In early March 2018, Valerie Paley, Director of the Center for Women’s History and Chief Historian at New-York Historical Society, sat down with shoe designer Stuart Weitzman to discuss his collection of historic footwear, now on display in the Joyce B. Cowin Women’s History Gallery. This condensed interview now comprises the audio guide to Walk…

Mention shoe collecting, and the first image that might spring to mind is a woman’s closet overstuffed with hundreds of chic heels, à la Carrie Bradshaw, Sarah Jessica Parker’s character on Sex and the City. However, there are plenty of museums that collect footwear. New York City alone boasts the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan…

Editor’s note: The following essay by Valerie Paley, Chief Historian and Director of the Center for Women’s History at New-York Historical Society, appears in Walk this Way: Footwear from the Stuart Weitzman Collection of Historic Shoes, the catalog that accompanies the exhibition of the same name. Walk this Way opens this Friday, April 20.   In 1980,…

Formerly reserved for royalty, the red carpet has been a Hollywood fixture since 1922, when Sid Grauman hosted the premiere of Robin Hood at his Egyptian Theater. The film starred Douglas Fairbanks, the “First King of Hollywood.” Today, the red carpet is synonymous with the Academy Awards, and the parade of stars outside the theater is as…