Step into the Museum at FIT’s latest exhibition, Shoes: Anatomy, Identity, Magic for an in-depth look at how we relate to our footwear—physically, socially, and psychologically—through more than 300 featured pairs of shoes, boots, sneakers, and sandals culled from the museum’s permanent 5,000-pair collection.

Co-curated by the museum’s director, Dr. Valerie Steele and costume curator Colleen Hill—and accompanied by a sumptuously illustrated book, Shoes: The Collection of The Museum at FIT, published by Taschen with a preface by Daphne Guinness—the exhibition opens with baby shoes, illustrating how we begin our life’s journey in fitted footwear, and follows with a chronology of shoes and a looping video with film and television clips exploring their symbolism in popular culture. Scenes from The Wizard of Oz, Saturday Night Fever, The Breakfast Club, Like Mike, and Sex and the City exemplify—subtly or overtly—the starring role shoes have played in our imaginations and lives.

In the main gallery, the themes of anatomy, identity, and magic are explored through an eye-catching display that would entice any shopaholic. “The ‘embodied turn’ in fashion studies has brought renewed attention to the intimate relationship between body, dress, and sense of self,” explains Steele. “We are inviting visitors to ask themselves, Shoe are you? Hence our three, somewhat…