April 1: 10am to 5pm
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Have you ever wanted to learn how to write a theatrical play? In celebration of our upcoming exhibition "Exhibit A: Investigating Crime and Footwear", Dramatic Soles: Writing Plays and Perspectives in Someone Else’s Shoes welcomes new and emerging playwrights to explore the writing process as inspired by footwear and crime. Join us on Saturday April 27 from 10:30am to 4:30 pm as celebrated Canadian Playwright Steven Elliott Jackson teaches participants play constructing, formatting, character construction, plot development, and theme devices. Purchase your ticket on our website. ...

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This contemporary pointe shoe from the Paris Opera ballet still shares many stylistic similarities with the footwear that originally inspired its design over 150 years ago, such as a pink silk upper, flat sole, straight last and squared throatline. This pointe shoe was worn by Janine Stanlowa, prima ballerina of the Paris Opera Ballet and donated to the Bata Shoe Museum in 1997.


French, c. 1997.

Learn more about the rise of the ballet shoe by checking out our online exhibition "On Pointe" on our website.
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NEW EXHIBITION 📣 We`re excited to announce that our next exhibition "Exhibit A: Investigating Crime & Footwear" opens on April 18! This exhibition examines both the development of footwear forensics as a means of solving crime and the social constructions of criminality from the nineteenth century to today. It also considers how clothing and footwear play roles in cultural ideas of criminality informed by assumptions and bias. This exhibition will take visitors on a journey to sleuth out the central but complex role of footwear in crime, policing, the judiciary system and our cultural ideas of criminality.

Co-curated by Dr. Alison Matthews David and Elizabeth Semmelhack.

Thank you to our media partners @blogTO @classicalfm @nowtoronto @zoomer_radio for making this possible as well as the Consulate of Switzerland for their support!
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By the late 20th and into the 21st century, mass-produced shoes and multinational brands had become central to expressions of both individual and group identities. The fashion for cowboy boots in the early 1980s reflected a problematic nostalgia for the past. This pair of boots is by San Diego Boots.

Mexican, 2017
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At the end of Vivier’s life he began to make single boots and shoes that were works of art rather than footwear. Surrounded by his large and eclectic collection of fine art and furniture, Vivier began to concentrate on these masterworks. Some of his most spectacular pieces from this period are his re-imagined cuissardes boots. Many of these cuissardes were elaborately embellished but this striking boot features only a single large silk rose. The crushed velvet gives dimensionality to the surface of the boot while the stark black colour allows the lines of its silhouette to be fully appreciated.

French, late 1980s
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These vibrant pumps are made of bright blue suede and have uppers that feature a cowl-neck-like drape. They were made by French footwear brand Charles Jourdan, a producer of luxury footwear since 1919. This pair was purchased in Paris in the early 1980s by a fashion designer who was attracted to their vivid colour.

French, c.1980-85See these shoes on display in our "Dressed to Impress" exhibition. Sponsored by: @boom973toronto thetorontostar @designlinesmagazine @thekitca @azuremagazine
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March Break is here! 📣 Join us for our drop-in, Fun and Games themed family programming. All day, every day there will be a selection of self-guided crafts such as Shoe Game in a Box, Make Your Own Shoe Pins, and other pop-up crafts, in addition to daily scheduled programs fun for any age. Visit our website for the full schedule. ...

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As industrialization increased, shoe manufacturers tried to differentiate themselves through illustrated advertisements, trade cards, and small functional items such as button hooks and shoe horns. This card is typical of the shoe-themed items that were becoming popular at the end of the 19th century. ...

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New York–based designers Susan Bennis and Warren Edwards created this pair of show-stopping pumps. Their limited-edition styles were beloved by glamourous celebrities such as Cher and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis throughout the 1980s. The comic-book like font of the ‘Pop’ and ‘Power’ are reminiscent of pop art, which had a revival in the early part of the decade. American, c. 1982-89

See these shoes on view in our "Dressed to Impress" exhibition ✨ Sponsored by: @boom973toronto thetorontostar @designlinesmagazine @thekitca @azuremagazine
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