Dubai: Imelda Marcos may wish her legacy to be many things, such as her dedication to beauty or her and her children’s political positions in the Philippines, but if there’s one thing she’ll always be remembered for: her legendary shoe collection.
Or at least, what was once her legendary shoe collection. When she fled the Philippines with husband Ferdinand Marcos after he was ousted in a popular revolution in 1986, she left behind at least 1,200 pairs of shoes – enough for her to wear a different pair every day for over three years – as well as piles of clothes and jewellery.
The shoes were sent off to different museums in the country, but those held at the National Museum have been severely damaged by termites, flooding and neglect, reports say.
Still, they are perhaps the one thing that will always define Marcos. Her shoes became a symbol of her overly-extravagant lifestyle in a country suffering from extreme poverty, although Marcos insisted that she did not buy them, that they were given to her as presents.
But Marcos’ excess in this particular area has moved over to popular culture. In an episode of the American teen show 90210, self-absorbed rich girl Naomi Clarke boasts that she has more shoes than Marcos and fashion mogul Kimora Lee Simmons combined.
In the British dramedy Ideal, the flamboyant Brian tries on 210 pairs of shoes, and is told by a friend that he’s been possessed by Marcos’ spirit. And in the 1992 horror comedy flick Highway to Hell, Marcos has a special place reserved for her at a dinner table in Hell, along with Col. Muammar Qaddafi (who, ironically, was also ousted and killed in a popular revolution).
When the shoes were reported damaged last year, Philippine officials reassured people that they had no monetary worth. But perhaps their true value was a lesson in the results of unchecked power.
