The Imelda Marcos Shoe Museum

Imeld Marcos made a name for herself as an overspending wife of a dictator in the Phillipines. After they were overthrown, the new government examined the Presidential estate and found thousands of shoes that Imeld had bought with the people's money. Here is a youtube video of the Shoe Museum that displays here ripped off shoe fetish. Here is a news story about her visiting the museum - she doesn't get it, she should be embarassed but is instead proud of her shoes....How could these people ever obtain power if they are so stupid? oh wait, I remember, the US installed them into power to prevent communism in the Phillipines - cold war stuff. The Phillipines now owe billions of $ in debt to foreign banks, and can barely pay the interest. So the phillipino people get screwed twice, once by the US backed Marcos, and a second time when they have to pay interest on the debt the Marcos' racked up. She should be stipped of all her money, and sent to Dubai to work 18hrs a day as a foreign worker, mopping the floors of a hotel or disco.

Imelda Marcos touched her lacy gold-and-black pumps for the first time in 15 years Friday, reminiscing as she inaugurated a museum paying tribute to the legendary collection she had to so hastily ditch.

The Shoe Museum, a monument to Mrs. Marcos' reputation as the world's most insatiable shoe collector, opened Friday -- displaying 220 of the 1,220 pairs officials found when a popular revolt forced her and the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos to flee into exile in 1986.

``They went into my closets looking for skeletons, but thank God all they found were shoes, beautiful shoes,'' said the former first lady, 71.

Museum officials hope the display will draw tourists to Marikina, the Manila-area city known as the nation's shoemaking capital. Up to 40 percent of the city's 550,000 residents make shoes. The walls of the small, two-story building show shiny high heels, strappy pumps, soft leather moccasin-style shoes and other size 8 1/2 footwear from Christian Dior, Givenchy, Chanel and Ferragamo.

A few dozen pairs from former President Fidel Ramos and other celebrities are also displayed, alongside other exhibits outlining Marakina's century-old shoemaking industry.

Sandal Street, Slipper Street and other roads attest to the industry's importance. A pedestrian bridge in the city is covered with two giant steel shoes. A shoe statue stands before City Hall.

But officials admit the museum owes its existence to the reputation of Mrs. Marcos, the city's best-known customer and an enthusiastic supporter of the project. Received warmly on Friday, she said the museum on Shoe Street will mark a turning point in her reputation for extravagance.

``This museum (is) making a subject of notoriety into an object of beauty,'' said Mrs. Marcos, wearing a traditional pink dress, large emerald-green earrings and locally made silver shoes. ``More than anything, this museum will symbolize the spirit and culture of the Filipino people. Filipinos don't wallow in what is miserable and ugly. They recycle the bad into things of beauty.''

At the height of Ferdinand Marcos' power, the first lady gained notoriety for shopping trips to the world's swankiest boutiques, glitzy parties and lavish beautification projects in the midst of the Philippines' extreme poverty. Her shoes astounded the world and became a symbol of excess. Aquino had Mrs. Marcos' shoes displayed in the presidential palace as a symbol of the former first lady's extravagance. They were removed in 1992, and part of the collection was put on display Friday.