Shoe Designed in '38 for Judy Garland

[Wiseguy A]

Surprise! I bet you didn't expect this.

Salvatore Ferragamo creates the first platform in cork and wood because of wartime shortages in leather. U.S. women totter on 1 inch, while French ladies opt for 2 or more inches. The rainbow sandal, seen here, is rumored to have been designed in 1938 for Judy Garland.

http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-ig-0330-timeline-pg,0,2998833.photogallery?index=3

Check out some of the other shoes as well...

 

[gluegungeisha]

I saw a photograph of this somewhere, when I was taking a costuming class.

I think they're so bad, they're good. I'd wear 'em.

 

[glamour-girl]

thease are super cute, but there's no way i'd wear them, i'm clumsy enough as it is lol

 

[jayem]

WOW.

That looks more like a late 70s shoe than a late 30s one. D'you think she ever wore them?

 

[epr25]

I wish they knew if she wore them. I would love to see the dress that was paired up with those babies!

 

[CherryRed]

They look more like something Carmen Miranda would wear than Judy.

 

[KittyT]

Horrifying. Like colored marshmallows, only disappointingly less tasty.

 

[Miss 1929]

I remember the 70s well...

and there was a lot of recycled late 30s-early 40s going around, including huge platforms!
Yes, these are pretty darned ugly. But some of the early platforms are nice.
But I don't see why they would have been made for Judy when The Wizard of Oz wasn't made until 1939, if these are 1938 - looks like someone made that part up because of the rainbows. Not to mention that no one knew the song would be a big hit. It actually wasn't. The movie wasn't much of a hit either, it lost money until they kept re-running it on TV in the 60s.
I have seen tall platforms in magazines as early as 1936.
So I doubt very much they were made for Judy.

 

[Feraud]

The rainbow sandal, seen here, is rumored to have been designed in 1938 for Judy Garland.

Would be interesting if confirmed.

 

[JazzBaby]

They look more like something Carmen Miranda would wear than Judy.

I was just thinking that! Ugh, by the way. At least it shows there were good and bad fashions in every decade. Kudos to Ferragamo for trying something new though!

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

Horrifying. Like colored marshmallows, only disappointingly less tasty.

Haha! I'd wear them, although I bet they're like, a size 5.

 

[CassD]

They're the type of shoe that I look at and think, "It's just so wierd and slightly tacky enough that it works." If I had better balance I'd wear them. They would look cute with a nice pair of jeans and a somewhat dressy top (I know, not vintage at all, but still . . . )

 

[dhermann1]

Hmmmm . . . . I agree with Miss 1929. Judy Garland was 15 in 1938, a year before Wizard of Oz came out. She was not a big star at that point, and only doing juvenile roles. I would suspect that either they were for somebody else, or they were actually later. Are you sure of the facts on this? The war hadn't started yet in 1938. By the same token, she was very short, so platforms might be something they'd use with her. But they look very 1944 to me. Also, they were doing a lot more technicolor musicals by then.
Anyhow, they certainly are wild shoes. How could anyone walk in them?

 

[Miss 1929]

Easy to walk in!

I have a vivid memory of running across the football field in high school (1976) in a pair of platforms taller than these!

They aren't so bad. It's much harder to walk in shoes with a high heel and no platform.

 

[jayem]

I have a vivid memory of running across the football field in high school (1976) in a pair of platforms taller than these!

They aren't so bad. It's much harder to walk in shoes with a high heel and no platform.

Very true, I'd take giant platforms over stilettos any day for comfort and mobility.