14. A Habit of Splurging on Designer Shoes by the Thousands
What attracted the most attention was Imelda Marcos’ apparent obsession with expensive designer shoes. The former First Lady had a habit of splurging on extremely pricey shoes, and accumulated thousands of pairs. When protesters stormed one of her former residences, the Malacanang Palace, they discovered over 2700 pairs of designer shoes in Imelda’s wardrobe. Thousands more designer shoes were found in other palaces, mansions, and villas throughout the Philippines. A single pair of those pricey pumps could cost more than residents of an entire city block in a lower-class Philippine neighborhood earned in a year.
Imelda Marcos’s shoes were displayed at the presidential palace as a symbol of the dictatorship’s corruption. Eventually, hundreds of her shoes found a permanent home in the Shoe Museum, in the northern city of Marikina. The collection became a symbol of excess in a country where many walked barefoot in abject poverty. However, because life is often unfair, Imelda Marcos never paid for her corruption. She was eventually allowed back in the Philippines, was elected to Parliament, and as of 2022, is one of that country’s wealthiest women. She even turned the shoe scandal into an asset, and has been a frequent visitor to the Shoe Museum. There, she signs autographs and proudly poses for photos next to the display cases of her collection.
