The Hollywood to which I came in the spring of 1923 was still little more than a village in the sun. The studios were few and, compared with their future, modest in size and budgets. There was a scattering of palatial homes- Harold Llyod's, Mary Pickford's, Barbara La Marr's Pola Negri's, Rudolph Valentino's, Charlie Chaplin's- in which magnificent parties could be thrown; the majority of the remainder had neither the size nor the facilities for the large- entertainments soon to became so familiar. On the surface of the Hollywood of 1923 there was a good deal of substance in my brothers' contention that there was an insufficient population to support our repair shop and little hope for my future in custom-made shoes, particularly considering the limitation of my output. When I left Hollywood in 1927- never to return, as it happened, except as a visitor – all was changed. The studios were larger, more magnificent, wealthier. Some of the concentration of capital has already taken place.
(Shoemaker of Dreams. The autobiography of Salvatore Ferragamo, London 1957)
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Salvatore Ferragamo had been one of the pioneers of fashion made in Italy. for the shoemaker fashion and culture have always been linked. Ferragamo began making shoes for Hollywood stars for both on and off the set, in California in the 1920s.
The shoe after all is perhaps the most famous of fetish objects. And if the shoe is a fetish, what could be more sexy than shoes made for legendary stars as Rita Hayworth, Sofia Loren, Audrey Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, Ava Gardner, Katherine Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich, and Bette Davis?
Salvatore Ferragamo was born in 1898 in Bonito, near Naples, Italy. He was one of the most influential footwear designers of the 20th century, providing Hollywood's glitterati with unique hand-made designs and spawning an emporium of luxury consumer goods for men and women, with stores in some of the most important cities of the world.
After making his first pair of shoes at age nine, for her sister to wear on her confirmation, young Salvatore decided that he had found his calling. After studying shoemaking in Naples for a year, Ferragamo opened a small store based in his parent's home.
In 1914, Salvatore emigrated to Boston, where one of his brothers worked in a cowboy boot factory. After a brief stint at the factory, Salvatore convinced his brothers to move to California, first Santa Barbara then Hollywood. It was here that Ferragamo found success, initially opening a shop for repair and made-to-measure shoes, which soon became prized items among celebrities of the day, leading to a long period of designing footwear for the cinema. For more than 30 years he shod the whole galaxy, from Lillian Gish in the first silent films to Marilyn Monroe in the Seven Year Itch. Greta Garbo purchased 70 pairs of shoes in one visit to the shop in Florence. One of his most celebrated pieces are Dorothy's ruby slippers for the 1939 version of The Wizard of Oz.
After spending thirteen years in the United States, Ferragamo returned to Italy in 1927, this time settling in Florence. In 1929 Ferragamo opened a workshop in the Via Manelli, concentrating his efforts in experimenting with design, applying for patents for ornamental and utility models and some related inventions.
Forced to file for bankruptcy in 1933 due to bad management and economic pressures, Ferragamo nonetheless expanded his operation during the 1950 to a workforce of around 700 expert artisans that produced 350 pairs of hand-made shoes a day. By 1936, he was using materials other than leather, such as needlepoint, lace, hemp, cellophane, raffia, cork - he even tried fishskin. Left above is the 1947 "Invisible" shoe made with nylon thread and on the right is the 1938 sandal with gold kid straps and platform sole.
In 1949, he got married and he and his wife had six children. They followed in their father's footsteps and today the house of Ferragamo is bigger than Salvatore could ever imagine. In 1952 Salvatore got the idea that his heels would last longer if made of steel, and so he fitted some to try out. They were a great success and he called them by the Italian name Stiletto. Ferragamo was always recognized as a visionary, and his designs ranged from the strikingly bizarre object d'art to the traditionally elegant, often serving as the main inspiration to other footwear designers of his time and beyond.
Salvatore Ferragamo died in 1960 at the age of 62, but his name lives on as an international company, which has expanded its operations to include luxury shoes, bags, eye-wear, silk accessories, watches, perfumes and a ready to wear clothing line.
As we get closer to crowning a new champion, I have a special clip to share with everyone that shows the exercise a craftsman must go through in order to put together a fantastic pair of women's shoes. While this is not the exact shoe that's up for grabs in the Finals Classic, this gives you the idea of what the preparations are like to put together the shoes that will be presented to its eventual champion. This clip will get you to appreciate the art of shoe making. Anyone with a shoe fetish will greatly enjoy this clip.
Will the shoes be worn on Audrina's or Selena's feet?
posted
Now Audrina is up by 13 votes again. This is looking worse and worse for Selena. Audrina is going to get more votes along the way. Selena is going to have to work way herder to get to her. But we're running out of time and running out of voters. It's starting to look like that Audrina is going to be our new champion.
Posts: 308 | Registered: Dec 2008
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posted
This was such an incredible match to watch from beginning to end. Selena Gomez is champion, and what a great feeling that is. I cannot believe that Audrina blew two huge leads. Audrina lost by two, but that does not tell the whole story. The story was that she had two huge leads and lost both of them. I don't think I've ever seen anything like this before, but I'll let National do the talking when he gets the chance.
Selena wins the shoes, and I could not be any happier. Unbelievable.
Posts: 191 | Registered: Feb 2009
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posted
Looks like Audrina is never going to catch a break. I was one of the later voters so I didn't see the first huge lead she blew. However, I was there to see the second one. And if she, in fact, lost both leads by large amounts, then this is the saddest match Audrina has ever been a part of.
I don't know what else to think or say because I'm in a state of disbelief.
The people wanted Selena to win so badly that they helped her dig out of two deficits that no one else would've gotten out of.
I'll let all the Selena supporters have their moment in time and let them celebrate their time of Selena Gomez being the top girl of this contest.
Posts: 40 | Registered: Jun 2010
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Good question. The good answer is that it will be worn on SELENA'S FEET!
quote:Originally posted by foot_fashion_industry: Now Audrina is up by 13 votes again. This is looking worse and worse for Selena. Audrina is going to get more votes along the way. Selena is going to have to work way herder to get to her. But we're running out of time and running out of voters. It's starting to look like that Audrina is going to be our new champion.
Audrina was up by more than that at one point. I cannot believe that Selena actually caught up both times to get the best of Audrina. Selena really wanted this. If that's not how a TRUE champion performs when the time calls for it, then I don't know what does.
Like Caseman, that was one of the most memorable matches of all time. It was truly spectacular.
Can you believe that Selena is our new Goddess? I certainly can't. However, I'm sure glad that Selena is now part of a very special group in National's contest.
Thanks for another great season. You're the man. Posts: 133 | Registered: Jan 2009
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posted
WTF how did it happen, not once but twice Audrina has blown it in the finals. That's it I'm done with this contest......
Posts: 15 | Registered: Apr 2008
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posted
The Finals Classic has truly lived up to its name this year. This match between Audrina Patridge and Selena Gomez was a classic in every sense of the word. A lot of people did not foresee that this would be an epic, but this match turned out to be what was arguably the Greatest Match of All Time. There are a number of great matches in history, but this match will definitely be ranked on a lot of people's Top 3.
For Audrina, you think about the way her season started going 10-0. Then she started to lose grasp of her whereabouts when she lost to Kate Upton in Week 12 by 17 votes, before finishing the season with 12 wins. Audrina enters the playoffs with a mission to right all of the wrongs by doing what she was supposed to do and making her second half of the season a distant memory. By advancing to the finals, people forgave her for finishing her season 2-4 after that 10-0 start.
For Audrina, some of those wins during the regular season were captivating. Wins over Kim Kardashian, Carmen Electra, Candice Swanepoel were steps towards a direction that any terrible spirits that were haunting her were finally gone. I began to believe that that was her best shot of having the world right there for her to master.
For Audrina, winning the championship was going to be something that would cure all of her ills that plagued her in the past that prevented her from going as far as she wanted to go. Winning that championship was going to solve everything.
Then we get to the Finals Classic. Forget about that 17-point loss she suffered at the hands of Kate Upton because despite the fact that Audrina lost this time by two votes, the way this match unfolded and unraveled over the course of time, this match will go down as Audrina's worse and most embarrassing loss of her career. I'll even go as far as to say that so bad was this loss, so inconsistent was her performance, that this will probably by the only match that I'll remember Audrina by. This match will be infamously synonymous with Audrina's career because that match has now become the poison and the dark cloud that hangs over her head that has overshadowed everything else she has done, whether it be bad or good.
In sports, any noteworthy athlete will have a game or match or a stretch of time that people will always remember him by, whether it be an amazing accomplishment or something that resulted in controversy. While there was nothing controversial about this match, it was the same match that will stick with people's minds for a long time to come because it was the Finals Classics, because the Ferragamos was on the line, because she lost to an unlikely candidate to even make the finals in the first place who stuck lightning in a bottle. If that match was very close from beginning to end, and Audrina still lost, then that'll be one thing. It would've been a tough break, but it still would've been one thing. THIS, however, was not a tough break. Instead, it was the probably the biggest collapse I've ever seen in my life.
What if I told you before the match that Audrina would have two huge leads in this match: one lead by 13 votes and the other lead by nearly TWENTY (17 votes, to be exact); not only that, that 17-vote lead would be towards the end of the voting period, AND that the biggest lead Selena Gomez would EVER have in this match would be by three votes ... what would you say were Audrina's chances of actually losing that match? Zero percent, right? Well, guess what? ALL OF THAT HAPPENED!
This match marked the first time in history that someone had not one, but TWO different leads of ten or more votes in the same match. Why Audrina chose this match as to the one time to squander both of those leads is something I will never understand even if she laid it down in Laymen's Terms.
I do not know where Audrina goes from here. Now when people look at her, the one thing they can't help but think about is her loss she just suffered. For someone who I had so much promise for, it has become a shame for how this has all ended for her. She'll be back next season. But I'm not sure if her peers will look at her as the National Class Champion when that time comes.
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SMALLEST WINNER, BIGGEST HEART For Selena Gomez, this match will be the one that will define her career. This match will have the opposite effect on her than it will on Audrina. This match featured the elements that made Selena Gomez a winner that everyone will remember:
She was committed to complete her mission of being the top girl in this contest once she realized she was actually in the finals. She showed courage for not being intimidated by a powerhouse in a David vs. Goliath type of match. She showed discipline, she never panicked too much to the point where she gave up. As the World Champion, she is now the leader of her clubhouse, people will grow to respect her.
Some aspects of her win has to do with luck, let's not forget that. Perseverance for grinding it out through the thickest portions of the match when all signs pointed to an Audrina win. She showed strength throughout the entire playoffs by out-muscling her opponents, showing us that we took her for granted. She has the knowledge on hot to out-class her opponents, her victories leading into the finals instilled trust in her fans that she can weather the storm.
With karma, she got back at Audrina with those two huge comebacks. With heart, it is now made of Gold.
This win will forever be linked with Selena. No one will remember any of the other wins she's had.
Usually, I would give the entire schedule that the champion had to go through that year in order to win the championship. Selena will be made as an exception because her season does not qualify or quantify who she is or what she has now become. Instead, it's her Masterpiece that she displayed in the Finals that truly encapsulates the heart that beats in her that tells us what a wonderful she has grown into and how she will change in the future.
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THE GLASS SLIPPER CEREMONIES Selena Gomez is now the youngest champion to put on a pair of the Salvatore Ferragamo's for the first time. Whereas previous women from the past had to put on very nice shoes made from Ferragamo, Selena Gomez, for her unlikely and unexpected rise to the top, will be given the Glass Slipper version of the Ferragamos. So rare are these slippers, that this is something we have never seen before, and something we may never see again as part of a coronation. If it does happen again, at least you'll know who wore it first.
Our Cinderella has realized her dreams, her quests realized, her challenges overcome. Ferragamo, as Prince Charming, carefully slipped her foot inside each glass slipper. Selena Gomez is now Majestic. The other women looking on are either happy for her or anything but. For the latter group of women, they are her stepmother and stepsisters who are not happy because the slippers were not fit for them.
From unjust oppression to triumphant reward, Selena Gomez now bares the title of World's Sexiest Feet.
For what has started out as a very memorable season, it has finished in a way that is going to live through the ages. This finals was a classic because it featured a Cinderella going up against someone who wants to become a historic figure in the Fashionistas. This was a classic that not a lot of people saw coming. This was one of those matches that if I placed in the middle of the card of a WrestleMania or a UFC event, this would be the match that stole the show. The reason I said 'middle of the card' is because of the dark horse factor that Selena brought to the table. She was not looked at as a heavyweight. Depending on who you talk to, she was a lightweight who was moving into the middleweight division.
Off all the Finals that were classic, this was arguably the best one as someone who's looking at this from a neutral or unbiased standpoint. For Audrina and her fans, they're stunned in disbelief. This is the match that will mark her career and will be a haunted curse for the rest of her time here until she can find a way of winning a championship before her career here is done. For Selena and her fans, it feels like a fresh new day. This match will be her calling card for the rest of her life.
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Thanks to everyone who has been supportive of this contest. I've been very thankful of you guys ever since I started doing this way back when. It's always a sad time to see everyone go and not have fun in here anymore. But at the same time, a new champion will be celebrated. A New Champion of the World.
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