美国国家公共电台 NPR Get Pumped: 100+ Fabulous Pairs Of Shoes Are On View In New York

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

Centuries' worth of shoes are getting oohs and aahs at the New-York Historical Society. The shoes are from the personal collection of shoe designer Stuart Weitzman. The exhibit is called "Walk This Way," and NPR special correspondent Susan Stamberg did just that.

SUSAN STAMBERG, BYLINE¹: The Divine Miss M, Bette Midler, had a great song about footwear. It's called "In These Shoes."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IN THESE SHOES")

BETTE MIDLER: (Singing) I once met a man with a sense of adventure...

STAMBERG: The guy made a fairly unusual proposition.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IN THESE SHOES")

MIDLER: (Singing) He said, let's make love on a mountaintop under the stars on a big, hard rock. I said, in these shoes?

STAMBERG: Did you wear high heels in the day?

LOU ANN CARLSTROM: In the day.

STAMBERG: Lou Ann Carlstrom (ph) visiting from Albany, N.Y.

Think they ruined our feet?

CARLSTOM: Yes, definitely (laughter).

STAMBERG: Plenty of heels in this exhibit - spikes², stilettos, other dangerous-looking footwear - but flat too - very flat. A pair from 1838 look like ballet slippers³ - blunt toes, white silk - but they each point straight ahead - no difference between left and right. Curator Valerie Paley explains.

VALERIE PALEY: It was thought to be too erotic to be able to see the delineation⁴ of the foot.

STAMBERG: Oh, the curve of the instep.

PALEY: Yes. And the side of your toes, you know, the toes. They have to be worn inside on a carpet because the soles are not very sturdy.

STAMBERG: They are wedding slippers, designed for little more than a walk down the aisle⁵ or being carried over a threshold. Museum visitor Phyllis Odyssey⁶ has shoes that she's never worn outside. A self-described shoe freak, she owns maybe 75 pairs, some unused but not because they're so delicate.

PHYLLIS ODYSSEY: Actually, I have some shoes that I think are - this is really ridiculous - that are so beautiful that I never let them touch the pavement because I think they're just works of art. I truly do.

STAMBERG: Beautiful shoes star in designer Stuart Weitzman's vast collection. He tells how it got started.

STUART WEITZMAN: There are guys whose wives think they have everything. And after two or three ties in church that I ended up never wearing, my wife bought a pair of antique shoes that she thought I would like. And I did.

STAMBERG: By now, he has 300 pairs - a hundred on view here. Ginger⁷ Rogers' transparent⁸ mules⁹, suffragettes' serious high-button boots and Cinderella sandals Stuart designed - vinyl and Plexiglas, trimmed with crystals, see-through and sexy.

WEITZMAN: It did very well. It built several rooms in my house actually.

STAMBERG: Stuart believes that shoes send messages, a lesson he learned in his teens. A cute cheerleader kept turning him down for a date. Finally, she agreed to go bowling¹⁰.

WEITZMAN: But when I picked her up in my brother's borrowed car, she was wearing red patent leather, high-heel, pointed-toe pumps and I thought, bowling? No, no, she doesn't want to go bowling (laughter).

STAMBERG: And so what'd you end up doing?

WEITZMAN: (Laughter) That story I've never told (laughter).

STAMBERG: Now's your chance.

WEITZMAN: (Laughter) No. We didn't go bowling, let's say that.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IN THESE SHOES")

MIDLER: (Singing) Then I met an Englishman.

STAMBERG: Now, here's Bette again in those shoes.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IN THESE SHOES")

MIDLER: (Singing) Oh, he said, are you American? Won't you walk up and down on my spine¹¹? It makes me feel strangely alive. I said, in these shoes? Oh, I doubt you'd survive.

STAMBERG: "Sex And The City" did a lot for shoes.

WEITZMAN: One of my favorite, favorite episodes is when Carrie is being held up by a man with a knife.

STAMBERG: He says he wants her bag...

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SEX AND THE CITY")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Your watch and your ring - quick.

SARAH JESSICA PARKER: (As Carrie Bradshaw) Oh, Jesus.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) And your Manolo Blahniks.

PARKER: (As Carrie Bradshaw) What?

STAMBERG: For Carrie Bradshaw, giving up her Blahniks is like giving up men. Created by a top Spanish designer, they can cost a thousand dollars.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SEX AND THE CITY")

PARKER: (As Carrie Bradshaw) I've been robbed.

STAMBERG: Centuries earlier, stylish¹² shoes were much cheaper and made in America. By the early 20th century, shoes were big business in this country.

PALEY: With the new machinery¹³, shoemaking became the second-largest U.S. industry after agriculture.

STAMBERG: That changed after World War II. Today's fanciest shoes come from Spain and Italy, which is where the most dramatic shoes at the New-York Historical Society were made. A pair of men's Ferragamo loafers - black leather with tassels¹⁴ - a lawyer in New York wore them to work at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

PALEY: And these shoes spirited him down over 50 flights of stairs to safety.

STAMBERG: When Attorney Paul Wysocki finally got home, traumatized by the horror and tragedy of the day, he threw his shoes away.

PALEY: But his wife, understanding the importance of remembering that date, picked them out of the trash.

STAMBERG: And donated them to the Historical Society, which is where the exhibition "Walk This Way" presents historic footwear collected by shoe designer Stuart Weitzman. The show closes October 8 - enough time to put on a comfy pair and go see it. Forrest Gump would.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "FORREST GUMP")

TOM HANKS: (As Forrest Gump) Momma always says there's an awful lot you can tell about a person by their shoes - where they're going, where they've been.

STAMBERG: In a pair of eternally sensible shoes, alas¹⁵, I'm Susan Stamberg, NPR News.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 spikes   

n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划

参考例句：

• a row of iron spikes on a wall 墙头的一排尖铁
• There is a row of spikes on top of the prison wall to prevent the prisoners escaping. 监狱墙头装有一排尖钉，以防犯人逃跑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 slippers   

n. 拖鞋

参考例句：

• a pair of slippers 一双拖鞋
• He kicked his slippers off and dropped on to the bed. 他踢掉了拖鞋，倒在床上。

4 delineation   

n.记述；描写

参考例句：

• Biography must to some extent delineate characters.传记必须在一定程度上描绘人物。
• Delineation of channels is the first step of geologic evaluation.勾划河道的轮廓是地质解译的第一步。

5 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

6 odyssey   

n.长途冒险旅行；一连串的冒险

参考例句：

• The march to Travnik was the final stretch of a 16-hour odyssey.去特拉夫尼克的这段路是长达16小时艰险旅行的最后一程。
• His odyssey of passion, friendship,love,and revenge was now finished.他的热情、友谊、爱情和复仇的漫长历程，到此结束了。

7 ginger   

n.姜，精力，淡赤黄色；adj.淡赤黄色的；vt.使活泼，使有生气

参考例句：

• There is no ginger in the young man.这个年轻人没有精神。
• Ginger shall be hot in the mouth.生姜吃到嘴里总是辣的。

8 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

9 mules   

骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者

参考例句：

• The cart was pulled by two mules. 两匹骡子拉这辆大车。
• She wore tight trousers and high-heeled mules. 她穿紧身裤和拖鞋式高跟鞋。

10 bowling   

n.保龄球运动

参考例句：

• Bowling is a popular sport with young and old.保龄球是老少都爱的运动。
• Which sport do you 1ike most,golf or bowling?你最喜欢什么运动，高尔夫还是保龄球？

11 spine   

n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊

参考例句：

• He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
• His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。

12 stylish   

adj.流行的，时髦的；漂亮的，气派的

参考例句：

• He's a stylish dresser.他是个穿着很有格调的人。
• What stylish women are wearing in Paris will be worn by women all over the world.巴黎女性时装往往会引导世界时装潮流。

13 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

14 tassels   

n.穗( tassel的名词复数 )；流苏状物；（植物的）穗；玉蜀黍的穗状雄花v.抽穗， （玉米）长穗须( tassel的第三人称单数 )；使抽穗， （为了使作物茁壮生长）摘去穗状雄花；用流苏装饰

参考例句：

• Tassels and Trimmings, Pillows, Wall Hangings, Table Runners, Bell. 采购产品垂饰，枕头，壁挂，表亚军，钟。 来自互联网
• Cotton Fabrics, Embroidery and Embroiders, Silk, Silk Fabric, Pillows, Tassels and Trimmings. 采购产品棉花织物，刺绣品而且刺绣，丝，丝织物，枕头，流行和装饰品。 来自互联网

15 alas   

int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)

参考例句：

• Alas!The window is broken!哎呀！窗子破了！
• Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而，真理很少带有浪漫色彩。