There's no place like home - an ode to red shoes

In 1845, Hans Christian Andersen wrote ‘The Red Shoes’, a grim fairytale telling the story of a young girl who wore red shoes to church. The girl, Karen, could not stop obsessing over her bright and beautiful footwear and forgot her psalms. An angel of God appeared and condemned the girl to wear the shoes for eternity, and to never stop dancing in them until it killed her. Karen’s only redeemer was an executioner who sliced off her feet at the ankles, with an axe.

Since then, red shoes have become a statement of magic, sin and sex appeal. The 1948 film of the same name, directed by Michael Powell, was loosely based on the fairytale but added romance and desire when ballerina, Victoria, is forced to dance obsessively, but leaves dancing ballet completely when she falls in love. Her red ballet shoes lie hidden away, but their owner is infatuated with them, as they stand for so much more than just shoes.

Arguably the most famous shoes in the world are Dorothy’s sparkling and sequined red heels in ‘The Wizard of OZ’, 1939. However, these shoes are not sinful; they are in fact Dorothy’s saviour and can return her home from a magical land keeping her captive. If there is just one thing that red shoes communicate through all these stories and in life today, is that they liberate. Even poor little Karen started wearing the shoes to escape from the drudgery of her psalms. Red shoes say to the world “Here I am! Stand back, I’m coming through!”