What Marilyn Monroe Taught Me About Personality-Led Style

There is something quietly paradoxical about our relationship with shoes. It is utilitarian, but it also serves as an accessory to our clothing. The shoe, no matter how exquisitely designed, such as McQueen’s Alien shoe, rarely stands alone. Shoes are meant to first protect our feet and then complete the outfit we're wearing. However, they are perhaps the most indulgently collected fashion item by many consumers and thus the saying “one can never have enough shoes”. Another interesting aspect of shoe design is that shoes are one of the most unique fashion products that continue to uphold the Italian 'Pronto Moda di Ricerca' philosophy, which emphasises the inclusion of artisanal knowledge in the manufacturing process. While modern shoemaking has evolved, many artisanal methods remain in practice, especially in luxury and bespoke shoe production.

I was reminded of these interesting aspects during a recent visit to the Vigevano Shoe Museum in Italy. Vigevano, once a hunting estate of the Sforza dynasty, became one of the thriving centres of luxury shoe production in Italy. It was in this small town that the first stiletto was conceptualised. Up until the 1990s, shoemakers in Vigevano were highly sought after by foreign maisons such as Blahnik, Dior, and even McQueen. And there was a clear reason for their critical role in the modern fashion trade: those shoe companies in Vigevano have long mastered a seamless interplay between artisanal heritage and industrial precision. However, the shoe output in Vigevano today has declined significantly due to intense global competition, the delocalisation of production to lower-cost countries, and shifting market demand. Amid external challenges, traditional firms could no longer sustain their practice of preserving artisanal methods due to high operating costs. The rising trend among luxury houses to resort to specialised subcontracting to keep production costs low also contributed to the demise of local firms in Vigevano. On this note, the Vigevano Shoe Museum is a welcome attraction to this small town on the outskirts of Milan. I am encouraged to see a rich archive of human ingenuity dating from the Renaissance until the 21st Century. Row after row, the displays revealed the mastery of shoemakers here in Vigevano and Italy.

Browsing through the wide variety of styles in the museum, I began to understand why the phrase “You can never have enough shoes" is so ingrained in our psyche, distorting our perceptions of shoes, their functions in our wardrobe, and our relationship with them. Just like in the museum, shoes sold in stores are visually displayed with a celebration of abundance. But in reality, in the luxury houses, shoes were specifically designed to complement each seasonal collection. A pair of new shoe designs is meant to complement a specific style. Any shoe style we pick ought to complement and amplify the clothing already in our wardrobe. From that perspective, unless one is a collector or archivist, there is little functional reason to own an expansive range of shoe styles that do not cohere with one's wardrobe.

So the truth is, most of us do not need more shoes. So why do we keep acquiring more?

This reflection continues on Yours, Slowly Sze, where I write about slow living, craftsmanship, and the quieter psychology behind the things we wear.
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72 Smalldive also offers a Personality-Led Wardrobe course — an approach to dressing that begins with self-understanding rather than trends. Learn more here:
The Personality-Led Wardrobe