I love shoe forms! I know! I don't know why I'm obsessed with them, but I am! It's rather funny in a way because I'm a woman with maybe 3 pairs of shoes in her closet! Honestly!
There is something about them...They have stories to tell. They have lived a life. 10, 100, maybe 1000's of people have walked a mile in the shoes made on these forms.
When I first found the forms dirty and laying among a bunch of rusty tools on the ground at a yard sale I knew I had to have them! And for a mere $1.00 a shoe they would be mine!
I love the patina on them. The writing that is stamped in to and on the forms indicating shoe size, date they were constructed and even the name of the shoemaker and style of shoe is an amazing look in to the history of these shoe forms.
I feel so lucky to have discovered them! This was the beginning of my shoe addiction!
That was of course until I came across an ad in the antique section of craigslist and my heart started racing! Someone was selling a box of what they referred to as a bunch of old wooden shoes they had uncovered when emptying their basement!
They had included a photo of a few of them and what caught my eye, what I HAD to have, was the ladies high-heel shoe form! That would certainly make my obsession, my addiction more unique and original! Ahem...sorry, my collection more unique.
This is what I received in the mail...
It was a beat up box that looked as if it had lived as hard and long a life as the shoe forms it contained inside its cardboard walls.
What I hadn't expected to find in opening such a mangled and dirty box were a plethora of children's shoe forms! Yup- that's what I found!
I had never even given a thought to there being children's shoe forms in the world! But they existed and I had them! I sat in awe of the amount of little feet that were tossed one on top of the other all dusty and grimy and at the same time beautiful! It was a sight to behold!
I haven't cleaned them! I can't imagine wiping off anything on these shoe forms! I can't bring myself to polish, fix or erase one thing that has found its way on to the forms over the many, many years that these forms have roamed the earth.
I feel as if I am their caretaker.
I would never change a thing about them!
I love them for just what they were made to do and the means by which they were constructed. I believe they're art, able to stand on their own and be appreciated!
I purchased this vintage pie crust table at a second-hand store a year or so ago! It's a special piece that has just been waiting as my mother would say about my decorating style, to be "merchandised" in my home! Perhaps it's true!
I say it often about my work and my home that my things have to "speak" to me for me to know it is right! Well to say the least, the shoe forms and the table both "spoke" to me loud and clear! Together they work and form a beautiful vintage and original marriage!
Look at the difference in size! It was this particular photo that I took that seemed to really tell the story! The size of the adult form next to that of the children's form leaves me speechless!
I feel nothing less than blessed and fortunate when I find the unexpected when I least expect it! There are times when I have found what I would consider a treasure that I wonder...Perhaps it's these treasures of the past that found me...!
