HAMPSHIRE Cultural Trust has announced that a new exhibition focusing on shoes is coming to Winchester Arc.

SHOES: Inside Out features footwear from the past, dating back to 11AD, to the present. The exhibition explores how shoes have shaped and have been shaped by society throughout the years.

From Georgian high society shoes to 1970s platforms and current high-end designer heels to everyday boots, there will be a shoe to fit all interests.

Hampshire Chronicle: Women’s wedge shoes, John Galliano, 2010s Women’s wedge shoes, John Galliano, 2010s (Image: Hampshire Cultural Trust)MOST READ: Hampshire artist showcases colourful abstract print making in solo exhibition

SHOES: Inside Out showcases historical shoes and boots from the Cultural Trusts' collection, with a selection having been specially X-rayed to see the designs and workings in a new light.

These are displayed alongside the corresponding shoe to uncover their construction, and developments in design, or reveal an ethereal reminiscence of a life lived.

Co-curator, Tara McKinney Marinus said: “Highlights from the Hampshire Cultural Trust collection will be presented through a number of themes; Work, Play, Protect, Identify, Empower, Transform and Aspire, to explore how shoes are a powerful signifier of the wearer, but also how their form and function allows us to explore broader cultural issues.”

Hampshire Chronicle: Men’s World War I military style boots. c.1914-18Men’s World War I military style boots. c.1914-18 (Image: Hampshire Cultural Trust)

The exhibition will contain more than 70 pairs of shoes, the majority of which were made in the 19th and 20th centuries as well as several very early objects, including a bone skate from the Anglo-Saxon period which was found in Winchester and a child’s shoe from approximately 1680.

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Other objects on display include a World War I officer’s trench boots, early 20th century clogs and boots, goloshes, waders, callipers, riding boots, dance shoes (including a pair from c.1925 in the flapper style and Gamba ballet shoes) with the second half of the 20th century represented by 1940-50s utility wear, army boots, 1950s stilettos, Brothel Creepers and platform shoes that became synonymous with popular culture in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Hampshire Chronicle: Women’s Chinese Manchu shoe. c.1900-1950Women’s Chinese Manchu shoe. c.1900-1950 (Image: Hampshire Cultural Trust)Visitors are encouraged to wear their favourite shoes to the exhibition, snap a photo using the polaroid camera and add it to a ‘Shoe’ Wall in The Gallery, sharing the story behind their favourite pair of shoes. This collection of personal stories will build and remain on display for the duration of the exhibition.

SHOES: Inside Out is a free exhibition and opens in The Gallery at The Arc on Thursday, November 24. It will run until Wednesday, March 6.