Glitter Shoes THE Prize Catch From Stiletto Float
August 17, 2009 by cinder
Filed under art & sole
By Claudia Lynch
Artist, shuzsociety “Art & Sole” Roving Reporter and Member of Krewe of Muses ~
Here in New Orleans, we’re getting a jump on our shoes! We know it’s only August, and Mardi Gras isn’t until February, but all over New Orleans, members of the Krewe of Muses are busy glittering shoes.
Krewes (pronounced “crews”) are clubs that put on Mardi Gras parades. If you’ve never been, the spectacle is, to put it mildly, spectacular. While most Mardi Gras parade krewes are content to throw hundreds of dollars’ worth of cheap plastic beads and plush toys into the crowds, that just isn’t good enough for the Muses. We throw hand-glittered shoes!
Krewe of Muses hand-glittered and decorated shoes
All year, we collect gently worn specimens — from friends, thrift stores and garage sales — then get together for Glittering Parties, where the wine and the glitter flow like … well, like wine and glitter are supposed to. Groups of gals sit around tables set up in dining rooms, garages or basements, laughing and gossiping as our fingers fly, applying white glue and ultra-fine glitter to one area of a shoe at a time, then letting it dry while we work on the rest of our stash. Once a whole shoe is glittered and the glue has dried, it’s time for a trip to the hot glue station, where jewels, sequins and other assorted gewgaws are applied to the sparkly creations. As a finishing touch, each shoe is “autographed” with the word “Muses”, painstakingly applied with more glue and glitter or with cut-up bits from signature beaded necklaces from Mardi Gras past.
A prize catch from the Krewe of Muses' Stiletto float!
A hand-decorated shoe is hands-down the prize catch of the Mardi Gras season. You can be sure that anyone lucky enough to have a Muse for a friend knows her friend’s float number and her exact position on it, optimizing her chances of landing a shoe. Krewe of Muses is the only all-female Mardi Gras parade krewe with a nighttime parade. Our signature float? A sparkly stiletto pump, of course, replete with fiberoptic lights that allow it to change colors on its yearly strut down St. Charles Avenue.
The waiting list to ride in the Muses parade is a mile long, and besides, if you’re IN the parade, you can’t be out on the street jumping up and down in the February cold, hoping for a footwear windfall. So, I’m perfectly content to remain a non-riding Muse.
Let’s face it: I’m really only in it for the shoes and the glitter.
Laissez les bon SHOES roulez!
Claudia Lynch
Claudia Lynch, artist and creator of ShoeStoriesTM. For more about Claudia and her collection of ShoeStories prints and cards, please visit claudialynch.com/shoestories.html.
