27 1 / 2012
Julia Gillard's Shoe Returns Amid Furor
The dark blue wedge—a size 36 Midas—was picked up by Aboriginal political activist Pat Eatock, 75 years old, but was returned to the prime minister’s office late Friday. Activist leaders had earlier threatened to keep the footwear as a symbol of poor race relations in Australia, or sell it on eBay to raise money for the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, a 40-year-old collection of tents and temporary shelters in the capital that is a focal point for indigenous people.
“The decision was taken to given the property back to the original owner,” said Ms. Eatock, who was the first Aboriginal woman in 1972 to seek election for federal government in Australia. “It was a demonstration of our good will.”
The model retails on the designer’s website at about $100. On Friday, an ad on eBay that claimed to be Ms. Gillard’s lost shoe was taken down after receiving bids of up to $2,000.
Apart from marking a lapse in the prime minister’s personal security, the demonstration and subsequent threat to Ms. Gillard has raised again the vexed but often ignored issue of Australia’s indigenous people and their battle for rights.
Source: Wall Street Journal
27 1 / 2012
Australian Women Hot-Foot It to Buy Julia Gillard’s Shoe
THE makers of Julia Gillard’s famous “missing” shoe are cashing in on her Cinderella moment, with plans to release a new version dubbed the “Julia”.
The retailer’s website went into meltdown yesterday and its 17 stores around the country were stampeded by fashionistas trying to snap up a pair after seeing them in newspapers and on TV news bulletins, the Herald Sun reported.
They were so popular, Melbourne company Midas is considering releasing a line of the same shoe, but with one very special modification - a strap to keep it firmly fixed on the foot.
By lunchtime yesterday, there was just one pair of the “Glorify” shoes available in Melbourne.
Marilyn Fox (pictured above), a Herald Sun employee, was the last Victorian to pay $148 to own a pair of the shoes.
26 1 / 2012
The Midas Touch: What Julia Gillard’s Shoes Say about Her
Cinderella’s prince found the glass slipper, but Aboriginal activist Pat Eatock snared the PM’s blue suede shoe.
Eatock nabbed the size 36 Midas pump after Prime Minister Julia Gillard lost it during the Australia Day protest in Canberra yesterday.
Protesters have abandoned initial plans to sell it on eBay in favour of returning it to Gillard as a gesture of goodwill, but in the meantime the shoe offers an insight into the PMs leadership style.
Midas is an Australian brand, so the shoe demonstrates Gillard’s commitment to our country and its local industry, which she also reinforces in a fashion sense through her her support of designers such as Carla Zampatti in Sydney and Aurelio Costarella in Perth, who both helped dress her last year for the Royal Wedding in London. (Read more)
