The Shoes of the Iron Lady

Manolo says, the custom-made Rayne shoes of the Margaret Thatcher, they are being put on the sale.

The online auction house eBay put on sale three pairs of shoes that were reportedly custom-made for Margaret Thatcher when she was prime minister.
ADVERTISEMENT

The minimum bid for the Rayne shoes — colored silver, gold and black suede — is 2,930 pounds but owner Eleanor Graham, 65, said she expects to fetch some 10,000 pounds (18,150 dollars, 14,843 euros) on the auction website.

Graham said she bought the shoes as an investment when she saw a member of Thatcher’s staff donate some of the prime minister’s possessions to a Sue Ryder charity shop in the 1980s.

“I was just lucky – I was there at the right place at the right time when the shoes were brought in by her secretary,” Graham said.

Graham said she convinced the store’s cashier not to remove the label “Made Especially for Mrs Margaret Thatcher” from one pair by agreeing to re-sell the shoes only after the cashier had died so that she would not get sacked.

The size five shoes did not fit her, she said, so she only wore them a couple of times while she washed the dishes.

They shoes of the Baroness Iron Lady, they are indeed most attractive.

8 Responses to “The Shoes of the Iron Lady”

  1. Annalucia June 6, 2005 at 7:48 am #

    The British size five, it is the equivalent of the American size seven, yes? Alas, still too small for the Annalucia, whose eyes lit up at the sight of the silver high-heeled sandal. Yet another reason to admire the Lady of Iron.

  2. Buttercup June 6, 2005 at 9:37 am #

    Q: Do they smell?

    A: They have the odour of power as opposed to a powerful odour.

  3. cris June 6, 2005 at 10:31 am #

    Whatever the style, Lady Thatcher’s shoes have proved hard to fill.

  4. Tania June 6, 2005 at 11:54 am #

    I never would have imagined in a million years that the Iron Lady had such bright, shiny silver and gold pumps hiding in her wardrobe.

  5. medici June 6, 2005 at 12:21 pm #

    Does the ebay charge extra if there is anything on the sole, like, say, the blood of the peasants?

  6. Cecelia June 6, 2005 at 5:42 pm #

    From the auction:

    “Margaret Thatcher’s custom-made Rayne Shoes! No Joke!”

    I love that!

  7. Cecelia June 6, 2005 at 5:50 pm #

    Medici,

    Not to worry. Mrs. Thatcher only wore gold or silver shoes when trampling Labourites.

  8. desertwind June 6, 2005 at 8:16 pm #

    Well, they certainly are pretty little shoes.

    I admire the craftsmanship which so cleverly hid the cloven feet of the Iron Bitch.