We driving on our way to work at saw that Roger Vivier was on exhibit at the Bata Shoe Museum on Bloor.
"The focus Roger Vivier: Process to Perfection is the working process of Vivier and his masterpieces of shoe design. The Bata Shoe Museum's Vivier holdings will be complemented by loans from world-renowned institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Deutsch Ledermuseum in Germany and the Roger Vivier brand.
Visitors to the exhibition will see never before exhibited drawings by Vivier and pull-overs designed for Christian Dior which illuminate his working process. Visitors will also be able to see the jewels of his oeuvre----the shoes that his working process wrought into perfection. "
Bottine by Roger Vivier for Christian Dior, French, 1961.
Blue silk satin, blue cotton lace, glass beads, sequins, leather. Gift of Valerian Stux-Rybar, 1980
One of the most famous of Vivier’s designs is an evening bottine from 1961. It was a confection of lace embellished with beads, sequins, couched silk ribbon and silver embroidery balanced on a thin needle heel of moderate height. A series of drawings in the Bata Shoe Museum collection shows that Vivier returned to this design again in 1963 although it doesn’t appear to have gone back into production.
Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Photo credit: Image copyright © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image source: Art Resource, NY 
One theme that Vivier returned to again and again over the course of his career was the elongated tongue. This style adorned low-heeled shoes as well as high-heeled shoes as seen in the drawings displayed here. Frequently these evening shoes were made of velvet and the tongues were typically embellished with heavy beading. This single gold mule must have been one of Vivier’s favourite shoes as he was frequently photographed with it and he kept it in his own personal collection until the 1980s.
Collection of Roger Vivier, Paris
Photo credit: Image copyright © 2012 Roger Vivier, Paris (Photo: Aguttes/Aubert)Credit: Bata Shoe Museum
