The armadillo shoe is a high fashion platform shoe created by British fashion designer Alexander McQueen (pictured) for his final collection, Plato's Atlantis (Spring/Summer 2010). Only 24 pairs exist: 21 were made during the initial production in 2009, and 3 were made in 2015 for a charity auction. The shoes are named for their unusual convex curved shape, which resembles an armadillo. Each pair is approximately 12 inches (30 cm) in height, with a 9-inch (23 cm) spike heel; this extreme height caused some models to refuse to walk in them. American pop star Lady Gaga famously wore the shoes in several public appearances, including the music video for her 2009 single "Bad Romance". They are often considered iconic in the Plato's Atlantis collection, McQueen's body of work, and fashion history in general. Criticism focused on the height of the heel, which has been viewed as impractical, even unsafe. Critics have called them both grotesque and beautiful, sometimes in the same review.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armadillo_shoe
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1814:
War of the Sixth Coalition: Napoleon's army forced Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov's Russian troops to withdraw from the Chemin des Dames, but French casualties exceeded Russian losses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Craonne
1985:
The charity single "We Are the World" by the supergroup United Support of Artists for Africa was released, and went on to sell more than 20 million copies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Are_the_World
2009:
The Kepler space telescope (depicted), designed to discover Earth-like planets orbiting other stars, was launched. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler_space_telescope
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
elbow bump: 1. A hit to the elbow; also, an injury to the elbow caused by such a hit. 2. A hit or jab made with the elbow. 3. The touching of elbows between two people, sometimes as an alternative to a handshake, fist bump, or other form of contact when attempting to avoid the spread of germs. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/elbow_bump
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
If we merge mercy with might and might with right, then love becomes our legacy and change our children's birthright. --Amanda Gorman https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Amanda_Gorman