The Shoe Shrine
Manolo says, not surprisingly, among the biggest tourist attractions in Manila are the shoes of the Imelda Marcos.
London has the crown jewels, Paris has the Mona Lisa and Manila has Imelda Marcos’ shoe collection.
In a city little known for tourist attractions, the Marikina City Footwear Museum is a bright spot, annually attracting thousands of visitors curious to see the treasure trove of shoes amassed by the Philippines’ shopaholic former first lady.
“Remove Imelda’s shoes and this museum would be nothing,” said tourism officer Mario Villanueva. “Curiosity about Imelda’s shoes does not wane.”
Lined up in glass display cases, the collection of 758 pairs includes black leather boots, silk brocade stilletos and leather slingbacks by local designers as well as world-famous names such as Chanel, Charles Jourdan, Bally and Bruno Magli.
Interesting enough, although, the best details from the whole article are at the very end…
Once feared, the 77-year old widow, who returned to the Philippines in 1991, is viewed by many Filipinos as an eccentric figure of fun.
Imelda opened the museum in Marikina, the home of the Philippine shoe industry in the east of Metro Manila, in 2001.
[…]
A spokeswoman for Imelda said her current shoe collection runs to around 5,000 pairs, most of which were presents from admirers.
5,000 pairs!
Imelda Marcos still has 5,000 pairs of the shoes!
Who could not admire this woman’s incorrigible determination to acquire the beautiful feetwear?
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Comments
KB-GgJYMT0SpIn6oefTdo8MQhaahfQhmYed0HClSJ_Q. 17 years ago
are there no images of Imelda’s shoes?
surely the ones in the picture are not hers?
nursemyra 17 years ago
eeek! I didn’t realise I had to override all those weird letters and numbers above the comment box… is that some sort of device to prevent spam?
Patricia 17 years ago
I visited the Marikina Shoe Museum several years ago. A couple of things stood out to me. First, Imelda appears to wear about a size 8 or 9, which is huge by Filipina standards, the average being maybe a 5 1/2 there. Second, 5000 pair of shoes is really not all that much if you consider the fact that when she found a pair that she liked, she would buy 6 or even 8 pair of the exact same shoe. Third, Imelda must be a real walker, many of the shoes looked very very well worn. She does have good taste. Most of the shoes were of beautiful classic styling, and the museum also displayed a couple of her beautiful inauguration gowns.
Wawa We 14 years ago
RESEND
Here is a video of the lies about Imelda Marcos and her shoes.
Simple math and basic history.
Hoping readers can use fundamental brain function to think.
See: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000963340753&v=app_2392950137#!/video/video.php?v=107520465956731
Email me anytime.
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