When movie fans think of props, and especially shoes, there are specific scenes that leap to the front of just about everyone’s memory. The ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz, Cinderella’s glass slipper and Marty McFly’s self-lacing sneakers from Back to the Future to name a few. Some shoes actually go from the silver screen to our closets, like Jeff Spicoli’s famously slacker black and white Vans from Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The impact of the famous movie shoe can personally impact our feelings but also the pop culture of society.
For this week’s installment of Five for Friday we look at five of the most significant pairs of movie shoes and how discerning collectors could add one, two or maybe all five pairs to their collecting closets.
1. A Tammy Blanchard pair of Wizard of Oz-Related Exact Replica Ruby Slippers from Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (est. $2,000)
No pair of shoes stands out from the movies more than Dorothy’s ruby slippers from Wizard of Oz. So iconic are these shoes that are on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. This pair is available now during the June 17-19 Entertainment and Music Memorabilia Auction.
2. Back to the Future 2016 Edition Self-Lacing Nike Air Mag (est. $30,000)
Over three decades ago, Michael J. Fox captured the world’s attention with his futuristic self-lacing high-tops in Back to the Future. In 2017 an actual pair of Nike Air Mag Back to the Future self-lacing sneakers (est. $30,000) hits the auction block as part of The Future is Now: An Auction of Collection Sneakers, Urban Art and Objects June 11.
3. Disneyana Limited Edition Waterford Crystal “Cinderella’s Slipper” (est. $500)
From handmaiden to princess, Cinderella wound up living a charmed life. It was a magical experience that began with a lost glass slipper and a quest by Prince Charming to find the perfect-sized foot. A Cinderella’s Slipper Disneyana Limited Edition Crystal and Disney Dimensions Pin Group (Walt Disney/Waterford Crystal, 1994) will be part of the July 1 Animation Art auction and would be a great addition to for any Cinderella collector.
4. Sean Penn ‘Vans’ Sneaker from “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.” (sold for $1,687.50)
In the early 1980s, Sean Penn’s character in Fast Time at Ridgemont High, slacker Jeff Spicoli, sported a pair of black and white Vans slip-ons and a casual surfer mentality that stole the movie. In 2012 a Sean Penn-Inscribed “Vans” Sneaker from Fast Times at Ridgemont High sold for more than $1,500 during Heritage Auctions’ December Entertainment and Music Memorabilia Auction. Since the initial release of the movie, the black and white checkered Vans slip-on have been a regular issue for Vans and one of their most popular models of all time, according to sneakerpedia.com.
5. Two Pairs of Shirley Temple’s Tap Shoes (sold for $20,000)
There have been many famous tap shoes that have danced their way across the silver screen, from those worn by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers to Gregory Hines. But possibly the most memorable are the tap shoes of former child star Shirley Temple. The cherubic Temple danced her way in the hearts of movie-goers around the world in the 1930s. Two Pairs of Personally Owned and Used Childhood Tap Shoes hammered for $20,000 last December at Heritage’s Personal Property of Shirley Temple Black’s Auction.
Written by: Elon Werner