The pleasure and pain of shoes: something afoot at the V&A

Pool sandals, Mary Janes, Oxford brogues, stilettos ... shoes seem to occupy a powerful place in our collective psyche. Ahead of a major exhibition, Kathryn Hughes reflects on sex, power, fetishism and the fascination of footwear One of the first things you notice on entering the V&A's new summer exhibition Shoes: Pleasure & Pain are the ballet slippers worn by Moira Shearer in Powell and Pressburger's film The Red Shoes. Instead of being the usual confectionery pink, Shearer's kid and satin sli...